School lost DS' phone

[ICancelledTheCheque]

I could use some perspective on how to handle this please.

Background - blended family, DHs children live with us. They aren't keen on sleeping over at their mums but they do it once a week. We gave them both our old phones when our contracts were up so they could stay in touch with us. They're 10, in Y6.

That means that once a week they have to take their phones into school. School have a rule that they have to be handed in to the office in the morning and collected in the afternoon.

However SDS phone has gone missing and wasn't there to collect on Friday afternoon.

The school basically just require the kids to place them in a drawer and it's transpired that they don't supervise them collecting the phones at the end of the day so anyone could take anyone's phone.

I can't help but think that if the school want to impose a rule that the children can't look after their own property, they should take reasonable steps to look after the phones on behalf of the kids! I feel that they've been negligent in allowing it to be lost or stolen.

The phone is worth £120. Should the school pay for it or do we just accept it's one of those things and suck it up?

[Nanny0gg]

You should have gone to Asda/Tesco and bought a basic £9 one. Walking around with an expensive phone makes them a target for thieves, as you have now found out

Hope they wear very basic trainers and clothes then...

Is no-one allowed to own nice/expensive items in case they're stolen then?

[ChocolateWombat]

There does seem to be a lot of going down blind alleys with this thread.

It doesn't matter if a child of that age should or shouldn't have a phone, what it should cost or if they are using 3G or whatever.

The issue is whether the school has a clear policy about phones in schools and if the schools failure to carry out their own policy resulted in the loss.
So, key Qs

• what exactly does the school say about pupils having phones in school
  
• does the school accept any responsibility for the phones or has it said it is not responsible
  
• if the school has said all phones have to be given in,mexactly what are the procedures for dropping off and collecting to ensure security - it seems to me that if they INSIST phones are given in, then they ARE taking responsibility for them between them being given in and collected.
  
• did the boy give in the phone on the day in question, did he go to collect it and was it not there.
  
• what was said by the staff at that point about the missing phone
  
• What contact has been made with the school about it.
  

I think there are a number of unknowns here, so it is difficult to be certain about what should happen next.

To clarify, I think op should;

• check with son again that the phone was given in that day, and establish if and when he went to collect it and what exactly was said by any staff member at that point. (This is all v important, because it's possible it might turn out that boy didn't give in phone and has lost it or lost it later and is looking to avoid being in trouble, or simply forgot to collect it so has said this is what happened) I would be clear with boy that contact will be made with school to establish exactly what happened so he needs to be very clear first about what happened
  
• I would then email the Head simply stating the facts - phone was given in as per school rules. When he went to collect it wasn't there. You are contacting them to sort out the return of the phone that they were responsible for. If you like, you can ask for more details of the systems in place for handing in and returning phones so they are safe.No criticism, blame etc. Be very polite. Ask for a speedy reply.
  
• then you will need to wait.
  

A number of things might emerge. It could emerge that no phone was given in. It could emerge that he forgot to collect it. It could emerge that the phone is still at school. It could emerge that the phone has been taken by someone else....and then it will be up to the school to handle this - both his missing phone and their future policy to make sure this can't happen again.

So, clarify its son first and then contact school. It's unfortunate that this has happened just before half term, but sending that email sooner rather than later, if needed is important to show you are addressing the issue immediately. I really would want to wait for a reply from them before contacting the Police, because it might all turn out to be a storm in a teacup.

[clam]

If they mucked to they mucked up.

We have no evidence that they did muck up.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Sorry to be so forthright on this thread

I think the word you're looking for is rude.

[ICancelledTheCheque]

Clam, of course they mucked up.

Frankly my SDS isn't capable of inventing such an elaborate lie as to pretend to look for a phone that he never handed in! He also wouldn't have us going into school and contacting the police if he wasn't telling the truth - he'd be too afraid of getting into trouble.

And they may be twins but they sure as hell wouldn't cover for each other, twin 2 would gladly chuck his brother in front of a bus (figuratively speaking)

[clam]

Well, I don't see any "of course" about it. It may or may not have happened, who can say?
But we've just had a similar incident in our school (not a phone) and the family concerned involved the police and everything. Demands for "compensation" and for staff heads to roll. Turned out the item was lost somewhere else entirely.

[ICancelledTheCheque]

That may be the case with your school. But I'm confident that isn't the case here and my BS radar is rather well tuned!

