Should I just put my money directly in the bin?

😀My son lost so many keys that, at one time, if anyone found a key in the street in our town, it would almost certainly fit my door!

DD1 lost her long sleeved PE top in Y7, and I refused to replace it new - I got a 2nd hand one but she wouldn't wear it because it previously belonged to a boy! She froze all winter and hasn't lost anything since, she knows to double check after PE now.

Name everything. Be prepared that you have to replace everything, so buy cheap lunch boxes, water bottles, pens, pencil cases.

Photograph timetables as soon as they get a new one. Photograph logins for online learning.

Keep last year’s uniform because frankly, a blazer that’s a bit too small is better than nowt. Well it’s not that you don’t have it, it’s because invariably with SEN they will be anxious they don’t have it. And having something that’s passable at least lets you get them in the car in the morning.

Teach checking at transition points. We make a big thing of checking just before we leave the house. Just before they leave the car. Again at pick up, we check - not because they’re going to go back in and get it at secondary, more because if you can pin point when/where it was lost you stand a chance of finding it again.

For secondary, don’t get a small bag. I know with SEN child it’s tempting, but it’s taking stuff in/out the bag to get a PE kit or trainers or pencil case that means everything doesn’t go back in.

But the best advice is prepare for things to go missing. We have spare timetables printed out because inevitably, it isn’t there in the morning. We have stacks of pens because inevitably they’ve come home with four rulers and three highlighters that weren’t theirs and no pens you sent them with. And allow consequences to happen, sometimes a smidge of anxiety helps.

These look really good, I might order some… In the pictures online is look like the surface of them is a bit rough (worried about sensory issues). Or is that just the pictures and they’re actually smooth? Would seem odd for them to be made with a rough surface if they’re meant for labelling clothes!

You could get a Lockbox for the front door keys , they are quite inexpensive and quite easy to install x

Firstly, to the people that are mentioning consequences some SEN diagnosis means that consequences just don’t feature and cannot be understood . My 14 year-old has lost everything possible - including replacements for the things he has lost -many times over throughout all his school years. You can label everything but believe me, it’s very hard to get things back. Somewhere out there there is a world full of his blazers, keys, PE kits , whole school bags with book in them , pencil cases, shoes, ties, and the number of other things.! He even loses expensive things that he has bought with his own money and bar tying them onto him.. we are out of ideas. Acceptance and not buying expensive goods is the only way we have stayed sane. We are poorer as a result but this is the child we have . He’s always sorry but bemused . Hope the things suggested work for you and you have better results than us …good luck. !

The additional bag is an excellent level up to what we are doing. High praise!

School blazers are actually really useful or ADHDers. Plenty pockets and you have to wear it. Men’s suit jackets are similarly blessed unlike stupid inconsistent womens clothing. I’m steadily organising a work wardrobe which has consistent pockets every day.

KEY SAFE seriously get a key safe now dont tell them its there but its there if needed

We also have tiles. With the subscription so it tells you if you are too far away from them.

slim ones in wallets/bags. Stick on ones on earbud case and headphones. Normal ones on keys, lanyard for work pass.

Its easier as an adult with a desk because you can have work things that stay there to avoid the leaving things in the wrong place.

Proper embroidered name labels, securely machine sewn into every item. The iron-on, stamp-on, write-on ones fade quickly. Is there a dress code type thing for bags etc, or can you buy her something really stand-out and eye-catching so she can recognise it and others won't pinch it?

https://amzn.eu/d/36bhtHD

retractable keychain which can’t be detached from the key safe. Long enough to reach the door!

I’ve got many things on these.
including hairbrushes - you can drill a hole in the handle if there isn’t one.

1. Tiles in/ on everything
2. name labels with your phone number - game changer.

My only advice would be to write the name and your mobile number into clothes, with ‘reward given if found’

All kids loose things… but adding reward given has meant that all lost property gets returned!

To third this, names on all items! It's the only way.

With DS2, who has ADHD, we found putting a second bag (just a cloth tote thing) inside his school bag really helpful on PE days or when he had a club. He had to put what he was taking off straight in the small bag as it came off, then he could get his PE kit/karate things out of his school bag. Once everything was out, he put the tote bag back inside the school bag. He then did it in reverse at the end. It stopped him putting things down mid-change and forgetting to pick them back up.

He also had a luggage label on his peg with a list of things to check at the end of the day, which reduced the number of times he left his water bottle/pack up/book bag.

Now he's at secondary, he has specific pockets in his bag for things, so he doesn't have to hunt when he gets to each lesson, and (like pp mentioned) he says he puts things in there on autopilot now. He still does the tote bag system on PE days, and we've only lost one rugby shirt and one trainer since he started. He's in Y8 now, so it's getting better!

I would buy her a new leavers hoodie for Christmas - 1) she has to wait until Christmas to get it 2) she has one less present 3) tell her and you’ll find out whether the hoodie is important or not

AirTags are good especially if you add it to her phone as it’ll do a notification to tell her when she’s left it behind

Boggles the mind? Trump getting elected twice boggles the mind. String Theory boggles the mind. Taking an unmarked school jumper from lost property after losing the exact same jumper rather than buying another new one - less mind boggling.

It boggles the mind...wait for the end of term then.

At the end of each term school have so much lost property that they put it out as a take for free anyway by the school gets! Then at year end send email after email asking people tonPLEASE come and check for their kids stuff and warning anything left at the end of the school year is going to go to local uniform exchange if in good condition or be recycled if not.

Yup! Would and did. Not if it had a name on it though, only unmarked ones and not straight away. After a couple of weeks checking for our actual lost item. Which some other kid was probably wearing…

We use those really heavy duty stickers that can go through the dishwasher, washing machine etc.

Each child has their own bright colour and a picture on it as well as their name and a phone number. So child one has bright green with a red heart on, child two has orange with a green tree on, child three has blue with a yellow star on. They go on EVERYTHING, in the most obvious location (label at the nape of the neck of jumpers, on the front of the swimming bag, in the back of the waistband of trousers).

The visual cue seems to work much better than normal name labelling.

I did have a school child with sen and I do appreciate children are different , but my child needed some guidance to take some reapisibility for forgetting things or losing things, so sometimes she did have to contribute towards a missing item or even face the consequences of not looking after stuff, I don't think swooping in and saving them every time especially as they are a bit older and heading to secondary is beneficial.

Look don’t let it come completely out of her savings. Lots of well intentioned people here commenting. I’m guessing those people have not had to navigate the fine balance between getting a SEN child to work with you (and not lose the jumper or to pay more attention) and getting completely overwhelmed to the point where they are having huge meltdowns and even potentially not going to school.

If you overload the child with SEN, they cannot cope and the fallout could be massive and not swiftly resolved.

It is a delicate balance.

”She goes to the most fay and mimsy school for wimps imaginable”

Sorry @ThedaBara but this made me properly laugh.

I feel your pain, though: I have 2 with ADHD and I swear on all that’s good and holy in this world that I’ve kitted their entire school out in jumpers etc.

She's offered for it to come out of her savings, which i won't do

Why not? She might take more care of her stuff if she had to pay for it.