Spill the beans... on end-of-term gifts for teachers

mrcow · 11 July 2012 at 7:39PM

I'm a secondary school teacher and am not expecting anything. I'd be stunned if any of my form remembered me as they crashed out of the school gates next week.

If fact, I've been so stressed lately with exams, marking, levels and reports that I'd probably cry if one of them did something nice or thoughful for me.

As for my children's teachers, I've not made my mind up whether to get anything. The kids will probably want to. If I do, I will probably get something to give them early rather than later.

daisiegg · 11 July 2012 at 8:00PM

mrcow wrote: »

I'm a secondary school teacher and am not expecting anything. I'd be stunned if any of my form remembered me as they crashed out of the school gates next week.

If fact, I've been so stressed lately with exams, marking, levels and reports that I'd probably cry if one of them did something nice or thoughful for me..

I could have typed this myself!

A few weeks ago we ran a school trip that was quite a lot of hard work and in our own time, finishing late in the evening - and one pupil said thank you to us at the end - we were so shocked*! It doesn't even cross their minds.

I was a bit miserable after my last Year 11 lesson as every one of them just waltzed out of the classroom without saying a word of goodbye or thanks - after I had given them all a card saying good luck for the future, not to mention all the times over the two years I taught them that I went above and beyond the call of duty for them. By no means am I saying I expected any sort of gift or even a card or anything - but just a "Thanks, Miss" as they left the room would have been nice. Never mind!

*ETA shocked that someone bothered to say thank you - not shocked that she was the only one

thegirlintheattic · 11 July 2012 at 8:09PM

daisiegg wrote: »

I could have typed this myself!

A few weeks ago we ran a school trip that was quite a lot of hard work and in our own time, finishing late in the evening - and one pupil said thank you to us at the end - we were so shocked*! It doesn't even cross their minds.

I was a bit miserable after my last Year 11 lesson as every one of them just waltzed out of the classroom without saying a word of goodbye or thanks - after I had given them all a card saying good luck for the future, not to mention all the times over the two years I taught them that I went above and beyond the call of duty for them. By no means am I saying I expected any sort of gift or even a card or anything - but just a "Thanks, Miss" as they left the room would have been nice. Never mind!

*ETA shocked that someone bothered to say thank you - not shocked that she was the only one

The younger kids are the best at remembering. A few of my year 7s say thank you for the lesson at the end of each lesson, even the ones that have been driving me up the wall. :rotfl:

Janepig · 11 July 2012 at 9:08PM

We do the collection thing in DD/DS's school. £5 each in the kitty and usually get vouchers and split it between teacher and TA. Absolutely no pressure on anyone to give. One of the mums does a letter for each child to bring home for their parents to tell them who to give the money to if they want to contribute, but there's no chasing, and if someone wants to do their own thing then that's fine.

I also like to give a box of chocs to the kitchen staff, although DD/DS don't have dinners, they have packed lunch, they do go to breakfast club, and MIL used to be the school cook and used to say that they tend to get overlooked.

Jx

liberty6201 · 12 July 2012 at 12:42AM

The best present i received this year was a young lad who has speech problems who stood up in front of the class and gave a 5 minute speech saying that he had loved being in my class and all the reasons why. They were really genuine reasons and he mentioned specific things we had done. He finished by saying 'the thing i most remember is that i was feeling really sad and lonely but i didnt tell anyone then we did (spoke about a specific activity) and i realised that somebody actually cared about how i was feeling'. I was in tears bc he was so sincere, also accompanied by a short (2 lines max) letter from his mum saying she really appreciated the effort i put in and the social progress her son had made. I def appreciate the sincere cards and comments (especially from the parents who can be very quick to criticise) more than the presents (tho of course they are nice too!)

PinkLipgloss · 12 July 2012 at 12:47AM

A colleague of mine (Year 2 Teacher) got given a bottle of champagne from the father of one of his more difficult pupils. There was a note attached which read "Thank you for your patience!"

He found this highly amusing and appreciated the gesture.

The same colleague, 2 years ago, was given the most awful tie I have ever seen in my life. It was a horrible pink/salmon colour and quite literally looked like someone had placed a thin piece of material down on the table and then cut a tie shape out of it (there was NO stitching, hem etc).

He was genuinely really insulted that they obviously had such a low opinion of his dress sense :rotfl:

ETA Upon enquiry, he discovered that the tie was not handmade and had in fact been purchased in a shop.

bonnie279 · 12 July 2012 at 6:50AM

We do a class collection. We make it £1 so it's low and afordable for any one who wants to participate. All the children sign the card and the Teacher get's a gift card for her favourite (we get insider info) store, from her class. I think this is better for the teacher than lots of tat and much more afordable for the parents.

pippinpuss · 12 July 2012 at 11:16AM

I have never bought any of my 3 kids teachers presents. That would have added up to 36 gifts over the years.

I was told that all cakes/biscuits were thrown away because they didn't like the thought of dirty hands in the mix, mugs get given away to charity shops. Chocs & toiletries are given to family members at xmas time/birthdays.

The only thing the teachers really liked was a hand written note from the kids, because it was personal & cost nothing.

I was on the PTA for 11 yrs & a Governor for 5 years. So I got the stories straight from the teachers.

Lankshear2676 · 12 July 2012 at 11:19AM

I have 2 sons and this year thya have chose the presents for their teachers (with a little help from mummy). As all their teachers are female thay have chosen to get them a necklace each and they have chosen differnt ones to reflect the different tastes of their teachers. I didn't want to get chocs or flowers as they aren't as personal, at least with what we have they can, if they want to, wear the gifts and get use out of them. The boys will be making thank you card themselves which I think is nice as they will have the personal touch.

I chose to get the teachers and ta's gifts as both my sons have had a great time in their classes and have come along well with their help and I want them to know that their hard work and effort is appreciated.

POPPYOSCAR · 12 July 2012 at 11:20AM

I have to admit that once I did buy a particular teacher a miniature crystal clock. It was more than I normally spent but I did get it in the sales.

The teacher was leaving the school and she had been so kind and patient with my daughter who was painfully shy at the time so I wanted to give her something nice.

When I collected my daughter from school this teacher came out to see me, she had tears in her eyes and said it was the nicest present she had ever been given. She said she would put it on her mantle piece and think of my daughter whenever she looked at it.

Generally though I would give a small gift voucher. One teacher told me flowers were not a good idea as many teachers go away on holiday as soon as they break up.

Spill the beans... on end-of-term gifts for teachers

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