Lost property!

Since my girls have started school (they're now in grade 5 and 6), I reckon I've spent $500 - $600 on replacement uniforms, stationery, lunch paraphernalia and other miscellaneous odds and ends. I am so tired of it!

I know some of it is down to my kid's carelessness and we're working on that but there's clearly some opportunistic thievery and a lack of respect from other students going on too!

Some incidents just from the beginning of this year.

One of my daughters had a very nice coat stollen out of her bag cubicle (they have like a wall of cube storage things outside their classrooms in the corridor where their bags and belongings go).
We live in a part of the country where it snows so coats and jackets are essential.

They've both had jackets this year just vanish, yes I know my daughters should be more careful but the jackets aren't even making it to lost property (or if they are, they don't stay there for long).

Just last week my daughters teacher had everyone sit on the mat with their bags in front of them ready to be dismissed. A kid was dismissed and purposely stomped across my daughter's bag, her umbrella got snapped, her drink bottle cracked, leaked and damaged a library book that I had to pay to replace.

My older daughter has mentioned a real issue with stealing within the girls in her class, it's going as far as some things being stolen like lunch money, bus passes, prescription glasses and even the pretty bags some girls keep their sanitary items in.

This bloody morning, I dropped my younger daughter into her classroom (which I don't normally do but she wanted to show me some artwork), we walk in and see a couple of girls rifling through her tub 'looking' at her pens and textas etc.

A couple of mum's even openly brag about stuff they've scored out of the lost property baskets!

I just don't understand it, I'm a low income earner so my budget is tight. If I can manage to buy my kids uniforms and make sure they have their own stationery, surely these mums who drive top of the line range rovers don't need to be stealing out of the lost property nor do their kids need to be stealing from peers. Even if it was due to financial hardship, our school does have resources to help with uniforms so there really isn't an excuse!

I guess this is more of a vent (the principal is absolutely useless and could clearly not have cared less when I broached it with her).

I really hope this is less of an issue in high school 😡

I should add - everything they own has their names on it. I even put my phone number on their uniforms alongside their full names!