AIBU No solution to PE kit problem

[Lottikins]

I have 3 of my children at the same secondary school, and I am so fed up of PE kit vanishing.
Last summer term both DS's PE bags vanished. I bought DS2 a whole new PE kit over the summer holidays.Last term he had PE during the day, but when it was hometime he looked for his kit (which he wanted for local basket ball club)and it had disapperaed from the peg.Before the xmas holidays we went through absolutely everything in the cloakrooms in the cubbyholes and the lost property- nothing!
DD went to do PE on Thursday and found her bag unzipped and her PE top missing.
PE kits are supposed to be left on shelves in the cloakroom (completely insecure).The kids have lockers but they are too small to store PE kit in,and dotted anywhere around the school so no tim to fetch them before PElesson.In fact in the case of DS2, his locker is actually within a classroom so he has no access to it most of the time.
The kids get detention if they don't have their complete PE kit so I think they just go and 'borrow' them from someone else's bag.They never turn up agin though.
I have raised the matter with the school who although very understanding can't offer any practical solutions.

They have cloakrooms in a secondary school? Where?
It's not going to help find old lost kit, which is annoying in itself, but your dc's might just have to carry their kit around with them in a bag. If a teacher questions it, saying "my kit keeps getting stolen, I need to keep it with me" should suffice.
How small are their lockers/how much kit do they have?

They have normal sports holdalls which don't fit into lockers.But the point is that even if they did, they would not have time to collect their kit from them before PE because the lockers are not necessarily near the changing rooms or near their formroom
.The cloakrooms are by the entrance hall-one for girls, one for boys , close to the main toilets and changing rooms.
I think a solution would be for the school to require the students initials to be stitched onto the PE garments, so it would be obvious if they were wearing someone else's kit.
I am curious what happens in other schools wrt to storing PE kit.

Dds school has lockers if you are lucky enough to have been allocated one. Others carry in their pe kit on the day and take them round with them.

DS1 carries his around with him in his bag all day, along with everything else. There are no lockers, as far as I know. I did the same when I was in school (because my school had no lockers either).

My ds is at secondary school and he has to carry his with him all day.
Why can't your dc do the same? It'd solve the problem

My DCs carry their kit around with them, or leave it in their locker until the break time before their lesson. All kit is named. If anyone doesn't have their correct kit, the teachers give them access to the lost property bin, so they can take something out of there. That's enough to ensure your DC remember their whole kit next time.

If kit ever does go missing, it's usually because the DC hasn't been careful to pack it away in their bag. It usually turns up, though.

We had no lockers or cloakrooms and just carried ours around all day.

My DD has lost her PE Kit apart from the plimsols, luckily she has a spare.

I think they are just going to have to carry their kit with them all day. It's a nuisance but better than having it go missing.

How about trying the 'iron on letter transfers' from easy2name. If you choose some a similar colour to the pe kit you could stick them on the OUTSIDE of the uniform so your DCs can easily see their name if other children have 'borrowed' them, but they aren't too obvious and breaking uniform rules.

There is a solution - carry the kit around all day. Just like previous posters and I did. Its a bit of a pain but much less so than having kit go missing. I don't know why this isn't done tbh.

Ours have to carry kit with them - AND they should their initial+surname embroidered on the outside of ALL PE kit. You get detention for not having correct kit or for wearing someone else's.

If you have not got your name on your kit, then it is not a detention offence, but if it goes walkies it is down to the child parent to find or replace it by next lesson.

Ours does not go missing.

DIY My daughter has those, her name is in everything, even her shoes, its kept loses down to a ok level.

Ds's school does not have lockers, nor pegs. Most form tutors are happy for students to leave stuff in a cupboard in form room (musical instruments for instance, or hockey sticks etc) and the rest of the time the students carry their belongings with them.

Ds has only once lost a rugby top but it transpired that him and a mate had accidentally packed each others's tops after rugby and both tops were named so easily switched back.

I feel your pain.

I have taken to sewing in name labels in multiple places inside and out on the PE kit: upshot is that if a child impulsively borrowed DC kit, everyone would see the wrong name labels stuck on it (luckily we have slightly unusual surname). DS PE shorts have FIVE labels sewn on them, 4 or 5 on the rugby shirt, etc.

Could you not use bags that you could fit a padlock to? Would stop people helping themselves to bits of kit and make it less likely to have the whole bag stolen as too much hassle to get into (plus other bags would be an 'easier target')

They could not carry it round with them because they are not allowed to take any bags at all into the library or science labs.they take out their pens and calculator and exercise book or file, and leave the bags on shelves outside.

Attach a tag? And screw it so the name shows on the outside of the garment? Unless the 'borrower' has the correct tool or is particularly adept, it will leave a hole if its removed as they are screw in buttons effectively.

stop the thieving buggers

For it to continually go missing I'd think it was the same person taking it, rather than different people all the time. They've found your dc are an easy target.

Could you put a combination lock on the bag if its double zipped? Might be a deterrent.

i agree about naming on the outside. what do the school think about this problem??

When I was at school the only way to prevent a kit being stolen was to wear it under your uniform!! Shoes were just stuffed into school bags, not really a solution as kits are so much bigger now.

As others have said, why can't they carry everything around with them? Problem solved.

We didn't have lockers and just carried everything around. I do remember the days when I had PE, hockey and food tech were a little tricky!

A combination lock is a fab idea!
I don't see why my Dc would particularly be a target.Everyones PE kits and coats are left in the cloakrooms- that is wha they are for!

They could not carry it round with them because they are not allowed to take any bags at all into the library or science labs.they take out their pens and calculator and exercise book or file, and leave the bags on shelves outside

So? They are hardly likely to have PE kit go missing by people quickly hunting for a tshirts if the bag is outside the library.

well that's true.

I completely disagree with all of those saying the DC should carry their kit around with them. Children can really damage their backs carrying around heavy backpacks, they should be encouraged to carry LESS, not MORE!!!!