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Secondary education

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Original poster

Does your kids (state) school have lockers? And are they a good thing

71 replies

DownToTheSeaAgain · 22/11/2021 08:47

A group of parents on our PTA have, in response to a tsunami of lost property from kids who have to carry it around everywhere, been campaigning to have lockers in the school.

They want some research -

Does your secondary (state) school have lockers? Do your dc use them? Can you let me know the name and/ or rough location of the school.

Thanks

OP posts:
Mary19 · 22/11/2021 12:21

If having lockers , to make it work I think the whole year group needs to be in the same place. So a year 7 locker area, year 8 locker area etc so the year group are travelling to the same spot not randomly over the school which dis incentives using them. Kids like to travel with their friends and the school knows where they should be

Lupee · 22/11/2021 12:28

Our school has them outside, but not enough for everyone. They pay a £10 deposit in case of lost key. Saves them lugging round a load of heavy bags all day. They share if a friend couldn't get a locker. St barts, newbury.

Hoptoit1 · 22/11/2021 12:38

Yes they do (Yorkshire). Dc love them as can put coats /pe kits in and I love that they don't loose anything.
We pay £5 which is refundable if they hand the key back at the end of year 11. Lost keys are charged at £5.
The only time my 3dc have lost something is during covid when they weren't able to use their lockers.
It's great for pe kits and boxes for cooking etc.
I encourage mine to empty it out end of every half term.
Dc2 has asd and anxiety and worries that they will forget something so has a full replacement stationery kit in locker and keeps all pe kit etc in locker so knows its all in one place this couldn't happen during covid and caused extra anxiety and insisted on taking pe kit/all books every day even when not needed.

RedskyThisNight · 22/11/2021 12:40

Another school with a "no bags in corridors" policy due to lack of space.
The students tend to go back to their locker at break or lunch time.
They also can't take books out of class except during revision for tests periods, so that restricts the amount to be carried round.
There is a separate room for coats, but it's not well used.

Caspianberg · 22/11/2021 12:41

We had a school 20+ years ago. Everyone used them every day I think.
They were kept outside form rooms so you had to go past them all day.
Lunch, coat, pe kit, all the huge rubbish like giant foreign language dictionaries.

GodIsAVegan · 22/11/2021 12:42

Yes but they’re aren’t in use. Apparently they were about 10 years ago but they brought more issues than they solved. I presume maybe kids breaking into others lockers or forgetting keys/combinations but that’s just a guess.

Needcoffeecoffeecoffee · 22/11/2021 12:47

Yes and really useful
Dd has her pe kit in there and coat on cold days.
The school also tries not to have money in school and sonany money needed for after school can be locked in the locker along with phones as they arent allowed during school day
Dd swims with friends one night a week so can leave her kit there all day and also dance kit. This really helps so she doesnt loose expensive ballet shoes
I think its £5 a year and I cant remember how much for a spare key
We are Midlands with a long hilly walk to school so they are really useful along with the phone bit

ScrambledSmegs · 22/11/2021 12:50

Yes, really useful as otherwise DC has to lug around PE kit etc, and the school is quite sprawling. DC reports the locker rooms aren't very centrally located but gets there early enough to cope with that. They're provided by a private company, not cheap (£17pa rings a bell) and it's first come, first served. There aren't enough for everyone to have one unfortunately.

We're in the SE.

Original poster
DownToTheSeaAgain · 22/11/2021 13:50

Thanks for all your answers - they're really helpful and informative

OP posts:
Sweetleftfood · 22/11/2021 14:27

@Isthisjustnormal

Yes. My eldest has one and has literally never used it and is was at the wrong end of the school so added to time rather than improving. Didn’t bother with my youngest who has been fine. State school in south east.
Exactly the same here, oldest one has used it maybe a couple of times and he is in Y10, youngest never used his, waste of money for me
RamblingOldWoman · 22/11/2021 14:37

All of my DCs secondary schools had lockers. My oldest started in 2008! (South East)

Youngest has just started and they have to buddy up for lockers. They have to put their coats in them as they’re not allowed to carry them around.

They’ve just introduced going into school in PE kit on the two PE days a week, and wearing it for the rest of the day, which is great as it much more comfy to wear joggers and trainers than uniform!

I think it’s disgraceful that schools would make DC drag heavy bags. coats and PE kits around all day. The teachers wouldn’t be happy to do it Hmm.

Ginpostersyndrome · 22/11/2021 22:35

Yes. And yes.
Their lockers are in areas by year group and the form rooms are in the same area as their lockers (it's a very sprawling school with several different buildings). Before covid they would all hang out by their lockers at break and lunch if they weren't outside.
They weren't allowed to use them during covid restrictions but they are being used again now.
My children would struggle to manage without them. They use them for coats, pe kit, musical instruments - they even all put an advent calendar in their lockers at Christmas!
They have had shared lockers on occasion (and could choose who they shared with).
We didn't pay for them but a replacement locker key is charged for.
The other local schools have lockers too.

bluetowers · 22/11/2021 23:31

Yep. South Manchester state high. DD uses every day. I think it helps that they are not far from form rooms and school layout has central corridors. PE kit and all sorts left in there. Books too

WeAllHaveWings · 22/11/2021 23:40

No lockers in ds's school and with over 1200 pupils there simply wouldnt be space.

