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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say if not found the SCHOOL should replace it?

375 replies

Arrowfanatic · 06/09/2016 20:26

Day one of school today. My year one son came out of school crying as his book bag has gone missing. This book bag is an expensive one issued by the school, I cannot afford to replace it.

He had it in school, the teachers were very half hearted about it. Suggested another child took it home, but since there were no bags in the classroom left over this child would presumably have left with 2 bags.

I told the teacher if it wasn't found tomorrow I would expect the school to replace it. The way I see it the bag was sent in to school, I have no control on how the bags are stored in school so why should I have to replace what is an expensive item when it's not my fault & a 5 year old who goes to get his back from the storage & find it missing is also not to blame.

OP posts:
JudyCoolibar · 08/09/2016 18:50

Can you imagine how much it would cost the school to pay for duplicates of items that children have lost

What is the relevance of this? This is an item the school has lost.

JudyCoolibar · 08/09/2016 18:52

Kids leave their bags lying around, another picks it up as it looks like theirs.

But this kid didn't leave his bag lying around. He put it in his drawer, the teacher says she took it out of the drawer and put it in a box with the other 29 identical bags. It's asking for trouble unless she makes sure that she takes each bag out herself and gives it to the correct owner.

GoblinLittleOwl · 08/09/2016 19:42

I would imagine from the lack of response from the OP that the book bag has been reunited with its rightful owner.
Still no explanation of why it cost £30.

clam · 08/09/2016 20:15

It is perfectly reasonable for a teacher to decide not to keep book bags in trays. Apart from anything else, they take up far too much room (particularly ones that cost £30 - surely that must mean they're huge, unless instead they're gold-plated - what else would cost that much?). None of our children keep bags in trays; most classes have baskets to put them in and this fits in with the way the specific teacher organises groups for guided reading/individual reading or changing books daily.

Ego147 · 08/09/2016 20:38

I was in school today. TA was listening to children read next to a box full of red book bags. I was going to mention this thread to him Grin

At the end of the day, a y1 child had lost her cardi. I did help her find it. There were a lot of jumpers lying around.

collarsandcuffs · 08/09/2016 20:48

Judy I have physically given a child his book bag and sweatshirt at the end of the day. In the time it takes me to walk to the door and look at the parents waiting outside he has put it down 'somewhere'. Each time he couldn't remember. Each time no one else has seen or has it. Today it was shoved under a unit in the classroom. This is not uncommon. I don't have 20 minutes each day to spend looking for it when a child can't follow instructions.

SparkleMotions · 08/09/2016 21:52

The link showing any kind of £30 bookbag has not materialised however

Maybe the bookbag was bought through the school specifically and not a generic one that you can just order online! I can't imagine why the OP would lie about the price?!

SharonfromEON · 08/09/2016 21:55

Just come back to this thread...DS has been in hospital...

So assuming OP has disappeared..Did we ever find out what was so special about book bag?

JudyCoolibar · 08/09/2016 21:57

It's fine for a teacher to decide not to keep book bags in trays. However, when she puts them into a box in her care she takes responsibility for them.

SparkleMotions · 08/09/2016 21:59

mamawingingit1234

Best response on here! 👍

JudyCoolibar · 08/09/2016 21:59

collarsandcuffs, in this case the bag wasn't in the box when OP's child went to get it.

Ego147 · 08/09/2016 22:00

However, when she puts them into a box in her care she takes responsibility for them

It's a box in the classroom which anyone can access. It's not like it's locked away under lock and key.

Ego147 · 08/09/2016 22:02

But if we are dealing with such expensive items such as £30 bookbags, maybe the box should be kept somewhere safe such as the cupboard and people who access it have to return the expensive items safely.

I would suggest that even a drawer is not a safe place for such an expensive item.

JudyCoolibar · 08/09/2016 22:05

So, if the teacher decides to put the thing in a box which anyone can access, it's still her responsibility. I agree that a box with £900 worth of book bags in should be kept somewhere safe.

Ego147 · 08/09/2016 22:10

So, if the teacher decides to put the thing in a box which anyone can access, it's still her responsibility

What about if it goes in a drawer? Is it still her responsibilty? It's no more safer in a drawer than a box. Pilefering, the wrong drawer etc goes on all the time.

