School staff member took my child’s toy (for his own child) after confiscating items for sale

[Busyybee]

My DC has recently been selling squishy toys at school, he’s an entrepreneur in the making. However we told him it wasn’t a good idea and he carried on.

On Friday he got caught and his teacher gave me his school bag which contained ‘his stock’. They asked me to not allow him to bring them in as it’s not allowed. I told them I’m glad they’ve said it to him & he won’t be bringing them again. As the teacher handed me the bag, another staff member who works at the school asked to see what he was selling and went on to take 1 squishy & said ‘this will be nice for my daughter’. My DC asked him for the money & the staff member said ‘No, your lucky I didn’t take the lot’

My DC asked the staff member for the money or squishy back & he said ‘Na na your not getting it back, your lucky it wasn’t (deputy head) as she would of taken the lot’

This doesn’t sit right with me, value is only £1 but it’s the principle. What is this teaching the children?

What do I do about this?

I'm confused why you allowed him to take them in when you'd told them not to, but that aside you COULD escalate to a senior teacher but I doubt they'll do much. What do yo u want to happen? Them apologise, pay, get sacked? I'd personally chalk it u to experience.

It is theft and the teacher is risking their career. Items confiscated must be returned to the child or their parent. You should send an email stating that you are asking for the item to be returned. It's up to you whether you want to make an official complaint if this doesn't resolve the issue.

Surely that's theft? Maybe confiscate her handbag next time you see her, see how she likes it.

Are the squishy toys banned in school or just selling things in general? I can see how teachers probably don't want to be dragged into disputes, but it does seem a shame to stamp out any entrepreneurial spirit.

Report this to the head teacher

I asked my child not to sell them during school hours and he could potentially sell them after school, however Childs argument was that others sell stuff at school and he wants to sell too.

I asked my child not to sell them during school hours and he could potentially sell them after school, however Childs argument was that others sell stuff at school and he wants to sell too.

Is this your child’s account of it?

🙄

I think it’s strange that the other teacher just went along with this weird behaviour! One adult acting in a bizarre way is one thing but another one just going along with it!

A lot of the children sell within the school but maybe haven’t been caught, however my child has been.

In my opinion it feels like theft & it’s teaching my child it’s okay to do this to someone else. Squishes aren’t banned in school.

I spoke to the teacher in question myself today & he wasn’t having it & stood his ground and said my child wasn’t getting it back.

Confiscating things is different to stealing it to take home to their own child.

Exactly! I think it’s poor behaviour from the staff member & he seems to get away with a lot!

Contact the school.governers and tell them the toy needs to be returned or the police will be informed

Teacher training is not as thorough as it used to be. We were given a lecture and case law around our rights to confiscate items. Dangerous materials can be removed and not returned eg knives but anything else is to be given back. Teachers have been dismissed for this, so it is not up to the individual teacher to decide.

I think the staff member is in the right.

I might be a bit of a throwback, but in my school days we were there to learn, not make a few bob on the side.

Sorry? Your condoning theft from a child? It’s not classed as confiscation in this case, he’s taken it home for his own child!

Well, you should have been more on top of this and not allowed him to take stuff in to sell at all, as they originally said to you.

I think sometimes small children just don't understand the permanence of this sort of thing and it causes trouble, especially in primary schools.

However, the behaviour of that teacher does sound bizarre. Were you there? Did you witness it? If you were and are confident that that was what happened then why didn't you step in and stop things? Saying "No, we've been told we shouldn't be doing this and so this doesn't go ahead" would have been all that was required. If I had witnessed it happening after being told to stop the activity in no uncertain terms (as you were) then I'd have been tempted to report the teacher to the head, deputy or governors, saying that I would be ensuring this didn't happen again and demanding the toy be returned.

It happens a lot?

Yes exactly! I said this to my child too, however I think as others are doing it - he chose to follow. Which I don’t think he should have & I explained this to him.

No, in general this staff member gets away with a lot. From things said to children/parents which are inappropriate etc.

How can theft from the child be right? Especially in light of the banned selling behaviour?

You seem
to be avoiding the question here - did you witness the teacher stealing it from your child? And explicitly saying he would not pay ?

Put it in writing, what happened and what was said, get that into the head teacher and state this is theft. If there is anything on the school policies part of their website about taking items then quote that out to them.

Put an app on your phone now that records all phone calls so that if they ring you, you are able to again, follow it up in writing to confirm what was said on the phone call. This is just to enable good record keeping.

Depending on what comes back from the head, then follow their complaints procedure which will be listed in their policy documents on their website.