Can also think of many other things busy and cash strapped schools should be spending time and money on.

bluetowers · 22/11/2021 23:54

@WeAllHaveWings our school is 1800 kids. I think a locker is about £30 for 5 years. Our huge primary had them too. Total god send. Teachers love them as stuff doesn't end up scattered everywhere

Mumski45 · 23/11/2021 07:39

I think they are available but neither DS ever had one as it would be useless. School is located on 4 corners of a cross roads on a steep hill over quite a large area so it would be difficult to access a locker at the end of the day and still make it to school bus on time.

Ericaequites · 23/11/2021 15:55

My left shoulder is 1/2” higher than my right from carrying a heavy book bag to and from classes starting in secondary school. At my school, we brought textbooks home most nights and to class everyday. I did have a locker for PE clothes, my coat, and books not needed that day. As a very small girl, there is no way I could have carried everything with me.

Not hanging coats on chairs makes no sense. Wouldn’t they be a slip hazard or the floor and get filthy?

SE13Mummy · 23/11/2021 23:35

SE London state school. Lockers were available when DC1 (now Y12) started in Y7 and were mainly used for PE kit but possibly coats too. DC2 (Y8) didn't have the option of one which is a pain on days that PE kit and a heavy brass instrument are needed - DC2 usually walks to school with friends but it's a hilly walk and the four of them juggling heavy instruments that are the same size as them along with full PE kit and school bags has meant that parents are taking it in turn to drive them to school on those days - they missed out on all clubs etc. during Y7 so I think we're all very keen for them to maintain their enthusiasm for the sports and music clubs, hence the lifts. If they had lockers, they would at least be able to plan ahead so they didn't have lots of luggage on one day.

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 23/11/2021 23:39

It does but they're first come first served, £15 a year and £10 for a replacement key. DS2 had one in year 7 but never used it as they don't give you time between lessons to swap things over.

WhatsitWiggle · 23/11/2021 23:45

Yes but it's £20 a year and first come, first served. There's only a couple hundred lockers for 1200 kids.
DD had one in yr 7 but barely used it as she didn't want to spend break/lunch going to and fro and from some locations if she'd gone to her locker at the end of the day she'd have missed the bus home! They didn't offer them in yr 8 due to covid bubbles (kids wouldn't have been allowed to move through the school to get to her locker). Haven't bothered in yr 9 but she did say recently she wished she had one.

WhatsitWiggle · 23/11/2021 23:45

This is mid Sussex.

Nevermindthesquirrels · 24/11/2021 15:50

Yes- London state. £20 deposit for the year. DD had it in y7. Useless. It was on the other end of the school. She never went to it and she ended up having lots of mouldy food fished out of there at the end of lockdown.
It only works if you can guarantee that each tutor will have enough lockers by the class. The positives get outweighed by the negatives when you have to traipse to the end of 5th floor from lower ground between lessons.

IBDworthit · 12/12/2021 11:25

Mine has lockers, which he had used a lot at the beginning. Most teachers assign HW online now. Some will however still assign HW in the books. So after a few return trips to pick-up those books from school, he decided not to waste his time getting organised but simply carries all his core booklets (heavy!) everywhere and uses the locker to non-core books, coats, instruments and PE stuff only.

Asked the school to instruct teachers to assign HW exclusively online, but old habits die hard. In a few years however I expect that lockers will be more useful, as more HW is going to be online. Fingers crossed!

MackenCheese · 12/12/2021 22:44

Bucks girls grammar.
DD in Year 8 has to carry all her things around school, because they ripped out all of the lockers since the pandemic, crazy!! They said it will stop pupils congregating near the lockers and create more learning space.
I'm not convinced... when DD comes home with a sore back form lugging schoolbag, games bag and hockey stick all round the school because of after school club Angry. I'm absolutely fuming...

PiesNotGuys · 12/12/2021 23:03

Yes, one of the dc has one.

I wouldn’t expect for it to be used in between lessons, that wouldn’t seem practical. Nor are coats put in it, as they need them at break and lunch when they are booted outside. They aren’t allowed to wear coats in the corridors, nor carry them in arms, nor stay indoors at break and lunch because of covid, so it’s part of the uniform that they have to have space in their bags for their coats.

The lockers are therefore not used for coats or books. They are used for - PE kit twice a week which includes full kit, toiletries and two pairs of shoes - football kit again including boots and shin pads - cooking ingredients once a week and then the finished food afterward - art and photography folders, a3 size - dance and performance outfits - stationery. They are expected to have a large amount of equipment daily/weekly and to make space in their bags for their coats they need the lockers.