Back to school in Weymouth - are your arms being twisted for mini-skirts and flashing trainers?

Just a few weeks into the school holidays and already the shops are full of Back to School gear.

It's as if the big bad world of business is saying: 'You might be enjoying yourself now kids, but don't relax too much, LEARNING is just around the corner.'

Uniforms, books and stationery, shoes and bags - all the stuff the kids need to rip, lose, scuff and do their backs in.

It used to really annoy me when I was at school in the last century (no, not the 1880s, the 1970s) when my mother would drag me into a Clarks shoe shop and force me into brown lace-ups. Then it was off into dark depths of  the creaky old drapery shop for white polyester polo necks and a grey crimplene skirt.

Um, nice.

These days, there''s no need to roll up the waistband of your skirt to make it into a mini, because mini skirts are a plenty. And you don't have to smuggle your platform shoes on the bus and change into them when you've rounded the corner from home, you can wear kitten heels and stilettos.

Although schools with any sense of discipline - or just any sense - insist on knee-length skirts or trousers and no shoe higher than a pump.

I come from an age where we locked ourselves in the tennis courts as a protest to win the right for girls to wear trousers just like the boys. Strangely, there were no takers for the other way around, although there was a boy in the fifth year who was partial to wearing a spotty  dress during the summer.

So where do you go in Weymouth to get all the school gear? Well, like most places these days,  the chain stores seem to have it all sewn up.

Places like Matalan are great for bargain clothing and, the beauty of Weymouth's is that you can park easily and visit the other shops while you're there.

There's a lot to be said for the deals that scream out from some of the supermarket aisles. But, as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

Debenhams in New Bond Street has some good quality Back to School stuff, and, of course, there's Marks and Spencer. While you're in there, find out about their name labels you can get online. You just iron them on, so no fiddly sewing.

For books and stationery, W H Smith is still a pretty good bet and cheap and cheerful Wilkinsons always has much more than you think.

But make sure you have the genuine complete list of what your children REALLY need in your head if not in your hand. I'm not saying the little darlings are fibbers, but when they tell you it's essential to have a ring-bound file with a denim patch pocket on the front or Jack Wills socks, just smile sweetly and say: 'Yeah, right.'