Review: Start-Rite Rhino Warrior School Shoes, worth £62.00

Review by VIP Club Member Deborah Garas

 

When we were chosen to do a review of some Start-Rite School Shoes, we chose to try out the ‘Rhino Warrior’ shoes. As anyone with an active 5-year-old boy knows, ‘rhino-like’ is a fairly accurate descriptor for how they charge around and cause destruction to all items of clothing, particularly school shoes! So when looking for school shoes, durability tops my list of criteria, closely followed by comfort (nobody wants complaints walking home from school!) and being easy to put on and take off!

Start-Rite have a good reputation for quality, and we were not disappointed by the Rhino Warrior. They look and feel sturdy, and have survived the first few weeks of use with only a few small signs of wear and tear. My son and I both like the design of the shoe: he thinks they look ‘sporty’ and I think they look smart yet comfortable.

My son rated them well for comfort: the soft leather material and the padded ankles meant that there were no moans about rubbing in the first few days. The soles are sturdy and the tread still looks good as new. The double rip-tape fastenings are easy to use, and the heel part seems to be surviving my son’s shoe-entry method of shoving his foot down and wriggling until it slides in (as opposed to actually undoing the Velcro).

The shoes currently retail at £62, which is more than I usually like to pay for shoes which are outgrown in a term, but the price does seem justified by the durability and comfort. There is also a good range of sizes available, including 4 width fittings. The shoe comes with a removable ‘sock’ (insole) for extra flexibility with fitting, but we haven’t needed to try this.

I would definitely consider Start-Rite again in the future when buying school shoes.

Available to buy from Start-Rite