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?

HTs little puppy?!

Do you work in the school 😂

Have they replied to your email yet?

BIngo!

I’m not tagging you. I’m quoting your posts so other readers understand the context of my response. It’s not my fault the system notifies you when you’re quoted.

@Witchonenowbob now I’m tagging you to get your attention. You keep repeating your disapproval of OP and their child. To what end? (That’s ‘whither’, by the way). When you do so, I’m merely expressing my disapproval of the teacher’s alleged behavior. Which is the topic of this thread.

If this is those email notifications, you can turn them off in settings I believe

It sounds as if you gave your child a choice over whether to sell squishies at school, that you 'advised' him against it. You should be telling him straight that he is not to do it because as parent you are in charge (or at least you ought to be). I expect the teacher has no intention other than to teach your child a lesson. Someone needs to.

You going to struggle, I think. With this new information, it's clear this is a case of your word against that of the teacher. The best you can hope for is that the teacher is honest and admits to having the toy, even if he doesn't admit to stealing it. It's just as well your child will be moving on to secondary soon.

The other teacher was there when this happened iirc - so not a case of the OP's word against his? Unless I have missed something?

Stealing a toy from a child as a teacher is treated as theft under UK law and can lead to criminal charges, disciplinary action, and dismissal.

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🔍 What the law says

Under the Theft Act 1968, theft is defined as dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of it. This applies regardless of the item’s value — even a toy. The Crown Pr...

Confiscation is only lawful when it is a reasonable disciplinary measure, temporary, and clearly linked to behaviour management. Teachers have statutory protection only when the confiscation is lawful, reasonable, and proportionate.

If a teacher takes an item without lawful authority or intends to keep it, this is no longer confiscation — it becomes theft.

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⚖️ Possible consequences for the teacher

1. Criminal consequences

If proven to be theft:

• The teacher could be charged with a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968.
• Penalties for theft range from a fine to imprisonment, depending on seriousness and intent.
• Even low‑value theft can result in a criminal record, which is career‑ending in education.

1. Employment / disciplinary consequences

Schools must ensure staff act lawfully and proportionately when handling pupils’ property. Teaching Exp...
If a teacher steals from a child:

• Immediate suspension pending investigation
• Gross misconduct finding
• Summary dismissal
• Mandatory reporting to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
• Possible prohibition from teaching

1. Safeguarding consequences

Stealing from a child breaches:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) standards
• Professional conduct expectations
• Trust and safeguarding duties

This would almost certainly trigger:

• A safeguarding referral
•

🧩 Why this matters

Teachers hold a position of trust. Any dishonest appropriation of a child’s property — even something small — is treated seriously because it undermines safeguarding, trust, and professional integrity.

OP's 16.04 post says the class teacher had started to walk away when the toy was being taken, so no reliable witness. The chaos and noise of a school playground won't help with variety either. I hope the OP has a swift reply from the HT, and is able to be more assertive with her DC in future.

They’re normally very useful, but thanks for the suggestion!

Whence = whither

So was it

And whither your support for gross misconduct at work?

Still doesn’t actually make sense, but don’t worry, I think I get your drift.

Thank you for both posts explaining, very generous of you spending your time doing that. Appreciated 👍.

I took started to walk away to mean tge teacher had dealt with it, began to walk away, and then he turned up - not that she had already walked away. Hopefully she will have been a witness in case the OP needs it, and the HT replies soon.

Actually, whence = from where, whither = to where, so whence != whither.

The school was justified in sanctioning the child. OP claims that the class teacher dealt with it, remonstrating with both the child and the parent, perhaps insufficiently for your liking, but within the bounds of reason and guidance. The toys were then returned to the parent and were therefore no longer unauthorized items on school grounds as they were in the parent's possession and not the child's. The assertion is that this other staff member then took one of the items stating that they would keep it for their own daughter, refusing to return it to the parent. If true, that is outrageous. Even if this staff member felt compelled to increase the punishment, nothing justifies such a blatant breach of rules and guidelines. You cannot keep confiscated items for your own use. And, as I have explained, the items were no longer confiscated anyway. The staff member's refusal to return the toy after the weekend only highlights how unapologetic they are for their misconduct and the impunity with which they think they can misbehave.

