Shoes That Were Swapped

Further to my earlier post on 'What Would You Do If You Were Me?', I had a 'brainstorming' session with Sherilyn and Alycia over this issue and what I found out was that this problem happens quite frequently after the library period.  Though every student is given a number card to claim their shoes when they leave the library, this system seems to have some flaws as shoes are still swapped and missing. And though the principal has advised the students to write their names on their shoes, many students are still not doing it. For some of the students who obediently write their names, the ink had  faded after several washes, like in the case of Sherilyn.

Sherilyn told me that after she lost her shoes, she reported the matter to her class teacher, who only nodded her head to acknowledge the problem but did not try to help her! I have met her class teacher once during the parents-teachers day in June when I collected her report card. The teacher seems to me like a passive
teacher and she is in her early twenties. She also seems to be the reticent type and did not tell us much about Sherilyn's progress in class. A good teacher (like Alycia's class teacher) would tell us about our child's strengths, weaknesses and what areas she/he has to improve on and how she/he can improve in the weak areas.  This could be because the hubs and I could not speak in Mandarin while the teacher is not good in her English language, thus the lack of communication.

Anyway, I told Sherilyn to speak to the teacher in charged of the library to seek her help but Alycia and Sherilyn told me that it is useless as the library teacher did not manage to help other 'victims' to locate their shoes in the past. I kept urging Sherilyn to bring the wrong shoes back to school since they are not hers and to seek the library teacher's help to find hers but she was dogged reluctant to do so reason being the teacher in charged of the library was not around at that time of the incident and her name written in marker pen, has faded from her shoes.

I guess I have to close the case and write off her shoes.  As a preventive measure, I have asked Sherilyn to place a very noticeable identification on her shoes each time she removes her shoes in school, on top of having her name written on both sides of her shoes.  I suggested to her that she either places her shoes into a plastic bag (this was what tourists were asked to do at one of the museums that we visited recently in Malacca) or places a small name card onto each side of the shoes but she said that this would make her look very stupid *roll eyes*   Instead, she came out with the idea of sticking her cartoon name sticker onto her shoes each time she removes her shoes in school. She will then pull out the two name stickers from the shoes after she wears them back and will stick them back onto the plastic cover of her mini note pad which she puts in her pinafore pocket.  I sure hopes that this method will prevent other pupils from wearing her shoes again.