School coat "missing" or "stolen" - vent

bromleymum

A few days before the summer term ended my son (Year 5) grabbed a coat on the way to primary school as it was raining. By the time school ended, it was hot so, having the memory of a gnat, the coat was left on his peg outside the classroom.

We came home, I moaned, he promised to remember to put it in his bag the next day.

It wasn't on the peg the next morning and as it was the last day of term I had a quick look in lost property and having no luck, the school office said to check at the beginning of the Autumn term. Bit annoying and with hindsight I should have made more of a fuss at this point but I left it.

Back to school today and of course, the coat has not turned up. I'm really irritated as it's practically new and this is not the first time that things have been left on a peg and not been there the next day.

So.....the coat has gone. I am fed up with things disappearing in primary school and everyone referring to "missing" items. My argument is it's not "missing", it's been taken. The school is uncomfortable with this and quite frankly, tough, as I think it's a problem that needs to be acknowledged and then tackled.

There's also an ongoing problem with school jumpers & cardigans going "missing" (2 for me last year and they cost £18 each to replace) and never being seen again.

I know this is common in many schools and some people think you should put up with this petty theft but I've had enough. If no-one makes a fuss then it just carries on.

The coat had his name written in so many places you couldn't possibly have made a mistake so it should have been returned at least.

What would you do? I'm open to suggestions.....

I've even thought of sewing a secret bit into the jumpers this year. That's how fed up I am now, the coat is just the final straw.

Vent over and relax....

mumto2loves

been there done that

I now try to buy my daughter a 'different' coat (not a navy / black one similar to everyone else in the school) so that if it goes missing i have more chance of spotting it being worn.
This obviously doesnt work with school jumpers or t shirts, with these i sew on lables - and sew all around the edges not just the ends and then write on the label as well.
one of her friends had her new school shoes taken 2 days into termlast year :eek: they never turned up, the things is there was no other pair of shoes left in their place so someone must have delibrately taken them because they hid / had their own shoes as well.
i would speak to the teacher and ask them to look for the names if you've put it in more than once, i'm sure it must happen a lot.

cardcrazyden

I had something similar happen to my daughter. She had a very distinctive coat and we happened to find a pair of ski gloves to match. They were age 2 to 6 yrs as she has very tiny hands. She was 8 at the time.

When they returned to school after some heavy snow they were told to go through the school hall. Whilst in there DD took off her gloves. When it came to home time she couldnt find them and she did all the usual searches as well as speak to the teacher. A couple weeks later one of the boys went to DD and showed her his new gloves! Saying that they were just like hers. He was a big build 8 yr old and she told me they were hers because they had the same marks on them that hers had. DD went to the teacher who took the gloves off the lad and said she would speak to the lads mother who worked at the school as a dinner lady in the hall.

Teacher spoke to the mum who said that she'd had them for ages. This mum is a single parent and the lad is a little s*d who has since been expelled from the school. They got to keep the gloves which indecently had a pink stripe across them. There is no way this lad would normally wear anything with pink in it!

But they got away with it. I was furious:mad:

shortdog

I bought my daughter a school coat in Primary 1, it was £18, and part of the official school uniform, which meant quite a few of the kids had them.
She'd had it less than two weeks when she came out of school one day without it, we went in to have a look, and the only coat left was a size smaller, and really old. We took that one to get her home (it was a miserable cold day), and went back to school the next morning to look for hers, thinking that a parent would have noticed and been honest about the fact their child had left that morning with a scabby old jacket, and came back with a brand new one, but no, it never reappeared.
I have never bought a "school coat" again, I'd rather spend £20 on one from Next and know which coat is hers than lose another one, it was money I couldn't afford to lose, and it really upset me that someone could do that.

spartacusthe1st

i hate this!!we have the same probs with school jumpers,despite putting names on the tag inside they still go missing!i will look in the jumper box in her classroom but all the jumpers in there are disgusting,ripped,chewed cuffs or covered in paint!and also have the name tags cut out!makes me so angry.i have told my little girl to put her jumper in her drawer from now on and not in the jumper box!
i actually saw my daughters jumper on another girl who was quite a bit bigger than my daughter and in the same class,my daughters jumper had quite a recognizable long thread hanging off the school logo so i know it was hers as it was clearly waaaay too small for the other girl!

busymum79

I gave up buying lunchboxes for my eldest when she was in juniors. They constantly went missing and the final straw was when she bought a new one in Hamleys. It was exclusive to the store (we live a good couple of hours from london). I wrote her name on the back, she took it to school on the Monday and it was missing by Wednesday. The final straw was when a child in her class came waltzing in to school the next week with the same lunchbox and the name on the back had been crossed out with marker pen. School spoke to the Mum who insisted that she'd bought the lunchbox in Wilkinsons. When it was pointed out to her that it was a Hamleys exclusive she changed her story and said it had been a present! Parents who not only condone, but seem to encourage their children to steal seems to be a worryingly big problem in our schools. My daughter took her lunch in a carrier bag from then on.

loracan1

Happens in secondary as well, my son had a favourite hoodie he wore to school, had it on the back of his chair, walked out of the room, back in 10 minutes later and no sign. Not an expensive one - but he'd bought it himself.

With younger kids though, it can be sheer thoughtlessness. Same child several years ago had swimming lessons at the local pool, getting dressed afterwards his shoes had disappeared, I was furious. Just a pair of trainers a size too small in the same spot, reported it to reception and had to carry him to the car...cue next week, his shoes had reappeared! (parent had obviously realised and made sure they went in the same spot at same time)

skylight

My DD (then 8) had a JLS hoodie in pink with her name in glitter across the back. She wore it to school instead of a coat and it went missing.

Another girl walked in 2 days later wearing it - she swore blind her Mum had bought it for her and she really hadn't noticed my daughters unusual name on the back displayed for all to see. The girls Mum stormed into school the following day moaning about her little darling being accused of lying/thieving (not really accused; she was just told not to do it again) and she insisted that my DD had given it to her as a present.

Some kids have no chance when the parents behave the way they do.

busymum79

Then of course are the parents who don't bother writing names on things! In infants my daughter had the same lunchbox as another girl in her class. Ours had her name on it. Other childs didn't. The amount of times I had to chase other mum up the road because her daughter had walked off with our lunchbox...

Kaye1

Thanks for this post, OP. First child went yesterday, have labelled her fairly expensive coat but I will go back and put some further naming on it. It hadn't even occured to me that it may get 'lost' so I will now take precautions!

gunsandbanjos

Kaye1 wrote: »

Thanks for this post, OP. First child went yesterday, have labelled her fairly expensive coat but I will go back and put some further naming on it. It hadn't even occured to me that it may get 'lost' so I will now take precautions!

If possible write her name on the name tag as usual. But also write it somewhere inconspicous - such as the inside of the sleeve. So if some little toad steals it and little toads delightful mother cuts your name tag out you can still prove it is yours if need be.