I don't think a teacher can be expected to be responsible and liable for things that go missing in a classroom. Not unless it is physically handed to the teacher and then it is secured properly in a locked drawer.

avamiah · 08/09/2016 23:38

OP,
Welcome to the club, were logic doesnt exist and common sense gets lost along with the Book bags, water bottles, and cardigans and jumpers even though they are all named very clearly, and i agree why would you want your child drinking from another childs water bottle and wearing their school cardigan and keeping another childs book bag at home.
Who knows, i bloody wish i did as my daughter lost 2 water bottles last term and a cardigan.
I actually wanted to go into the class and inspect all the cardigans whilst the kids were still wearing them i was that pissed off.lol, but thankfully my husband managed to talk me out of out.lol.
So OP , you are not Alone.

JudyCoolibar · 09/09/2016 00:04

If the teacher takes charge of something and chooses to put it somewhere non-secure, she really can't shrug her shoulders and say it's not her fault if it disappears. It's the same principle with confiscation - if a teacher confiscates, say, a mobile and slings it in a drawer where it gets nicked, then the school would be expected to pay for it (presumably claiming on its insurance) because she took responsibility from the owner. It's also the same principle as hospitals taking people's belongings for safe-keeping - if they do so, they take responsibility for keeping them secure and can't just leave someone's watch or wedding ring on a side table.

Ego, you're the person who said that in that situation you would make sure the bags were handed out one by one to their respective owners at the end of the school day, and that seems to me an eminently sensible way of dealing with this that would have prevented this problem from arising.

LittleBooInABoo · 09/09/2016 00:22

I did the same with my sons old school. They demand sun caps, sent in so I sent it in. Named. It went walk abouts only difference is my DS saw who took his hat, but was dismissed by the TA when he told her 'X child has my hat'

Luckily the parent of the child returned it. But I made it clear to the school, that they would be replacing it.

YANBU - I don't see why hard working parents should have to keep replacing items, taken by another student (all be it innocently) and not returned by a parent lacking in morals!

Bogeyface · 09/09/2016 02:32

I love all the teachers, ex teachers, married to teachers etc on this thread saying "Its not the teachers fault!", yet if the solicitor/accountant/tax officer couldnt find their paper work then there would be talk of legal action. "I handed it in and they lost it, AIBU to report them to the Law Society?"

Its your job! You want kids to bring specific things into your class then as soon as they are handed over its your job to look after them. Cant do that? You're in the wrong job! If I lost things handed to me then I would be sacked, and I am currently volunteering.

Trifleorbust · 09/09/2016 05:27

Completely different dynamic to a legal or tax office. A classroom is a place where students have to leave their things. The teacher has to designate a place for them to do that or it would be a health and safety concern and things would get lost anyway. That does not mean she is taking them into her personal possession. Bloody ridiculous. If you aren't prepared as a parent to countenance the fact that your child's property remains their responsibility unless actually removed from them personally and placed apart from the group's things (as with a confiscated phone) you are probably better off home educating. As a teacher, I can promise you would get no more out of me than a 'These things happen', and I wouldn't be apologising because the piss-takers like those on this thread would probably take this as an admission of liability 😂

Stillwaitingforthesummer2come · 09/09/2016 07:07

Come on Op!

Sirzy · 09/09/2016 07:10

I wonder what aspects of school life people would like teachers to stop doing so they can spend all the time needed making sure everyone is reunited with their own things?

Perhaps they should stop marking? Miss out a lesson or two? Skip helping the child who is upset?

Gileswithachainsaw · 09/09/2016 07:17

Or just scrap such a ridiculous requirement of 4 year olds having to have thirty pound book bags

Less people likely to swipe them if they are they typical cheap nasty crappy five pound ones.

Or let them have their own bags.

The the office two mins to write that email out

Sirzy · 09/09/2016 07:29

30 pound bags is daft but the free bags that we get given still go missing so that wouldn't stop it being An issue!

Gileswithachainsaw · 09/09/2016 07:34

Which is why book bags are a stupid idea anyway.

Of course 4 ur olds are going to loose stuff if they can't put half of what they need in a bag.

Much harder to steal a more distinctive item.

Might be taken more seriously too if the lunch box pencil case homework drinks bottle has all gone missing alongside the bag that's on a named peg...