The average school bag is worth £265!

With the start of the new school year fast approaching, parents will be sending their children off to secondary school (aged 11 to 16) with overflowing school bags worth on average £265, according to esure home insurance.

Hi-tech gadgets and the latest 'must-haves' are to blame as 60% of parents admitted that their children never go to school without their mobile phone and almost a fifth (17%) take a hand-held games console with them, such as a Play Station Portable or Nintendo DS Lite, for break time entertainment. Three in ten pupils don't leave the house without their MP3 or MP4 players and almost one on ten (9%) have replaced traditional paper timetables or diaries with electronic personal organisers.

Although £265 is the value of the 'average' school bag, some fashion-conscious teens could be taking personal items worth over £1100 into school:

Item Description Cost

School bag / rucksack Nike Back pack £17.99

Designer trainers Nike Shox Rivalry trainers £45.00

Stationery set Including pencil case, fountain pen and geometry set £13.97

Wallet Rip Curl Search Signature wallet £6.99

Mobile phone Silver Samsung E900 £89.99

USB stick Kingston Technology 2GB USB 2.0 Flash pen £7.37

Watch Nike Blade Watch £45.00

Designer spectacles FCUK designer spectacles £125.00

Musical instrument Buffet E11 Clarinet £535.00

Sports equipment Prince Tennis Racket Rebel Ti £40.00

MP3 player Samsung 1gb Ultraslim MP3 player £38.88

Handheld games console Play Station Portable - Base unit console (black) £99.95

Electronic personal organiser Compaq iPAQ - H3850 Pocket PC (Colour) £75.95

Total = £1141.09

Nikki Sellers, Head of Home Insurance at esure, said: "Gone are the days of arming your kids with a fountain pen, exercise book and a pair of plimsoles on the first day of school. Nowadays designer gear and hi-tech gadgetry are the must-haves for today's school children.

"With the average bag at £265 it's crucial to ensure that the valuables being carried around in school bags are not only insured but, if possible, kept away from school. The best place for anything of value is at home in the bedroom rather than in the classroom."

esure home insurance offers some top tips for parents:

Make sure the school bag is insured - Parents should consider adding 'personal possessions away from the home' cover to their contents insurance to insure their family's possessions against loss, theft and damage whilst out and about, including whilst at school.

Leave valuables at home - To reduce the likelihood of having to make a claim, parents should limit the number of high value items, such as ipods and PSPs, that their children are taking regularly to school - perhaps limiting it to special occasions or the last week of term.

Taking care at school and on the way to/from school - Parents should make sure that their children know to take good care of their things e.g. not leave their bag unattended at any time; lock lockers; avoid leaving valuable on pegs; be discrete and don't 'show off' to class mates with a new gadget or mobile; don't get distracted at a bus stop or on public transport and keep a tight hold on bags; and so on.

Take preventative measures - Parents should consider buying a good quality padlock for their child's locker; choosing a school bag with lockable zips; and avoiding designer brands, or high-fashion mobile phones that have greater desirability.

Don't forget musical instruments - Children's hobbies have become more exciting and expensive in recent years. With the continued popularity of learning a musical instrument for personal enjoyment, parents should be aware that they may have to insure a musical instrument if it is borrowed from the school.

Be covered on school trips - Parents who add 'personal possessions away from the home' will be covered for any items their children take on a school trip within the UK and for school trips abroad, items will be covered for up to 60 consecutive days, up to the single article limit of £1500.