Fucking school jumpers

[Merryoldgoat]

I know this is boring but it’s driving me insane.

My son has just gone into year 1. All new uniform including 3 branded jumpers.

Everything is properly labelled with his full name.

All three have gone already and he’s instead come back with three other, older, unlabelled jumpers.

He’s only 5, has some SN so finds getting dressed tricky so I know it’s just as likely him picking up the wrong one.

However, wouldn’t you go find the other parent if your child cane back with their jumper so we could swap back?

I have two AIBUs:

AIBU to ask why you don’t label your child’s jumper? It’s piss easy and means you’ve got a chanc to get it back.

AIBU to label every unlabelled jumper that comes back with my son’s name until they’re basically all his?

I'm so glad I was a mnetter before mine hit school age. I'd seen a lot of these threads so had all the tips ready to deploy!

Sharpie is my weapon of choice! A few jumpers have been lost/swapped/perhaps stolen but only a few and they are 13 and 10 now so we've been bloody lucky.

Halfahunner
Wow that’s outrageous! My friends ds left his very new M&S jacket on the fence rails at his school and went to get it at the end of the lunch break. She thinks some light fingered parent may have just walked past and half inched it. Luckily dd doesn’t loose things much. She’s the last year of primary and has only lost an M&S rain jacket and a cardigan, notably both were brand new. Nothing old gone though.

Expecting first baby and not currently living in a country that 'does' school uniforms so this isn't relevant yet but still so glad to be reading all of this. Definitely storing up the info for the future!

I work in an infant school and I have each class for a lesson once a week, in a room away from their actual classroom.

After every lesson (not PE) I remind every class to take their jumpers, cardigans, coats, etc. with them.

Once they have gone I collect up at least one or two every single lesson, pretty much without fail. At least half are not named.

If I know it is from a specific class I return them to the classroom.
If it is named, I return it to the child's classroom.
If it is unnamed and I don't know for sure which class, it goes in the lost property basket.

When I was at school we used to have to have our first name embroiled onto the front of our PE top. Maybe that could be an answer if named ones keep going missing.

This happened to my dc. Never got it back.

So I put her name in permanent marker everywhere on it. Even on the outside of the sleeve! Didn’t happen again.

I know some with less morals cut labels out and keep them.

DD had her entire PE bag go missing from the Year 11 common room last year, in September! It was on the selves where they were expected to leave them. Bag and every item was labelled. Still went. All expensive, school branded items.

I replaced the very essentials and DD carried them in her normal bag - basically shorts, t shirt and shoes. She and her friends ended up borrowing each others stuff, as several went missing,

On the last day of term the bag had been returned but it was totally empty, bar her (very old) gum shield and one trainer.

So, it doesn't always get any better when they get older.

ds2 had 5 school sweatshirts,all with badge,all name labelled and all missing by end of week 2 last year.None were in lost and found. despite several rake throughs.i bought two more and he retained one-probably because for the most part(ok permanently)it was inside his school bag and only removed to be washed n put back in.He hates the sweatshirt and says its too hot in class for it. this year i got tank tops,after checking school handbook and reading "it is suggested uniform is worn" I stuck to same-ish colour and tesco embroidery did the school logo,on one which he can wear day trip,presentation days etc.hes not took it off in class at all.nor been critisied ...which i clearly cant spell. @FanWithoutAGuard...your fuck off big letters made me lol. in typical style for me..i had to re-read before realised you hadnt wrote that.!ha..speckt that might work too tho....

I have had so much uniform go missing that I now sharpie inside washing label, neck label and then inside the hem which can't be argued with and is not easily noticed.

We have had uniform pinched as well as coats. Not I get them embroidered at the school uniform shop with their initials under the school logo. I also do the huge sharpie and I also write inside sleeves.
A mum at DS2’s school was called out by the parent of the rightful coat owner when her son was spotted wearing the brand new coat that wasn’t hers. It had the other kids name in and she was utterly shameless in pretending she thought it was her kids coat. It can’t have possibly been hers because the coat owner bought it in Florida.

Loads of DSs uniform went missing.

It turned up on the backs of kids whose parents don't bother to name. And because they can't be arsed to name they can't be arsed to check.

Child 1 has a mother who is a nursery manager. I assume that kids at her nursery aren't expected to have belongings named...

Child 2 has a "very busy" mother. Very busy mother thinks it's quite unreasonable for the school to expect EVERYTHING to be named. Busy mother has a sister and mother who are both teachers. I would have thought they had drummed it into her that making things makes their lives easier.

I hope you get at least one of them back. I once or twice sewed a little bit of red thread on the outside edge of some of DC's pe kit (blue uniform). It was only ok when they were v young and school not too strict but was quite handy for a while.

I used to hate it when I was a class teacher and we'd have the lost jumper conversation... the "does it have their name in... no but it's a size 4-5" one (like the entire class bar the resident beanpole were in age 4-5 clothes).

My mind did get boggled by the lads in an infant class year identifying the owner of an unlabelled pair of trousers by smell though - going through them all sniffing that "that's Dylan's, those are Jack's, those are Max's" and I'm sat there wondering how the fuck you know what Max's arse smells like!

I've got a dyspraxic child who struggles desperately with keeping track of her belongings. EVERYTHING, down to the level of pants and socks is named! Took me fucking ages and I had really sore fingers from all the sewing at the end!

A brand new labelled jumper with logo went missing in the first week of play group. His group leader found it on “Jack’s” peg at the end of the year. It was well worn and faded/bobbly and still had my DS name clearly labelled. The parents who stole it were well off, and cheeky bastards. I’m still annoyed about it (7 years later)

It always baffles me how this happens. When I was teaching Foundation Phase, I or my TA handed jumpers back at the end of the day ourselves. If a jumper wasn't labelled, I sharpied it myself. No parent ever said anything.

Ds's didn't come home the first day back and has not reappeared. He has full time 1:1 who does all clothing changes so I don't know how it managed to go missing.

Our uniform shop offers embroidery for an extra £1 so some people have initials sewn in on the collar at the back so visible.

Or put a tracker on it lol!

reading this has made me reach for the sharpie! Where's the best place to sharpie on shoes so it doesn't rub off?

I use a tippex pen on shoes on the inside side. Massive letters. It doesn't come off.

But logoed uniform...yeah that gets nicked on purpose.

In DS prev school they had to have first initial and surname embroidered on the front. Even those ended up nicked!!! First year at new school wearing Sainsbury's finest ;) every one has come home so far. I'm loving that he can wear a supermarket brand. It's cut my uniform budget excessively!!

I sharpie initials on label on the tongue (for shoes) as well as full name on soles and full name on fabric on the inside. None have been stolen.

Overheard from a mum of reception child whilst we were in church for school. tinkly laugh and head tilt- 'Oh I bought all DD's uniform in Asda but now it's all been replaced with M &S after she keeps bringing home others girls' stuff!' Wow.

secondary school is worse.They et detention if they haven't got their kit so just steal someone else's from the shelves in the cloakroom which is where they have to leave it along with coat .

School have partly addressed it now by requiring all PE kit to be embroidered on the outside with owners name (uniform shop do it) .Problem is it means kit cannot be passed on

I tend to take a detour via lost property whenever I'm in the school which usually finds most of DD1's "missing" (translation: I couldn't be bothered to pick it up) clothing. I clock it's in there, and then make her go and get it out herself because I'm buggered if I'm being that mum trailing along behind a child who is perfectly capable, retrieving all her abandoned belongings... the message is starting to get through to her at least now.