Taking toys to school

[Royaldada]

Does your DC's school allow your DC to take toys like dolls, footballs and trading cards from home or do they have a box of age-appropriate toys and games to choose from at school - because according to our new HT (starting in September) the latter is norm and I was just wondering

No toys allowed unless it's teddy bear clinic/ picnic here. Even "Show and tell" explicitly asks for non-toy objects to share. only so much to tell about the same Elsa doll/ Lego Star Wars figurine once the 10th child turns up with them

having experience the trauma of a child leaving their comfort toy in school (unable to sleep without it) I'd prefer not to repeat it.

Oh yes, I can remember well the night I sat down to do some work after dinner and had about 40 emails from a parent demanding that I call them immediately as there was a 'crisis', 'tragedy', 'emergency' and they needed to get hold of me. Assuming there had been an accident or something I rang, only to have the parent demand that I go to the school and open the class room because the child had left their toy in their desk ("oh and you might as well drop it off to us since you'll be out"). They were furious that I wouldn't go back to the school at 9pm just to get the toy. They even wrote a formal complaint to the principal that I 'wasn't working in the best interests of their child'.

Can I just put in a word of counter argument?

Fully appreciate what a pita toys from home can be for many reasons, some of which stated here. My experience is that they can also be a really useful communication tool for children who have difficulty communicating with their peers and/or teachers. Especially things like soft toys which the child can talk 'through'. My DD will rush up to show friends in the playground her toy first thing in the morning, whereas when she hasn't got a toy she ignores them or interacts only very awkwardly. School toys are absolutely not the same in this context, it's important for the toy to be theirs.

BUT I would never send in one of her very favourites that she cannot live/sleep without.