School office lost my son's school bag

[Liglig]

AIBU to feel annoyed about a staff member misplacing my son's schoolbag? Unfortunately we got to school and realised we forgot my son's school bag at home, so as I live close by I popped home and dropped my son's school bag into the office to pass it on to his classroom for us, this is not usually a problem and we very rarely do it.

This time the bag didn't make it to the classroom and the lady who took it up went home early so we had to wait days for her to come in again as she does not work everyday.

When she finally turns up the office says the lady cannot remember where she took my son's bag to. We waited days just to get this reply. AIBU to think they could of phoned her up and asked her on the day the bag went missing where she put it? Maybe she would've known and remembered while it was fresh in her mind, but instead they waited days until she forgot.

I went to the head teacher and they just keep saying they'll look out for it and that there is nothing else they can really do. I describe the bag as blue and black everyday and still each time office staff as if it's blue and yellow, they don't take note of what I say.

AIBU that this person who lost my son's schoolbag is not being held accountable. I feel like I'm just being fobbed off, not even had any apologies or anything, his bag had a PE kit and his reading record in there which would've been nice to keep as it is his last year there. I am not financially well off as now I have to buy another bag and a set of PE clothes just for the last 2 months he has at this school and the reading records I usually like to keep for keepsake.

Sorry this is so long I don't know how to type in a nutshell and end up typing a novel.

600 kids with at least two bags each. Ea h child in at least 6 items of clothing, plus PE kit.

No one stole it, it is misplaced.

Support Staff at schools are imperfect. Bit like us all. The are not dummies, or thieves or maliciously careless. I would never ever phone one of my team on a day they are not in work to ask about a misplaced bag.

If I could post a picture that wasn't outing, I'd put up a picture of our Lost Property hold.

It is the size of a 6x4 garden container. It is PACKED to bursting with school uniform that we find and carefully store.

Tomorrow I will be putting out 4 trestle tables to enable us to unload it and people to collect their stuff. Noone will.

There are 6 weeks left of year 6. Shit happens.

Wait until secondary school and the 1300 kids that lose an ear pod every.single.day. Tip: you will never find them.

Re the tannoy suggestion. Schools can't afford heating and books, let alone retro fitting tannoy systems to facilitate lost property.

I understand that it's frustrating but hopefully he'll learn from this and try to remember stuff next time. It's about to get a lot more complicated in Year 7!

And of course an employee could have been contacted after she kept the school. What if she had been entrusted with a child's inhaler or some such item?*

I'd be more than slightly concerned if a child's parent only had one inhaler.

Honesty, these things happen. I'd be slightly miffed that the bag went missing but I'd also be using it as lesson for DS to always remember it. I'd also be grateful there wasn't a packed lunch, medication, expensive shoes in it.

Best thing I ever did was be unfailing lovely to my kids school janitor, cleaners and office staff. Meant I was on first name terms with them all and one of the cleaners was brilliant at finding stuff the kids lost. Especially as the after school club was located in school and meant that jumpers, coats, assorted bits of uniform and homework regularly got scattered.

It's a bit slapdash of them but it's just one of those things. Annoying that you forgot the bag, annoying that they subsequently lost track of it

I agree with this. It's a bit frustrating, but in a school of 600 pupils, things must go missing all the time. Sometimes that will be a child's fault, some times an adults, sometimes it's just one of those things. Either way, OP, it's time to move on and put it behind you.

@Vitriolinsanity 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼

I’d be mortified if I lost someone’s bag! I guess the person in the office either took it to the wrong classroom or was busy, dropped it down for a while in the office and then forgot about it. If that happened, it could have been picked up by a third party and put on any peg in the school or under the pegs if they have those little holes or shelves. Or, possibly, it was handed to another pupil to deliver and then unceremoniously dumped somewhere.

I don’t get the aggressive replies here. If you hand something to someone and they agree to look after it or deliver it to another person, but then lose it, it’s fair enough to be a bit annoyed IMO.

@Highlyflavouredgravy

I take it you have never forgotten anything in your life then? Ever?

There is a difference between forgetting something at home and being careless and misplacing someone else's possessions. And before you say that it isn't the receptionists job to deal with things that have been left behind, it has been something that receptionists deal with on a daily basis in every school I have been too. Kids and their parents forget things occasionally because they are only human. Because I can't let a parent who has come to drop something off wander around the school looking for her child, I take it to them for her.

Worked for, not been too

You aren't being unreasonable at all in my opinion but that may just be me. Obviously staff make mistakes too but it is pretty normal to drop off kid's belongings especially in primary and wasn't a hard task to do. And losing the reading record and PE kit is a nuisance as well. Your son forgetting his bag is literally normal for kids as well lol it isn't your fault he did that especially as you're trying to teach him that makes no sense that people are attacking you for that. But I do think calling the staff member home and stuff would be a bit much.

