Back to school posts are almost always the same photo: a child, a bag, a front door. What separates them is the caption, and the good ones are honest about the mixed feelings rather than purely celebratory.
Instagram folds a caption after about two lines, so put the specific detail first. Two practical notes if the post is about a child: uniforms and door numbers give away a lot, and a first-day sign with a full name and school on it is more information than you probably meant to publish.
First day, younger kids
- Year one. He picked the socks himself.
- Walked in without looking back. I did the looking.
- New bag, new shoes, same negotiating.
- She has been ready since 6:40am.
- First day and he told me he already has a best friend.
- Cried in the car park. He was fine.
- Uniform lasted eleven minutes.
- Reception, and somehow taller than in July.
Older kids and teenagers
- Last first day.
- She would not pose for this and I took it anyway.
- Year eleven. Big one.
- New school, new bus route, new everything.
- He walked ahead of me the entire way, on purpose.
- Sixth form, and suddenly an adult.
- One photo allowed, apparently.
Parents
- Six weeks of chaos, over.
- I am delighted and I miss them and both are true.
- The house is silent and I do not know what to do with it.
- Peaceful for exactly one hour before the pickup.
- Bought the shoes twice because feet do not wait.
- Two of them out the door and one coffee in peace.
- Made it through the holidays. Barely.
- Every year this photo gets harder to take.
College and moving out
- Moved her in and drove home very quietly.
- Two suitcases and a kettle.
- First week of the rest of it.
- New city, no idea what I am doing.
- Room is tiny. View is fine. Rent is not.
- Left home for the first time on a Sunday.
- He unpacked in an hour and did not need me at all.
Teachers
- Room set up, names on the pegs, ready.
- New class, new year, same coffee.
- Twenty-eight of them from Monday.
- Spent the last week of summer laminating.
- Year fourteen of this and I still get first-day nerves.
- Best job, longest September.
- Displays finished at 9pm and I stand by them.
Funny
- Educated by professionals from tomorrow.
- Freedom is a school bell.
- Bag heavier than the child.
- We bought a calculator for a subject he will drop.
- The homework starts tonight, apparently.
- Somebody has already lost a jumper and it is day one.
- Term one of asking about their day and getting nothing.
Supplies and shopping
- Three shops for one specific pencil case.
- The stationery aisle brought out something feral in both of us.
- Labelled 40 items and lost one on day two.
- New shoes that will not fit by November.
- The book list arrived in August and I ignored it until Sunday.
- Uniform bought a size up, as tradition demands.
- Spent more on a school bag than on my own coat.
How to pick one
Write the caption about the feeling underneath the photo, because the photo already shows the bag and the door. If you cried in the car park, that is the line. If the uniform lasted eleven minutes, that is the line. Front-load it so it survives the fold, and cut the framing clause about how quickly the summer went. Match the tone to the age: reception posts can be soft, sixth-form posts should not be, since a teenager reading it later is part of the audience. Decide what you are willing to publish about a child’s school, and leave the sign with the school name out of shot. Only ask a question you will answer. Check length with the instagram character counter.
If you post one of these every September and keep repeating the same sentence, the caption rewriter will give you a different angle on it.