The Hour

As the new school term fast approaches, The Hour will be featuring a series of back to school specials to ensure your kids are prepared for the new academic year.

In the first of this week’s features, we will be looking at some of the items we think pupils will find really useful - and that will help make sure school starts back with a bang.

First up on our wish list of handy school essentials is the Seiko Electronic Oxford Spellchecker. Packed with thousands of words as well as fun games, it’s not only a great tool for school but also ideal for after-hours.

The spellchecker also has a built in crossword and anagram solver for those hard to find answers, and at only £19.99 from Argos (www.argos.co.uk), it’s a bargain that’s not to be missed.

Next on our list is the 8GB Sandisk storage drive from PC World (www.pcworld.co.uk), which is ideal for storing all your kids’ school work and files. It’s easy to use and portable and has loads of storage on it, and at £12.99 it’s an inexpensive way of keeping all your files together.

A lunchbox is a great item for kids who take packed lunches, and one of our favourites is a pink butterfly Smash lunchbox which is both attractive and practical, with two zip pockets to store food items plus a handy water bottle that fits into a side section.

Currently on offer from WH Smith (www.whsmith.co.uk) for £9.99, this lunchbox will come in handy for school and for picnics.

Perfect for computer game enthusiasts, the controller pencil case is great for holding all your kids’ school stuff and stationery. At only £3.33 from Staples (www.staples.co.uk), it’s a great item for this school season.

Last but not least is the Cars 2 backpack, £7.49 from Sainsbury’s (www.sainsburys.co.uk). It has several pockets to hold all those essentials including one for your water bottle, and with its padded shoulders, the bag will be comfy to wear even when full.

All prices were correct at the time of online publication, please check with retailers for up-to-date pricing information.

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