I do agree that no need to buy a new PE kit if he's in Year 6. Send him in whatever he has at home and if school complain say it's them that lost it and unreasonable to expect you to buy a new one. Sad you lost the reading records but you'll just have to move on.

Oooh I wouldn't have taken anything in for mine in Year 6 that they'd forgotten unless it was really important eg something for a school trip. I wasn't able to anyway because I was at work. By Year 6 they are getting their own stuff sorted each morning, surely, after years of training them to think through the list of what they need each day. Eventually they think for themselves without any prompting. And learn to just get on with it/think around the problem if they DO forget anything. It doesn't do them any good to run up to the school with forgotten items by that age.

Then they get to secondary, and have to contend with complicated timetables and multiple teachers. Then, if you're unlucky and have a son like mine, the whole training thing starts again..... I think my 17 year old has given up trying to think through what he needs and just takes all his textbooks to school no matter what lesson he has that day. His bag weighs a tonne.

OP you said it's 'normally' not an issue which suggests it's not a particularly uncommon occurrence.

You should have told your son to collect it from reception at break time to prevent making any more work for them.

The thing is it's lost now, no one at the school is going to be 'held accountable' in anyway, staff are not responsible for children's belongings and ultimately it was just one of those things.

Yes it's annoying for you, but if you give something in at the office there's no guarantee it will make it to the correct destination. They are doing you a favour.

I'd ask them if they have any spare PE kit, that they could lend you, either to the end of the year or until the missing bag reappears. Which it will!

Tell them to buy you a replacement.

TeaYarn so entitled, these are people on low wage, who were doing OP a favour, absolutely nothing to do with their job. OP felt entitled to engage them in something that wasn't their responsibility and you now think they should be financially liable for lost property. I really feel for school staff, with these attitudes.

😅😅😅

Lol rightio! Budgets stretch to that in your world then?

Well named stuff lost at school normally turns up eventually. It might take a surprisingly long time, but ultimately no one is going to want to hang onto a bag with someone else's name clearly marked on it. See what turns up over half term.

I used to volunteer occasionally, just for an hour or so, to go in, sort through lost property with a class list and deliver things into each classroom. It's a small thing but office staff were always grateful, and I suspect it saved a few things from being binned.

@saltinesandcoffeecups :
"Oh god this is a great suggestion…

Teacher: ok class we’re going to start the new chapter on Saturn tod-
Announcement: Please send Jimmy to the office to collect his school bag
Teacher: as I was saying, we’re talking about Saturn today…it’s the distinct plane-
Announcement: Please send Susan to the office …her mother dropped off her reading homework
Teacher: Rings… Saturn has ri-
Announcement: Kent is needed in the office to collect his dinner money"

I suspect it would be more like this:
Announcement: Could the following pupils please make their way to the principals office- James from 1.1, Mary from 1.3, Henry from 3.2, Jane from 4.1 and Peter from 6.2." (The numbers being their class groups)

I know in the primary schools that my kids went to, there was about 400-500 pupils, it really wasn't difficult to bring items that children had forgotten to them or get them to collect the items from the office.

There is a plastic crate just inside the door of my daughter's secondary school that parents can leave forgotten books/kit/whatever in so long as it's clearly labelled, and their name gets read out over the tannoy to collect the stuff.

It's only a difficult thing to manage if people make it difficult.

To be fair last school year my childs school offered to pay to get his glasses fixed when they got broken at school, so they must have a budget for it

There's a thing called insurance? Schools take out a policy???

Hm, I think you are overreacting. Things go missing and it was an honest mistake.

Don’t buy new PE kit though. Source one second hand or send in home clothes and explain why. You shouldn’t be out of pocket for this mistake. Other than that, I think you need to let it go.

I agree OP, it's annoying that your belongings have gone missing. However, the member of staff has clearly not run off with them, she said she took them somewhere but to the wrong classroom.
If his name is on the bag, it should, eventually work it's way back to him. Or, someone else has taken a fancy to it and has taken it.
I work in a school office. It's bloody relentless. I have parents calling me to tell me they've had an argument with their child that morning and now they feel bad, can I go and tell the little cherub that they love them. Or can I go and ask so and so what the wifi password is. Or that Alfie's mom, who was Joe's moms best friend last week, is absolutely not allowed within three feet of Joe this week on the playground at collection time.
Then there's the forty thousand lunchboxes/PE kits/ trainers (that are never put in a carrier bag - I don't want to put my fingers in your child's trainers, put them in a damn bag)/swimming kits/guitars/homework/show and tell items/messages that Aunty Jan is picking up Florence tonight and Joshua has a Dr appointment in three weeks time, to pass on.
That's on top of the actual work that has to be done, it's very easy to get distracted on the way.

YABVU

There's a thing called insurance? Schools take out a policy???

It's a wee bag of Primary School PE kit that's gone astray. Not the actual kid FFS.

Irritating yes. But, please a little perspective is needed.