To say if not found the SCHOOL should replace it?

[Arrowfanatic]

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.

I think you are being unreasonable to talk to the teacher like that, as others have said its not her job to police bags and I doubt very much she had any say in how much they cost.

If I was you I would be taking up the cost of the book bag with the governors though as thats a ridiculous price! If no one says/changes anything it will stay the same..

4 year old girls apparently ask an average of 380 questions a day. If we imagine that in school that decreases to 280, and that boys maybe ask an average of 210, and the class has half boys and half girls, that teacher has had 3,150 questions from the 15 boys and 4,200 questions from the 15 girls. Totalling 7,350 questions.

Maybe by question number 7,351 "Where is my child's bag?" it's just a bit hard to look really interested or worried.

I would be focussing on telling your DS that it doesn't matter, particularly
At our school we have a class parents facebook page and most posts are about missing stuff that other kids have taken home

If it doesn't turn up - and I bet it does - I would explain to school that you cannot afford to replace it and your DS will be using whatever you have to hand until such time as you would naturally expect to buy a new one. DS will cope. He will not be bullied by 5 year olds for having a different bag.

he implemented a new system where expensive stuff was all put together rather tgan in tbe childrens' own drawers

TBF - that's a very common system that works quite well in many schools throughout the country,

It could have been taken out of the box and gone home with another parent - so it will turn up hopefully

Or it could have been taken out of the box for reading books and never got put back in (which could have happened if it was in the drawer)

Or it never got in the box in the first place?

I'm still not clear what this overpriced book bag is like.
Cosmic Owl- none of the JL book bags are more than £12, I'd invest in a stock of the Forest Prep Unisex (??!!) purple one being cleared at a realistic £3.00!!
The ergonomic backpack is huge, surely it isn't that? It wouldn't fit in a drawer and a very big box would be needed for 30. In fact 30 is a big form for Y1 in a private school, isn't it?
OP -the rules of 'names hidden under the flap' and 'no key rings etc.' are really unhelpful when 30 5 year olds are all trying to get hold of their own bag at home time. I really sympathise with you and your little boy and hope the bag turns up tomorrow.

OP -the rules of 'names hidden under the flap' and 'no key rings etc.' are really unhelpful when 30 5 year olds are all trying to get hold of their own bag at home time

That's true. You do need some way to recognise your pack. And not just loads of Pokemon stickers

Kitsandkids ODFOD!

If it's never seen again, yes it will be a big deal (future tense).

But now, odds on it'll turn up in the next week max, stuff nearly always does. So right now, don't waste more energy on it and don't expect the teacher to either.

Last time we flew, the kids' suitcase disappeared. I could have got very red and shouty at the staff, and wailed about their favourite dresses and soft toys. It would just have upset the children. Instead I talked about how stuff normally turns up in a couple of days, much as the teacher did today. The case turned up fine, and no small children were reduced to tears. No point stressing forvat least a week.

Your poor DS, what a horrible start for him. So of course you were not rude, you were sticking up for your cub. Hope it gets resolved quickly 💐

No child will leave school with two bags!

I wouldn't be so sure of that. You perhaps haven't met many five-year-olds. After all, the poster up-thread reported a child who'd gone home wearing two dresses.

I just can't get past the fact that a fucking book bag for 5 year olds could actually cost £30!!!!

I remember them costing £3 or £4.

Schools which try to insist on anything so ridiculously expensive for children of that age are being utterly unreasonable.

Your poor DS, what a horrible start for him. I doubt he even knows he's lost it.

So of course you were not rude, Yes she was.

you were sticking up for your cub. He didn't need "sticking up for," because nowhere has it been said he was in trouble.

Hope it gets resolved quickly. It will do. It will turn up tomorrow.

💐 Think these should be for the teacher, by way of an apology.

My DD went to a school for 18 months. Not our choice and eventually got back to school she did nursery in.
In school of not our choice; she lost no end of uniform and was never repatriated with it.
Strange but at original school ( no uniform) she has not one lost anything...
There must be people who actively choose to steal uniforms.
DD has a lot of really expensive clothes; I don't buy them BTW; they have never gone AWOL at her current school.
There are people who actively nick stuff. Hard to believe I know..

