Buying Ahead in the Boxing Day Sales for the School Year

Back to school shopping in the Boxing Day sales makes more sense than it might first seem, since the alternative is trying to sort everything in the last frantic week of January, uniforms, stationery, shoes that no longer fit, and a smartwatch squeezed in somewhere at the bottom of the list.

The Six Weeks That Disappear Faster Than You Think

Six weeks sounds like plenty of runway between Boxing Day and Term 1, until the school holidays are suddenly over and nothing's been set up. A trip away, a few weeks at the grandparents', a run of birthday parties, and it's the last weekend of January before anyone's thought about a new device again.

Honestly, that's how it goes most years. The intention is always there in early January. It's just that six weeks of holidays has a way of swallowing itself whole, and the calendar somehow tightens the closer term gets, not the other way around.

Why Late December Beats Late January

More Time to Set It Up Properly

Buying now leaves plenty of time to work through setup at a relaxed pace, rather than rushing it the weekend before term starts. That means time to actually sit down together, add Trusted Contacts properly, and work out School Mode hours without half an eye on the clock.

It also means there's room to fix small mistakes along the way. A Place boundary set slightly too wide, a Trusted Contact typed in wrong, that sort of thing is easy to sort out with weeks to spare and considerably more stressful to notice on the first morning of Term 1.

More Time for Your Kid to Get Used to It

A new watch that's already familiar by the first day of school tends to cause far fewer "how do I use this" moments during the actual school run. Kids figure out buttons and features fast when there's no pressure attached, and a few weeks of casual, low-stakes use over the holidays beats learning it all on a Monday morning with a bus to catch.

Let them wear it to the park, to a cousin's place, on the drive to the shops, anywhere low-stakes, before it has to do any actual work. By the time term starts, pressing the right button is second nature rather than something to think about.

What's Worth Buying Now

The Device Itself

Boxing Day sales pricing is a good time to buy the watch itself, whether it's a first device or an upgrade from an older model that's starting to show its age. Stock also tends to be broader this early in the sale period than it is by the third week of January, once the more popular sizes and colours have thinned out.

An older model that's still doing the job doesn't necessarily need replacing just because a newer one's on sale, either. If the current watch is holding up fine and the plan hasn't lapsed, it's worth putting that money toward accessories or a Watch Plan renewal instead.

The Watch SIM Plan That Activates It

A Watch Plan is what actually switches the watch on. Buy it alongside the device rather than treating it as an afterthought, since a watch sitting in its box without an active plan isn't doing anyone any good come the first day of term.

What to Sort in the Weeks Before Term 1

Setting School as a Place

Add the new school as a Place well before term starts, so arrival alerts are working from the very first day, not week three once you've finally gotten around to it. If it's a new school entirely, it's also worth checking the drop-off and pick-up zones line up with where the Place boundary actually sits.

This is also a good time to add any regular after-school spots as Places too, sport training, a grandparent's place, a friend's house that gets visited most weeks, rather than adding them one at a time as the term goes on.

Getting School Mode Ready

Set School Mode hours to match the new term's timetable in advance, so it's quietly working in the background from day one rather than something you remember to adjust halfway through week two. If bell times or pickup arrangements have shifted from last year, this is the moment to update them, rather than discovering the mismatch once term's already underway.

It's one of those settings that's easy to forget about entirely once it's working, which is exactly the point. Set it properly once over the holidays and it just runs quietly in the background all term.

Get Ready for the School Year With Spacetalk

Buying now buys you time later. Get ready for the school year with Spacetalk while the Boxing Day sales are on, and let the settings settle in well before the first bell of Term 1.

Frequently Asked Questions