Missing school jumpers - to still be irrationally pissed off about this!

[RumblingOn]

Bought DS (Yr1 and still 5 so at young end) 2 new school jumpers after Easter hols named with permanent marker. One went missing on the 1st day he wore it, 2nd the following week. We are not allowed in classrooms so asked teacher to look out for them, still not turned up a few weeks later after re checking lost property so asked again. Teacher then gave me a jumper with no name in and which was obviously an older one, saying that I could have that instead to shut me up!

DS does take his jumper off most days (don't bother sending him in with one on warmer days) and I agree that he does forget to bring them out and I had no problem with this as he would normally bring a few home in one go a few days later but the new ones have never turned up. Teacher says it is his responsibility but my issue is that another child/ren has obviously taken them home and they have not been returned despite his name being in big letters on the label and written into the collar.

I am still steaming that they have been pretty much been nicked! His older well washed jumpers have always turned up, but not the nice fluffy obviously new ones.

Pissed off that I have essentially bought jumpers for another child, and financially we really struggle for money, so DS has been wearing old washed out ones!

AIBU to eye the other parents in DS's class with suspicion?

Maybe you could buy an officially approved logoed uniform jumper and embroider DC's name in enormous letters on the back (football shirt style) - then you'd know instantly if another kid was wearing it and it would still be the "proper" uniform :o

Lagirafe that is the one down side of kids travelling to school by bus! (That and once having to follow the bus in the car to retrieve a brand new coat left on the bus, and two other times having to go to the bus depo to retrieve coats left on buses)

I remember getting g one jumper back about a year late. Some cheeky parent had written their kid's name right under my kid's! This was in a well off area. We lost so much equipment in that particular school and that incident illustrated why!

Yanbu, 5 jumpers ds has had on 2 years. I have 1 left. They are labelled in numerous places. The parents must have washed them and can see the label but kept them anyway
Theft it is

Where do you get the trackers for PE bags? Eldest has lost his twice. Once it turned up after a week, then after six weeks!

Am really surprised at people who are dismissing this as 'one of those things'
Uniform is expensive and no where else (work place?) would you be expected to just take your items going missing as okay. I agree that if parents aren't allowed in the classroom then it is children taking things home but at that point a parent is allowing the stealing of other children's clothes.

I don't think it is very fair to have young children having to police the keeping of their own things. Teachers should get involved.

The embroidery of the child's name under the school logo is genius and probably not too expensive as lots of home machines will do letters so potential for someone working at home to be able to do it.

I've got a tracker disc on ds PE bag!

Never heard of this. Sounds interesting.

Dd's PE bag went missing at her new secondary. My first thought was that they might have a problem with theft. On a lost property thread on mumsnet though a secondary teacher said that parents often complain about things being stolen, but they rarely have, so i didn't say anything. I was very glad i didn't as first the PE bag was returned to her in tutor time without her Nike trainers. I still wondered if the trainers had been pilfered, but first one trainer was returned to her and then months later the other one. Looks like she'd just lost the stuff!

YANBU. Same issue here and it's infuriating. Not allowed past school gate after the second week of reception. My son (late August born with speech & communication delay) routinely lost stuff, was sent out in the pouring rain without his coat during 1st month there, lost PE kit etc (& he's not much better several years later). Schools own logoed uniform comes with free embroidery, so son has name stitched into waist band of jumpers, and I used Sharpie, later a fabric name stamp, AND name labels on BOTH inside labels, but still lost a brand new jumper the first time it was worn, never to be seen again. Have since given up and buy cheaper supermarket uniform or take left overs from the lost property sessions (at the schools suggestion). Noticeable that almost 50% of lost property is labelled/ embroidered, but school don't appear to make any attempt to return it to the correct child/ classroom etc. Appreciate they're busy but could be done termly, and the just-turned-4 year olds really do need a bit of support with remembering their stuff, particularly if parents aren't allowed in to help search. Agree with previous poster that sending them back in at pickup seems to be the best chance of getting the item (s) back.

We at DS's school label on the front (outside) of the uniform, on everything.

Might look a bit weird but as everyone does it you get used to it and staff/other kids can see if the kids are wearing other people's uniform.

No excuses for the kids/staff/parents to mix up uniform.

Try it - it will catch on.