Sorry! Haven't read the whole thread, your post OP, was enough to make my blood boil! I grew up in the 60's... had a great school. If dinner money went missing no one left until it was found! Bags, coats, clothes were searched until it was produced! That, that! was the worst crime ever!

My son, started junior in the early 80's.. had to hand his watch to the teacher before P.E. His watch went missing. Teacher claimed it was misplaced! My son had an idea where his watch had gone. I challenged the teacher and three days later, I was all bridled and indignant and ready to 'sort' it out, when my son came out of school with his watch. He had gone to the mum of the boy who he has suspected of taking the watch and he had got it back, all by himself. :) I'm rambling, I know, but I cannot abide all this crap. Theft is theft! There are no two ways about it. Things don't get lost at school. If something is accidentally taken it should be returned! End of. Anything else is just wrong!

You do need some way to recognise your pack. And not just loads of Pokemon stickers

I disagree. IME, there are only 3 Pokemon kids, 4 Star Wars, 2 Hello Kitty, 6 Frozen, 3 dinosaurs... it narrows down the search.

Put your name and postcode on everything. Use the ultra violet pens too.
Embroider a tiny logo on all uniforms; I found this helps.

I hate this, it happens at ours too, but they are not as anal about personalising the bags so it is easier to find them.

When DS was in Yr.....3 I think it was, he and another boy swapped shoes after PE by mistake. He didnt know who had his but said that X said his shoes looked funny. I asked the secretary to ring her and yes, he had the wrong shoes.

I went round there and she handed me a knackered pair of velcro strap shoes (it was a couple of weeks before the end of term in my defence, he lives in trainers in the hols!) and I hand her.....a pristine pair of LACE UP brogues, 2 sizes larger. We were both alternating between hilarity and utter bemusement that the boys cheerfully put on completely different shoes and didnt notice :o

Another one here who just can't get over the fact that a book bag is £30! That's absolutely bonkers! As are the school's rules of no stickers and keyrings on the bloody things!

Hopefully the bookbag will turn up very soon, OP, but I would definitely be making a complaint to the school about the price of the bags. What do other parents think of the cost? Perhaps you could do a petition?

And I can believe it about the price. So many schools are now obsessed with corporate image.

I spent just shy of £150 on 7 items of clothing for the middle 2 girls for high school, 2 blazers, 2 pairs of shorts and 2 polo tops. Needless to say, the words "You'll grow into it!" were uttered more than once.

Thats 6! The 7th was a tie.

Sometimes I suspect the cost of stuff - especially labelled stuff that's expensive - might encourage theft.

But I do think it's hard for schools to police such things. We have freedom of movement and children do go in people's drawers, book bags and things get stolen. Very easy to take them home.

I've lost count of the conversations I've had when children have said that something belongs to them and someone else has it. Or they've lost it.

Expensive things need to be kept at home - or given to the teacher to put in their drawer. Which should be out of bounds. Saying that, I know schools where children steal from teacher's bags.

Coordinating end of day pack up and line up with a class of 4 & 5 year olds is like herding cats.

I read the OP thinking that losing stuff at school was just a fact of life and the school will never replace, but the teacher's shrugging indifference would annoy me too, and I'd be looking at the school replacing too.

OP - this has nothing to do with your ability to pay for another one. its to do with the school rules about how (not) to personalise the bags combined with the inadequate systems in the classroom for storing belongings safely. The school owes you more than you got.... but it probably will turn up soon. No every parent looks in every book bag every night, so if possible ask to have a look through the book bags at 9am tomorrow (or whenever they are all collected in). It could have gone home and come back again without anyone even realising.

Have a glass of wine and relax. Tomorrow is another day and the bag will probably turn up and you will realise that you have expended a lot of energy for nothing.

sew in labels on handles etc seem to be very effective in putting accident thieves off.