What is the reason that you are not concerned about this alleged gross misconduct in a teacher, a person who is not only supposed to set examples, but who has both authority and responsibility for children?

TLDR

Read last paragraph, storm in a teacup!

I think OPs motives are very questionable

She knows about teachers sex life
He ignored a dog biting her child
He is the head teachers puppy
She has said year 5 have being selling stuff and not noticed, then the teachers are turning a blind eye, insinuating that her little angel is being picked on.
She disrespects certain lessons.

And it would appear over 24 hours later, she’s not had an acknowledgment or response. She would’ve presumably updated if she had?

(awaits op announcing that her DS has actually been awarded head of year for his entrepreneurial skills, and the teacher is currently arrested and awaiting a court day)

I get you’re invested that OP is being totally right, but open your eyes?

And let’s forget the whence/wither whatever you use, I’ve still no bloody clue what you were asking!

I get this is long, please don’t feel obliged to read or respond.

And last point! The main person to show an example to children are their parents, who shouldn’t be allowing their child to buy supplies from them to sell at school!! Positively encouraging them to flout school rules.

Jesus, I would never have off loaded that responsibility to a teacher, let alone if I had been so blatantly wrong in the first place. Some people do offload that, we hear about children starting school not toilet trained or able to eat with cutlery.

Parent as you like, but please don’t expect orhers to follow suit! I brought mine up, with my values, my rules and they respected me! They still do, as I’m sure they will bring their own children up.

Let me summarize your post:

• You can't be bothered to engage with reasoned arguments
• You think OP is lying
• Your knowledge of English isn't very good

I don't actually care if OP is totally right. If OP is lying, then the school should deal with it and move on. But if OP's report is accurate, there's a rather piss-poor teacher out there who should either be removed or seriously re-trained.

ETA: dang it, I was attempting to get this in quickly so I didn't have to quote your previous post of 19:47.

Let me summarise (English spelling) I don’t care about your thoughts! I’ve got my own.

Let’s call it a day, I’m sure we’re boring people.

I don’t work in the school but have been part of it for 8years! He’s definitely the HT’s little puppy! She backed his arse when the dog bit my child & he did nothing about it or put it down in the incident book!

No reply from the HT as yet!

1. I’m not saying my child is being picked on
2. Parents have been talking about this staff member & the his relationships - maybe he shouldn’t let people know his personal life & people wouldn’t talk
3. He 100% ignored a dog bite incident & downplayed it!
4. I’m not disrespecting, we very much teach our children about people’s beliefs etc - we have our own. Re History comment maybe I shouldn’t have said it (I’ve put my hands up)

Im not going to sit here and say my child is perfect & doesn’t do no wrong. Yes if my child had listened & didn’t take the toys to school or if I had properly put my foot down this incident wouldn’t have happened! I have learnt from that & so has my child, however this does not put the staff member in the right! They should not have acted in this way & it’s classed as theft! Confiscation could have been done by my child’s teacher, however she handed them back & that was book closed! He wanted to be nosey and benefit from a situation that didn’t actually concern him!

The school culture sounds very poor in general - badly behaved kids, entitled, immature parents, mean teachers and a HT who's probably checked out and has had enough of the lot of you. Everybody with the "me, me, me" energy and forgetting that a school is a community that can't function unless people are willing to compromise on some things as individuals for the good of that community as a whole.

Glad to see you’re acknowledging your part and the part of your child in this, also your disrespect for the people teaching your child and lessons they give.

The HT may review the email, deliver an additional sanction to your child for breaking school rules, they may have stronger feelings about what punishment your child deserved and feel
the the teachers involved should’ve gone further.

They may give you a cursory “I’ve spoken to the staff involved, we will review our procedures”.

Hopefully not a huge amount of time, which is needed elsewhere, will not be spent on this “storm in a tea cup”.

*will be spent on this