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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to urge you all to label every single item of uniform/ clothing that your child wears or takes to school in september?

109 replies

gymboywalton · 05/07/2014 09:25

Doesn't have to be a sewn in label, just a name in or on everything. A laundry marker would do. Put on jumpers, shirts, p.e , bags, shoes....especially p.e pumps! Please put a name in coats too!! And on bags and water bottles- those sticky labels you can buy are ideal for this.

I work in a school and this week I have spent so much time trying to find items of clothing. At this time of year, the lost property cupboard is overflowing. It is heartbreaking seeing lovely coats, smart trainers and hundreds of identical jumpers all with no name on!!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
gymboywalton · 06/07/2014 11:30

sorry-read too quicklyBlush

yes-imagine! that would be good fun!Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
gymboywalton · 06/07/2014 11:31

it genuinely confuses the hell out of me-why would you spend a fortune on uniform that is IDENTICAL to that being worn by 300 other kids in the smae place and then NOT label it? Confused

OP posts:
wobblyweebles · 06/07/2014 13:20

Yet another reason uniforms are a daft idea...

TheCuriousOwl · 06/07/2014 15:42

Uniforms aren't a daft idea.

It's one thing that people try and steal 'nicer' uniform.

What about when kids can wear what they like? The well off kids will be wearing expensive stuff that others can't afford, the accusations of theft (probably rightly) will be off the scale. And if you have saved up for the same lovely item as your better-off friends and it then walks, how gutting for you.

Uniform stops you having to worry about what you're going to wear. The expectation is taken off you to wear the 'right' thing. My only gripe is that it is sometimes so expensive. Schools can't insist on using one supplier then making it £20 for a school skirt Hmm

FryOneFatManic · 06/07/2014 16:19

windchime Sat 05-Jul-14 19:46:55
In my experience, labelled clothing always ends up in lost property anyway, because staff can't be bothered to look. This means you still have to sort through a ton of manky stinky clothing, shoes, swim bags, etc. I got the point of cutting labels out of anything DCs brought home by mistake. Finders, keepers

No, it's not finders keepers, it's classed as theft by finding. especially as you haven't made any effort to find the owner.

I get sick of spending money on buying uniform, spending time on labelling, for stuff to get stolen in this way.

If you DC bring stuff home by mistake, have the decency to send it back. Angry

wobblyweebles · 06/07/2014 16:21

What about when kids can wear what they like? The well off kids will be wearing expensive stuff that others can't afford, the accusations of theft (probably rightly) will be off the scale. And if you have saved up for the same lovely item as your better-off friends and it then walks, how gutting for you.

Nope this doesn't happen.

spookyskeleton · 06/07/2014 16:24

I know that clothes need to be labelled but I was fairly pissed off with the school last year when we attended a class assembly. Whilst all the parents were waiting, we were given a bag of lost property to go through. In there was one of DS1's jumpers, clearly labelled so why was it in lost property?? I lost faith in the system at that point.

BornToFolk · 06/07/2014 16:29

Um, spooky you know that you (or your child) is supposed to check the lost property when you lose something, don't you? That's how the system works...You got the jumper back, why were you pissed off? Hmm

andmyunpopularopionis · 06/07/2014 16:51

Oh naming things definitely works. DD had an item of clothing, clearly labeled. It disappeared. DS brought it home earlier this year. It had been 'lost' for 4 YEARS! It had not been in lost property and is still named. 4 Years... where was it?

differentnameforthis · 06/07/2014 16:51

FryOneFatManic

We get that too, parents who cut out labels & keep the item because they can't be bothered to replace what their dh has lost, or are just plain nasty & lazy!

It pisses me off, why do I have to pay for clothes for another dc to wear!

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 06/07/2014 17:02

Naming once generally works for us, DCs are Years 3 and 5 and so far we've only permanently lost one glove, everything else has come back eventually, anything left at hometime stays in the cloakrooms until the end of term, but you are free to go in at the end of the day and look for anything your DCs have left. Tiny lost property pile in the school office too as I discovered when I went in search of the glove, literally just a few gloves and socks.

SarahAndFuck · 06/07/2014 17:42

I label as much as possible, although shoes and pumps are difficult if they are entirely black.

I did sew bits of coloured embroidery thread in them where possible, and even wrote initials on the outside or on soles of shoes where possible.

