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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Damage to school property...whats the etiquette.

19 replies

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 14:39

I've had a phone call from the school to inform me Ds (10) found a wobbly plank on a picnic table at school, so decided to wobble it and has now boken the table.

He usually quite careful with things, but does do stupid things like this on occasion, when he's not thinking about what he's doing.

I'm presuming the table is insured - parents aren't' expected to pay out for damage are they,- becuse I don't have enough money for a new one - or are they? This is a state school. I went to a private school and parents were just billed if we damaged stuff, and it was all straight forward.

He is being punished at school, and will be having a talking to when he gets home.

I'm just not sure what the etiquette is on these things......

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poopscoop · 04/03/2009 14:42

Have they asked for you to replace it?

I don't think they can expect you to pay for something which was quite obviously going to need repair.

lou031205 · 04/03/2009 14:46

You shouldn't need to replace it. If he could break it by wobbling it, it can't have been in a great state. I would encourage him to write an apology, but not replace the item.

Original poster

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 14:46

They didn't mention anything about replacing it.

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RustyBear · 04/03/2009 14:48

I work at a junior school & our insurance policy has a £250 excess, so it's not unreasonable for the school to ask parents to pay for damage under/up to that amount if their children are actually responsible for it.

As poopscoop says, in this case it's debatable, if the table was already damaged it would be in need of repair/replacement anyway.

cornsilk · 04/03/2009 14:49

Can ds make a contribution out of his pocket money?

stroppyknickers · 04/03/2009 14:50

Think I would be disinclined to be too cross. It could have been dangerous had it been wobbly enough to wobble off.

southeastastra · 04/03/2009 14:51

blimey couldn't have been that strong if he just wobbled it and it broke. probably did them a favour as it may of hurt another child if left in it's unsafe wobbly state.

and they called you up to tell you?

Heated · 04/03/2009 14:51

It he had wantonly smashed the picnic table up then yes you should. But he was just playing on it, the plank was wobbly - children find these things a great source of entertainment and these things happen. No, I wouldn't offer to pay.

Original poster

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 14:54

The strange thing is I was telling DH last night about how flimsy they are. They aren't as strong as the one we have in our garden.

OP posts:

Heated · 04/03/2009 14:54

And a plank or wood is replaceable, it doesn't mean the picnic table is ruined. The site team often do these repairs as general maintenance. I too am surprised they rang you - a bit ott - unless there is more to the telling.

Original poster

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 14:56

He wasn't smashing it up, but he wasn't just playing a game either. He does tend to wobble things to see what happens.

That makes him sound odd, now I've typed it.

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Original poster

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 14:57

They phoned me to tell me his is missing play time tommorow. He hates missing playtime, and has been known to sneek out of the class room on to the playground.

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southeastastra · 04/03/2009 14:59

lol it does sound quite funny. poor him

i'd ask them if they'd risk assessed the wobbly table before the wobble incident

muppetgirl · 04/03/2009 15:01

Have to say if he wasn't jumping all over it and trying to break it but merely exploring what it was doing -wobbling then I don't see why you should have to pay at all. It sounds a simple case of wear and tear to me that went unchecked. It happens. No one was hurt and he wasn't being malicious.

muppetgirl · 04/03/2009 15:01

why is he missing play?????

sounds like they think he did it on purpose

RustyBear · 04/03/2009 15:08

It doesn't sound a bit odd CrazyHorse - it's what 10 year olds do.

I'm sitting in the ICT suite atm with a Y6 class in (don't worry, I'm not meant to be in charge of them, it's just my desk is there!) and I know if i look up a goodly proportion of them will be fiddling with something - the headphone wires, the stools, the keyboard feet, a ruler - anything.

A pair of headphones rarely lasts the year because the wire breaks due to all the fiddling - we don't charge the parents,we just factor in the cost & if we can't afford new ones they have to do without.

Actually at our last ICT tech's network meeting, one of the techs said their school was thinking of asking every child to provide their own pair of headphones & microphone - though that had apparently been suggested as a hygiene issue by a parent, because one of the other things kids that age do is to chew the microphone.....

PrimulaVeris · 04/03/2009 15:21

Sounds like a normal 10yo thing and a normal incident

Missing playtime - quite normal punishment at this age. Time to reflect etc, it's a one-off then forgotten (quite often my dc's entire class had to miss one for a punishment). I wouldn't worry about it .. you've spoken, school has spoken, one missed playtime then move on

Original poster

CrazyHorse · 04/03/2009 17:06

primulaVeris - I think you are right.

DS has a slightly different story to the school. He says the boys in his class have been using the wobbly seat to pretend they are surfing or skateboarding on. He wobbled the seat today and realised he could lift it up, and showed his friends how far the screw came out. He tells me he was just investigating if the seat would come completetly off when they dinder lady came along.

He was totally unaware that he was going to miss playtime tommorow. I think the school wanted me to break the bad news to him as they were scared concerned he might cry or sulk.(He does like his playtimes!)

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nickschick · 04/03/2009 17:12

Hes just a young child,I can believe he and his friends use it to surf on and I think he may well have been lifting it up to inspect how far it came out, thats what children do.

However

The table is broken so school informed his mum they havent asked her to pay for it (and nor should they imo) his 'price' for his curiousity is to miss play time tomorrow - that all seems fair to me and this will be a lesson is respecting property for him and all the other children.

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