To what extent are the school responsible for (Reception aged) kids belongings?

[Crunchymum]

It's all kicked off on my parents group as one of the kids has lost an expensive (think Nike or similar jumper). A few parents are saying it needs to be reported to the office whereas another mum helpfully said "this is why I never send them in with anything valuable or expensive".

One parent in particular has taken umbrage to this and has demanded we all start to log any lost items with the school office (copying in the headteacher!). This particular parent's child has lost at least 3 expensive items this term.

Of course it's now kicked off as another parents has helpfully pointed out that if the child keeps on losing expensive things maybe they should stop being sent in with expensive things (I haven't replied and won't but I'm definitely more on the side with this parent!)

What do we think? Should the school take some level of responsibility or are the parents asking for trouble sending in things they don't want lost? 🤔

Nah @OliviaFlaversham not sure what YOU'RE imagining here...

They do have a certain amount of responsibility, yes. Much as if stuff gets nicked higher up the school.

Christ yes. Why should school deal with lost Nike tracksuits?

In my class of 26 there are about 4 children whose jumpers have bames in them.
We had a message from a parent to sayvthat their child had lost 8 jumpers. 😲
But then asded that they didn't have names in

Wtf? How on earth are we supposed to help children keep track of stuff when NOthibg is baned?

I'm 99% sure you're not a teacher.

I used to work in reception and I remember once a child complaining they couldn’t find their jumper at home time. Lots of looking in drawers, pegs, reading area. No jumper. Turned out another child was found to be wearing 2 jumpers when they got home! 😂😂

You're assuming though that if things get lost then it must be the fault of the school not having a "system" in place. I will eat my hat if there is ANY primary school in the country where the child doesn't have at least a named peg to hang their belongings on, and doesn't teach the children to read their own name 🙄 That's all the "system" there needs to be.
But it makes sod all difference if clothing isn't named properly BY THE PARENTS. Or if Johnny decides he likes Jimmy's jumper better than his, and Johnny's mum agrees and therefore won't return it. Or if they leave their jumper in the playground, it gets soaking wet and filthy in the rain. Or they leave it in a different area of the school that they have visited and takes a while to get back to where it needs to be, or doesn't get there at all due to one of the above.

Anyone who thinks children losing things is purely a problem for school staff to fix needs their head examined. We do what we can to reunite lost belongings with their owners but sometimes we are really fighting a losing battle and the parents who insist on sending their children to school in expensive branded gear, then getting narky when it goes missing, are a big problem.

It's genuinely surprising how few parents label their children's clothes - at least 50% if not 75% is unlabelled.

Can confirm that I had to go through my class' coats the other day.

A whole three of them had names in.

It's really frustrating for school staff, too. We know those jumpers and coats and wellies cost parents good money. Takes seconds to get a bloody biro and write your kid's name on the label, means you're much more likely to get it returned if kiddo loses it.

(And please check occasionally that it hasn't faded beyond recognition).

And, well, yeah. If you don't send the expensive stuff in to school, they can't lose it there. Name label stuff is sadly particularly at risk of theft.

All uniform named CLEARLY
each child has a peg and a cubby hole
When take jumper off goes in cubby hole
Etc etc

Then they go out to play ....jumper comes off and gets left under the swing or by the tree
They go to the hall ....jumper gets left in there
They don't come with it on from .,Home or Breakfast club ...

As long as it's named it will get back to the, eventually
The amount of tame I've wasted as a TA looking for a jumper or hat or toy ..to find that often said item is in Dads car ,or granny's boot etc

When I taught reception we always had a ‘jumper box’ and any left lying around the classroom were put in there. Emptied every evening as they lined up to go home, takes a minute at most.

However, as a parent we never sent anything to school that was valuable.

When we sell the school jumpers to parents we get them to check it fits then we offer to write their child's name in the item using fabric pen. That works quite well (but only for those who buy their uniforms from school).

I really think teachers and TAs have better things to do than keeping track of children's jumpers. It's totally parent's responsibility to name it and make sure their children don't lose them.

I agree with you, I certainly wouldn't expect my daughter's teacher to do that, home time can be bedlam as it is. The parent should show up in a timely fashion, then they can gather their child's belongings and if they notice anything is missing they can check with parents and their children there and then. Hardly rocket science. I do it on a daily basis despite my daughter having SEN and a one to one assistant. Mind you I think anyone sending kids into a setting for young children is verging on pure stupidity anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if the belongings never existed in the first place and they're trying to just get money from the school.

Schools.can't be responsible for every child's belongings. They have enough to do.

I find if labelled jumpers do eventually turn up, although did once have one returned in a plastic bag after DC had left it on the field and a fox got hold of it! A few times I've had to trawl through the massive pile of lost property and it amazes me how much is unlabelled.

This. The last thing teachers have time for is finding every lost thing, especially when the children are 4. Expensive things should not be sent into school and anything that is, has to be very clearly named.

One of mine was always losing things at school. It was my job to label things, my job to reming them to take better care of their belongings, my job to go back in to school with them to look for said lost items. In short, parent your children and stop expecting schools to do everything for you. I ended up buying my child a water bottle that they really lived, reminded them daily about taking care of it. They knew if it was lost they were back to a plain, boring 99p bottle.

Sorry, I still can’t get over the horror of taking Reception swimming @Splodgerbodgerbadger .

I find own clothes days so stressful because I am on high alert for lost property. It does take time out of the day in EYFS, but it also takes a lot of headspace which I find really draining. So satisfying watching the children start to get the hang of their class routines though 😍.

No, the school shouldn't be responsible for personal items being lost. If there's a spate of thefts from bags, that's slightly different and they should do things like keep the classroom door locked at lunchtime etc., but if kids are just careless with their belongings, it's not the school's responsibility.

I'm with the parent who thinks you shouldn't send anything to school that is too valuable to risk being lost or damaged. Everything, regardless of value, should also have a name written inside it.

This. And if anything, shouldn't her kid be responsible for not losing it in the first place

Feel very sorry for the teachers at your school OP having to deal with this the week before break up for the Xmas holidays when they are most definitely knackered from school plays, data inputs, school fair, various bugs they’ve caught etc Honestly 😩
They will all have a peg and a drawer. I guarantee the teacher will have spoken to them about where they need to put their jumper and helped where possible. Expensive Nike jumpers should not be in school end of - which is what I would be telling the parent if anyone came to me with such a complaint. She will be laughed out of the school office.

This. Absolutely.

@OliviaFlaversham do you work in a school with a uniform? Do you honestly put 30 identical jumpers in a basket? What happens if they are not named?

I work in a school and I smashed at how many parents just don't bother labelling items of clothing and then complain that we can't locate their (same as 59 other children's) jumper:

Kids fling their coats, jumpers etc off in odd corners of the playground. You'd have to be really stupid to send your kid into school with anything you are precious about. Kids care more about having fun than they do about their clothes.