I also took photo's of everything. The item, distinctive patterns or markings on coats, the labels with my writing on them, the bits of thread showing, the initials on the soles of the shoes. Everything.

So far we haven't lost anything but in September DS goes up to year 1 and I can't go in with him in a morning or to collect him at the end of the day, so that might make things a bit more awkward. At the moment I normally check his peg and shoe shelf every day to make sure everything is where it should be, and I won't be able to do that in September.

Pipbin · 06/07/2014 17:43

I have just sorted through the lost property pile on my room. 12 jumpers, one pair of PE shorts and a PE top. None of it had names in.

Every so often we take a pile home and wash to sell at £1 a jumper. No one wanted them. We sold about two.

What really winds me up though is the parents who can't understand why I can't leave the rest of the reception class who haven't been collected yet to go and look for their child's jumper. Which doesn't have a name in it.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 06/07/2014 17:48

Maybe ours is easier because all DCs are dropped off and picked up at the cloakroom for their class (max two classes per cloakroom, all open directly off playground) so it is easy for us to pop in and out and grab stray items, or send a DC back in themselves. Wouldn't work if children all entered through a main entrance some way from their classrooms.

ICanSeeTheSun · 06/07/2014 19:07

Got around the jumper/cardigan by having forename ans surname put under the logo.

It can't be undone unless the item is damaged.

I have done the same for pe kit.

Before that most weeks I was replacing jumpers or cardigans. Yes the name was put inside.

GoogleyEyes · 06/07/2014 19:16

SarahAndFuck Shoes are easy to label - get the stick on labels (ideally in a very bright colour), stick them inside the shoe where the heel goes (so clearly visible) then add the shoe label protector thingy. I got mine from easy2name, but I'm sure lots of places do them. Choosing slightly non-standard shoe brands helps, too.

SarahAndFuck · 06/07/2014 19:30

I did have shoe labels but they all came off. I don't know if I had a rubbish brand or if DS has especially jammy feet, but they didn't stick for even a week before they were off.

I'll have a look at easy2name if you think they are worth it.

SarahAndFuck · 06/07/2014 19:31

There was meant to be a thank you in there Grin

GoogleyEyes · 06/07/2014 19:37

I think the special shoe label protectors make a big difference, so I'd give those a try. Dd1 is fairly gentle with her stuff, but she did wear the labelled shoes every single day so they definitely got hot / sweaty / sandy / wet and the labels didn't shift.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 06/07/2014 19:39

I use Easy2Name shoe label covers but they are very variable, some shoes they stay put all year, others they have to be replaced every few weeks, tends to be the ones with fabric insoles rather than smooth ones.

ICanSeeTheSun · 06/07/2014 19:47

In the theme of school things, please check every night for head lice

FatalCabbage · 06/07/2014 23:02

Shoes are easy. Sew a name tape into the (padded) tongue.

Minisoksmakehardwork · 07/07/2014 08:13

Naming things doesn't stop them being put in the big pile of clothes in our school Hmm I'm always retrieving dd's cardigans from lost property. I've even retrieved them from the spare clothes box. Each and every item of her clothes is labelled. I've even done socks now! And still I have to go on a hunt for them. I did have words with the teacher when I found them in the spare clothes box. Lost property is fine. It's easier than checking for names. But spare clothes mean you often won't see them again as people consider them truly lost and fair game.

Original poster
gymboywalton · 07/07/2014 11:27

but you did find them. if they didn't have her name on them, you'd be stuck

OP posts:
PoirotsMoustache · 07/07/2014 13:31

Most of my DS's PE kit has gone missing. The bag is labelled, and different from all other bags. His trainers are marked with his name, as are the jogging bottoms, shorts and very expensive jumper with the school logo, which I was hoping would last 2 school years. He gets changed in the classroom by himself, so it can't have been accidentally picked up in the changing rooms. It's not in lost property, it's not at home. Someone has mistakenly taken it home and not returned it, that's the only thing I can think of.

Funnily enough, his named t-shirt appeared in the changing rooms last week (the ones he doesn't go into), so my guess is another child is using his gear. I'm pretty annoyed because not only is the jumper costly, he has extra-wide feet, so I have to pay Clarks' ridiculous prices for the trainers.

Sorry for the rant there, this thread just set me off! Blush