Am I being precious over violin storage at school?

[PinotAndPlaydough]

DD has recently got a new violin, it’s a full sized one that I hope will last her a while and we spent what I consider to be a lot of money (£300+). She plays in the school string band which has just restarted and the school have emailed to say all instruments will be kept locked in the pod (basically a glorified portacabin). It’s absolutely freezing in there in the winter and I’m worried about the cold causing cracks etc.
Would I be completely insane to ask that it’s kept inside the classroom? I really want her to practice playing with others and she loves string band but I don’t want a new instrument damaged especially as she’s due to take an exam at the end of the year. Feel free to tell me I’m being batty!!!

Humidity, or rather lack of it, is more likely to damage the violin than the cold. Wood is hygroscopic. If the ambient air is too dry it will draw moisture from the wood causing it to shrink and crack. In the winter the relative humidity in the heated classroom will actually be lower than in a cold portacabin, so actually the cold pod will offer more protection.
Orchestras and music schools keep their instruments is climate-controlled storage, but presumably this isn't an option here?

As it’s her own instrument and not a piece of school property can she not bring it home with her? I wouldn’t be keen on leaving such an expensive piece of equipment at school.

It's at risk in the classroom too tbh, easy for cases to get knocked about and for people to "have a go" when no ones looking.

Can you get a really good locking case like a BAM model? That would insulate a bit and protect if it is in a classroom.

It will only be left in the pod on the day of band practice. The rest of the time it’ll be at home. This may well have been me overthinking things at 1am 😂

If it's only for the day of band practice, you are definitely being precious!
I agree with pp that it's more at risk in the classroom - when I had my instruments on me instead of in the music department, I was always fending off people wanting to have a try

I mean the above in a nice way op

I totally understand about the expense of instruments

I’d go with the storage plan. At least it’s out of the way and school have thought about it. The main thing will be retuning it as going in and out of different temperatures can effect that. You can insure it for out of the house.

Oh okay! That makes sense, I thought it was madness to leave such an expensive item at school full time.

If it’s just for practice days I’d say it will be okay - I mean it would get cold travelling around too, but as it’s not full time surely it won’t damage it badly?

As long as it’s insured you should be fine I think. Dd1 had to carry hers around all day last year-‘apparently covid meant it couldn’t go in the cupboard (though her sister’s cello could- so goodness knows) and that was much more of a scary prospect

A modern instrument around that value will be pretty robust. It's usually the very old and/or very expensive (ie in the thousands!) instruments that suffer from changes in temperature/humidity. Might get the odd popped peg as you go from one temp to another so might be an idea to make sure DD is practiced at retuning from a totally slack string.

It might be better than in the classroom next to a radiator. (When I did recorder groups in the storage room where some instruments were stored, I moved some of them and put a notice on the radiator saying not to put instruments next to it.)

School instrument storage can always be a bit of a nightmare, I think. DD left her instrument at (secondary) school one Friday, and as we needed to get there before things go locked up, I biked round to collect it. Nobody challenged me walking into the school and out again with an expensive instrument. It's only at the end of the day that it's possible for someone to walk straight into the premises, fortunately, but I do worry sometimes.