Of course, my schools didn't necessarily buy the highest quality pencils for the children, and they probably all came from the same supplier.
The high-quality ones, which a relative who was a draughtsman used, were dark green [1]
[1] https://www.ebay.ie/itm/12-x-Berol-Venus-H-Fine-Quality-Writ...
High-quality ones, used by a couple of artists and a draughtsman my parents knew, were blue: Staedtler Mars Lumographs, again made then in the UK, but now only made in Germany. Still an even better pencil than the Noris.
I remember Berol "Handwriting" pens, red with a white nib that produced blue ink, but never liked them or used them much. Berol had colouring pencils sewn up when I was in school.
I still can vividly recall the sense of awe whenever I entered the storage room in which the school kept all consumables - box upon box of pencils, erasers, rulers, notebooks...
Somewhat of a writing fetishist to this day - I have a box of Lumographs in the office for field notes, whereas meeting notes and such are mostly done with a fountain pen.
These are virtually unknown in the US, but they are fantastic. The best part is the synthetic material they use for casing instead of wood. It is a joy to sharpen (the reviewer mentions a synthetic smell to go with it, but I never recalled there being any).
[1]http://www.penciltalk.org/2006/03/conte-evolution-wood-free-...
if your schools are buying pencils for the students, you're one up over my childhood in canada.
I think the average 7 year old has their own pencils and pens. My mum was a teacher in a secondary school in a poor area; she always had spare pencils and pens for any child without one — which if it was frequent, was probably a small hint that home life might not be great for that child.
The wider area was of average wealth, and the school bought the pencils my mum gave out. I think, in some areas with particularly underfunded schools, teachers are known to spend their own money on things the poorest children need.
(I grew up in England.)