It’s week 50 of my Declutter 52 Things in 52 Weeks Challenge. If you haven’t signed up yet, join me today as I help you remove all those things in your home you no longer need or use.

I know I am not the only mum who is blown away by how much paper work her kids bring home from school! There’s school photos, exercise books, assignments, report cards, drawings… the list goes on, and the pile builds up. So how do we declutter and organise all this school paper work – particularly when you are sentimental mum like I am?! Glad you asked! Let’s get started with this week’s declutter task…

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Decluttering Task #50

School Paper Work

It didn’t take me long to realise I was going to need to implement a solid organisational system to deal with all the paper work that my 3 kids were bringing home from school. I am pretty sentimental so that didn’t help. I decided to create a file box that allowed me to store a few really nice keepsakes for each child, for every year that they are at school. This means that all this paperwork was condensed down into 3 conveniently sized boxes.

  READ MORE: School Years File Box

TODAY’S TASK: PURGE AS MANY OF YOUR KID’S SCHOOL PAPERS AS YOU CAN

Note: My definition of purge – sell, donate, repurpose or throw away items as you see fit

• Look at your children’s school paper work and see what storage solutions aren’t working.
• Bring all the school paper work together, dividing into years.
• Keep all school photos and report cards.
• Go through each story and drawing and keep only those that you love (be that because it’s bright and colourful, has a lovely sentiment, or features a happy memory).
• Remember you don’t need 10 pictures from Year 2. A couple will often suffice.
• Consider ripping pages you want to keep out of exercise books as opposed to keeping the entire book.
• For artworks or stories you’re not sure whether to keep or purge, consider taking a photo so you will always have the memory, and then purge.
• Add any new and/or your current storage products in your cupboard to help you keep it organised.
• My School Years File Box can help you to organise your kid’s school paper work based on age and year.

I love looking over old drawings or stories that my kids have done, and sometimes I even find my kids looking through their own filing boxes now. This is why I like to keep their file box in their own rooms – so they can look at them whenever they like.

  READ MORE: How The Kids Can Create Calm School Mornings + Nights

How many items have you been able to purge today?