When helping out at other stuff in the school I have done a quick search through the lost property box at school and returned bits to those children I know.

Schwab. You'd be surprised! A non uniform junior school with 360 pupils in very deprived area still managed to have 30-40 lost property coats piled in school hall to be claimed at end of term!

I asked before if I could go into school and sort and return named uniform. I was told it's the kids /parents responsibility to find it so no I couldn't do that! Also ds lost his Pekit once. It had fallen onto the changing room floor. There was a leak so every wet thing was put into two black bags minging away in the corner. One day I snuck in with him free school and found two black bags full of wet named clothes.
Yes some parents nick it undoubtedly but also sometimes it's only put out for collection a few times a year before its binned

Dd let 3 cardigans in the last 2 weeks of school! Only the home knitted one surfaced. It's completely our fault as she is plonker and forever throwing it off whilst outside playing, and bad mummy lost her name tapes and just wrote inside with permanent marker which since washed out leaving just a faint smudge; thought I'd order new name tapes and reset over the holidays! Teachers really, really have enough to do without policing lost property! And the embroidered name on outside of the jumper etc frightens me! Kids out on trips, walking home from school, in supermarket etc with their name on their chest; makes it a lot easier for someone unpleasant to start a conversation and seem less of a stranger if they can use their name without asking!!

lost not let

Oops

Beeziekn33ze yep, that's just kids being kids and losing stuff though - its not being stolen as its all there in lost property, and its mainly coats...

We're abroad in a country where state schools don't have uniforms, and we've only lost one coat permanetly so far (3 kids at 3 different schools, eldest has been in school or Kindergarten here 8 years so far). Other stuff gets misplaced and comes back, but as the kids wear their own clothes it would, I assume, be far more obvious if a child picks up and puts on somebody else's jumper, and it just doesn't ever happen!

TBH I only ever name shoes (they have to change into indoor shoes in primary and Kindergarten), wellies and outer wear, I don't name T shirts, jumpers, jeans, shorts, nor even PE kit (they can wear any suitable sport clothing, no PE uniform but keep it in a PE bag on their peg at Kindergarten and primary). Despite changing for PE twice a week from age 3 and German Kindergartens seeing fostering self sufficiency as pretty much the highest priority so encouraging the kids to do everything for themselves trousers, socks, T shirts and jumpers never seem to disappear. I think the problem is all the kids wearing the same clothes and having to have those items by hook or by crook...

That's something that is better at secondary school, that all named lost property is returned to them in tutor time. I assume maybe because they have more staff/resources to be able to do this?

Iron on name label very visible on the neck area of jumper works as its a bitch to remove. Marker on labels just gets scribbled on or labels cut out. I've only lost one and my eldest finished primary yesterday. It was a marker pen one. I always check they have them on the way out and send them back in if not.

I do marker pen and visible labels btw. Once ds was given a second hand jumper from a friend. I chucked it on him the next day without thinking about labels. It was promptly returned to his friend in the year above who came out with two jumpers...

If children's names were transferred onto the back of jumpers like football players, it would end the problem. It might look odd, but school uniform is pretty hideous anyway.

2boys : yes same here, I do it surreptitiously! Ridiculous really to be put in the role of a rebel for handing back property to 6 year olds..

All identical clothing contributes to the problem as Schwabischer says. Losses are less likely on trips away when they wear their own clothes ime.

It is incredibly annoying!

DD 'lost' a fairly new cardigan with her name label clearly sewn in but it was never returned.

I work at an infant school (that DD attended) and her jacket went missing. Was pretty bloody annoyed.

One day at playtime, I saw a younger girl wearing an identical jacket. I asked another member of staff to check the label and it had my DD's name clearly labelled in it!!!!!

What parent thinks that's ok???!!!!!

www.thetrackr-uk.co.uk/#&panel1-2

Reception teacher here.

At the end of everyday all labelled jumpers are returned to the children. However, there is nothing to stop children putting on a jumper that they think is theirs and wearing that home. Generally they are returned, but not always.
Small children don't recognise their own clothes, even when it isn't uniform. I remember after PE one day holding up a tshirt that I had found on the floor trying to find the owner. It had a sparkly kitten on it. No one claimed it.

I still ended the year with two bin bags full of lost property, mainly jumpers.