[ChocolateWombat]

OP, have you emailed the school?

If you are happy that your DSS has reported events accurately, then you need to follow it up in writing. As suggested, just report the facts, but try to avoid suggesting any blame at this point, just that you are keen to have his phone back. Until they themselves say the phone is lost and they have lost it, go to it from the angle that he handed it in as school policy, but hasn't received it back, so you would like to know that it is safe and when he can collect it.

If the school has lost it, they will have to acknowledge it. If they haven't and it is there, or there is some other explanation, then you will receive it.....you need that info and until you directly contact them, you won't receive it. Only they can answer the questions - us on MN can only speculate.

Good luck OP, I hope everything becomes clear and the phone is reunited with DSS. Do let us know what the outcome is.

[SuburbanRhonda]

If another child has indeed taken the phone from the drawer then the school hasn't lost it, it's been stolen.

[bumsexatthebingo]

Annoying but in your position I would suck it up get the kids a cheap phone and ask if they could change the procedure for handing in/taking phones to make it more secure.

[HelenaDove]

To those going on about how schools dont have much money.............well neither do lots of parents and schools seem to forget this when making parents buy pricey school uniform and restrict parents into buying them only from certain school approved places.

If schools want parents to consider that they (the school) are on a restricted budget then they need to start reciprocating!

Re. their policy of handing phones in at the office. ............some of the children at the school could be child carers. It is possible that some may be bringing a phone into school because they need to not because they want to go on You Tube at breaktime.

[LadyConstanceDeCoverlet]

It isn't the schools responsibility to look after phones.

It is when they've made children hand them into their care.

[SuburbanRhonda]

helena

Overpriced school inform is not relevant to this thread.

If a child is a young carer, in our school we would have that recorded on Sims and different arrangements for the phone could be made if required. Unless the family had chosen not to share that information in which case no-one could possibly know that the phone is essential for caring responsibilities.

[HelenaDove]

Ah i see. One rule for the school Another rule for the parents.

[SuburbanRhonda]

To whom is your post directed, helena?

[RedHelenB]

School wont pay out if it has been stolen - there just isn't the money to do that. Items are left at your own risk,

[schbittery]

Better rude and trying to be helpful than deliberately being a dick for no apparent reason.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Better rude and trying to be helpful than deliberately being a dick for no apparent reason.

Or in your case, managing to be all of the above.

[Pseudonym99]

All those saying that the school should pay - this isn't a multinational corporation with bags of money to spare

In which case the school should either look after property they demand to look after, or let the owner look after their own property.

[HelenaDove]

Agreed 99

[ChocolateWombat]

So, OP have you contacted the school yet to clarify what happened and to hear their view on it and what will happen next?

I'm starting to wonder if the OP is actually going to contact the school about this.
We can all speculate as much as we like about what happened and exactly what the school policy is and if they are in the wrong and if they will pay out etc etc - but only the school will be able to provide the OP with answers. Reluctance to contact the school about it does make me wonder a bit about it all.

[AndNowItsSeven]

A 5c is worth approx £80 a 5s £120 so you haven't lost as much value as you previously thought op.

[ICancelledTheCheque]

ChocolateWombat put your troll hunting gear away.

The school were contacted yesterday. Not much more we can do, given that it's a Saturday.

[Haffdonga]

Chocolatewombat given the phone went missing on Friday afternoon and cheque has already emailed and it's only bloody Saturday just what exactly do you think she should have done?

Oh I forgot. Teachers in MN Land live at school to answer all the parent worries about which set their pfb is in or why Jacinta didn't get a prize for the homework her mum did for her

Cheque from now on I would be insisting that your dcs keep their phones on them rather than handing them in.

[ChocolateWombat]

Oh glad to hear it. No suggestion that you were a troll - just thought it was odd that despite having been asked several times if you had contacted school, there was no reply to the question. I started to wonder if more info about the phone had come to light, suggesting you didn't need to.

Anyway, glad you have. Hope you get a reply soon. And if you just had a conversation about it, I'd follow it up with an email, so something is in writing. If everything turns out as you have said - that the school has a policy of all pupils handing phones in, your son did so and then went to collect it to find it not there anymore, you will have a good case for complaint against the school. If things turn out to be different on any of these issues, then I still hope he gets his phone back.