You knew it was the inevitable. You knew those days lounging around the house doing absolutely nothing were limited. Yes that’s right; school is just around the corner. But it doesn’t have to be a punishment. By visiting the websites below, you can turn school from prison into paradise.The best way to tackle the new school year is to be prepared. tinyurl.com/2bdsr86 has a very comprehensive checklist for doing everything from buying the appropriate gear to setting up your morning rituals and tinyurl.com/2emvs9l has some great ideas for yummy nutritious breakfasts, as well as information on the amount of sleep required for maximum success at school.A key part of getting ready to start school again is buying the correct stationery. While some schools provide their own ready-made stationery kit for you to buy, many simply supply a list and expect you to trawl through stationery shops searching for the correct gear. While this can sometimes be a tedious task, most stationery shops have set up websites where you can order online quickly and easily from your own home. Try tinyurl.com/2cow2sr and tinyurl.com/2f5g9sk. If you’re looking to stand out from the crowd and plain notebooks just aren’t cutting it for you, www.smiggle.com.au has a great range of colourful and fun stationery guaranteed to brighten up your school day.School is always a bit of a drag to go back to, but it can be much worse when you are starting a new school for the first time. Whether you are moving house and need to start fresh, or are simply making the transition from primary to intermediate, nerves can sometimes begin to bubble up inside. tinyurl.com/24cmryr has some great general tips for starting a new school and tinyurl.com/2g77ewh has advice from a school teacher on beginning a new school for the very first time.One reason why students don’t enjoy school is the work outside the classroom. Homework can be an annoyance for the best of students, but most of the time it is compulsory and therefore must be done. tinyurl.com/253gqkn has tips on completing homework productively and even suggests turning on music on the radio to help you study! Show that to your parents next time you’re about to embark on a long study session that you don’t know how you’ll survive.With hundreds of  thousands of students  going back to school in New Zealand alone, what a lot of people don’t realise is that the environment can sometimes take a hit as well. With all the cars travelling to and from school, picking up and dropping off students and school lunches filled with individually packaged snacks, Mother Nature joins the ranks of those dreading the new school year. tinyurl.com/25rym9t has tips on making your start to school that much better for the environment.Being in the right mood leading up to the new school term can also impact your enthusiasm to learn and overall performance. Go to tinyurl.com/2bgh4cy to fill in the blanks and have a giggle at your back-to-school story and tinyurl.com/2bgh4cy to read a funny poem about someone dreading school just as much as you are, but for completely different reasons. These hilarious activities are guaranteed to put you in the right mind set and make sure you are 100% ready for when the school day dawns. Another way to get yourself in the learning mood is by actively getting involved in fun activities leading up to the new school year. These fun ideas also serve as great holiday boredom busters and leave you with something at the end. tinyurl.com/6c4tov has back-to-school colouring sheets, jigsaw puzzles and word finds, and tinyurl.com/26snpnk has some fun and practical craft ideas including an apple pencil holder and an egg carton school bus.Getting back to school doesn’t have to be an event to dread or an excuse to practise your groaning. It can be your way of socialising with friends and as hard as it may be to believe, learn something that may actually be of some use to you later on in life. As long as you are prepared, have the right equipment and go in with the correct attitude, school will be a breeze and, dare I say it, may not be the torture chamber you expect.