to bring this up with the school?

[CoralRose]

DS is 5yo, and came home from school with his thick winter coat ripped. He said another child had pull this hood. It's a good quality coat and must have been pulled with a fair amount of force. Worth a mention, or just one of those things?

It's a shame for you but honestly, unless he had been hurt and scared by whatever caused the rip, I wouldn't bother.

Get a cheaper coat for now. Can the other one be mended?

I would tell the teacher, just so she knows that some fairly rough play seems to be going unnoticed!

Thinking about this - I would mention it to the teacher, to make sure they know, but wouldn't mention the cost of the coat - otherwise the real message risks being lost in them thinking you're BU in sending your child in expensive clothes.

Has anyone thought of tucking the hoods into the backs of the coats? I suppose a 5 year old can't be given the responsibility for that but each could get a friend to do it.

babybythesea - I'm not saying they should have stopped it, but wondering if I should mention so that the teacher can maybe have a word with the class about rough play. The fact that it's ripped shows it was with some force, this could be dangerous. OTOH I don't want to come off as a pansy if this is one of those things to be expected.

I removed the hood after the incident, but it's not stopped the material being slashed and other seams coming apart.

I may go back to a heavy duffel coat next year. Or just buy a few of the £10 Asda school jackets instead.

Unless there are hundreds of children in the playground, clothes pulling is easy to spot and stop.

It wouldn't hurt to mention it to the teacher so they can have a general reminder about behaviour anyway.

NannyOgg, at my school three teachers were usually looking after about 360 children. So yes, there are hundreds of children in the playground. You might spot a hood being pulled once the pulling has actually happened, but unless you make the children walk around in formation (which we were forced to do at primary school - no running was allowed) there's no way to spot it and stop it before it happens.

This is why I buy coats on ebay for about £6-£8! I've had Next, John Lewis, M&S all in perfect condition for that price, as opposed to £30 a piece new. It's just not worth it, it really isn't.

FFS ! £55 for a school coat and for a 5yr old !
Lesson learnt !

Ahem.

I do have 2 other younger boys, so it was bought with hand me downs being considered.

Oh, forgot the !

£12 for winter coat from sainsburys and has been 100% fine (apart from seeing every other kid inthe world in it). I wouldn't take it up with school - what would you want them to do excatly?

There are lots of things where you do "get what you pay for" in terms of durability, etc. School coats, IME, are not one of them. The cheap ones may not be especially attractive, but they are certainly tough. DS used to come home looking like he had been rolling down a muddy hill every day (because he had) and his cheap and nasty outgrown coats, once washed, don't look even noticeably secondhand. Expensive waterproof trousers are a different story - no chance of DD inheriting the ragged remains of those .

I have been in exactly this situation - although the Mum of the hood-ripping other child did at least apologise and offer to pay for a new coat. But I got out my needle and thread and repaired it myself. Mine was a uniform coat though.

I don't think you should mention it to the school though - it is the sort of thing that happens all the time and not really their problem. Next time buy a coat with a velcro attaching hood so less damage can be done.

You shouldn't spend a lot on school coats. And secondly, the teacher should treat anyone's damaged coat the same, whatever it cost.

By which I don't mean that it's okay for coats to get ripped-just that it's a pain whatever the cost of the coat.

You've got to decide what you want from the school if you bring this to their attention. Or, perhaps more realistically, what they think they could reasonably do. Because coat pulling and the like does go on even though I'm sure that schools would prefer not to see clothes damaged. So personally, I'd avoid the possibility of making a fool of myself and certainly, I'd think twice about spending that much on a coat again.

My DD's coat has a detachable hood but it's held on with 3 poppers. Someone obviously pulled her hood and the middle popper has broken off. As it's a plastic coat with a fleece lining I can't sew a popper back on. It's really annoying, but nothing you can do.

Regardless of handing down I would buy cheap coat for school - My youngest currently wears a BHS coat handed down from his older brother - still life in it but will off to charity shop when he is done with it.

There is so much rough and tumble at school , they will get dirty and may even get lost - £55 still alot of money and I think false economy for a' hand me down school coat' .

I would bring it up in a friendly manner so that they can have a chat in assembly with all the children about respecting each others' property and about being careful.

Then in future I too would definitely buy a cheaper coat. I got my DS one from Tesco recently for £10, reduced from £18, and DD2 has a lovely duffle coat (just like the Boden duffle) from Asda, it was about £15.

I would mention it to school, about rough play, but not expect money back.

For £55 you should expect a boy's that could take a lot of beating up & rough play. Sounds more like you bought a coat that was not Fit for Purpose, you might have a case with the people who sold it to you.
DC £3 Charity shop coats have handed down very nicely (I have 3 boys, too).

I think charity shop coats are the way to go. It must have done well to make it to at least its second owner.