School office lost my son's school bag

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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.

Safeguarding rules quite rightly prevent random adults from wandering around schools.
Even in half-term when the students aren't in you would need to be accompanied by a staff member. There would only be a skeleton staff in - the caretaker using the time to get jobs done that can't be done while kids are in. They really don't want to have to stop what they're doing to help a parent look for a reading log and old T-shirt

This. You might find due to this office staff stop taken ‘forgotten items’. I know u said you rarely do it but like you say… 600 kids in the school it won’t be a rare occurrence for them.

I don't understand why she should be offered stuff from lost property, considering that's others peoples lost items.

Maybe unclaimed stuff? My kids’ school had a supply like that.

OP, I'm not judging you for forgetting the bag, for trusting the school to get it to him, or for being cross that it hasn't turned up yet.

But the way you talk about the office staff is really awful and does you no favours at all. You ask why they couldn't contact her at home but do you know why she was at home? Feeling ill, funeral, sick relative? Sometimes people have things going on in their lives that make a misplaced bag seem trivial.

Also, they were helping you. They didn't lose it on purpose. She intended to get it to your son. And they've looked for it, and they're going to look again in the holidays when the building is emptier. People make mistakes, do try to have some Grace about it.

@BlackWhiteColour I get that but do they then have a separate stash of current unclaimed and previous years unclaimed or something?

I was just thinking imagine if OP's kids lost stuff had been given to another kid who'd lost their PE kit a week earlier? she'd lose her mind (rightly so)

Apart from apologise and take your son all round the school to look for his bag, what do you expect them to do? They couldn't legally reimburse you out of school funds and it's not a sackable offence.

I hope your son goes to a secondary school with a well organised PE staff. My dd had her kit hidden by bullies. I asked to look around the school with her one day when the kids had gone home and the PE changing rooms were full of unclaimed kit - on the floor, benches and hanging up. Some named, much not. My dd's had sewn in name tags. It was clear the staff neither supervised nor expected the students to keep it tidy. (They gave her spare kit as it kept happening. And ages later, a bag of some of her original items turned up again.)

While the school staff will not be happy that the bag has been lost, they have far more important jobs to do than looking for a lost PE kit. I know it is annoying, but people are human and in a school of 600 children, things will regularly get lost. It's huge to you, but not to them. They have other priorities - you know, things like safeguarding, planning lessons, creating resources to use to teach children and various other things that will trump the hunt for your child's bag.

Massively OTT reaction. Things go missing in big schools and they've already said they will look during half term when the other 599 pe kits have gone home. Chill tf out and send your child in with any shorts/t-shirt for remaining 7 weeks.

I think that it’s odd that you’re happy to admit that you made a mistake, and expect us all to cut you slack over it, but you won’t accept that the school office have also made a mistake? Nothing malicious in any of it-just busy people, going about their lives and occasionally making mistakes-you and them!!

I am a teacher -don’t buy a new PE kit for the last term-totally unnecessary-just explain that you’re waiting for the bag to turn up.

Yes someone ideally should have said sorry they lost the bag but at the same time you’re really blowing a small lapse from the school completely out of proportion. I feel sorry for the school having to deal with parents like that, they’ve got 1000s of much more important things to try and get right each day, teachers as we know put in countless unpaid hours to even be able to ensure the basics for our children, to then have someone get so angry over something so minor

Right I can understand you are frustrated but this made me lol a little.. No one is going to steal a bag to teach you a lesson for forgetting it, bit of a reach there. Staff aren't that invested they'd deliberately lose it too.

Parents are not allowed to go into the classrooms at any time, the classroom is is upstairs in the building and we are not allowed to enter the building.

I’m an adult and I lose things all of the time.

You are an adult and you didn’t ensure your child had there bag with them to take to school.

Adults make mistakes. Your mistake resulted in your child’s bag being misplaced.

And no they shouldn’t have called her on her day off, it wasn’t an emergency.

Just keep reminding them to look out for it, but it’s not the end of the world, he will be starting secondary school soon so won’t need that stuff

If the bag and the PE kit are all named, then I’d expect that there’s a good chance it’ll turn up at some point before the end of the year.

I also wouldn’t bother buying a new PE kit with so little time before the end of term. I’d explain that his PE kit has been lost at school and just send him in with whatever suitable clothes you have at home.

Take things from lost property? Things that belong to other children?

Would that mean it would be ok for the receptionist to give this person’s school bag to someone else if it ends up in lost property?

Surely that’s theft? The lost property belongs to someone

Missing medication would warrant a call. A missing bag wouldn’t. It isn’t an emergency so can wait a few days

Parents are only human, and receptionists are only human. Both the parent and the receptionist made a mistake here