To buy or not to buy...Teacher's presents

morganb

thriftlady wrote: »

By the way, you'll be relieved to know that when your kids go to secondary school it all stops;)

Not necessarily! I remember the year when my Year 10 tutor group did me a treasure hunt around the classroom,hiding bottles of wine (!) in various strategic places ... bit worried that they thought I needed alcohol to get me through the day, lol!

And when I went on maternity leave, both times I was inundated by presents from the children, mostly home knitted cardigans, bootees, blankets., etc., that they had got their mums to make ... needless to say these are all still very much treasured items.

But one of the most treasured cards I got was from a child who was a school refuser, and I encouraged her to come back to school when she was in my Year Group: I found her card the other day and she had written 'Thank You for giving me the courage to come back to school'. If I could put that on a CV, I would.

minimacka

My d/s gave all his 3 teachers a handmade card and handmade altered book/clipboard this year, this is because I truley felt that they deserved a big thankyou. They have helped my son so much this year that in his leavers assembly he received a special award for the most inproved student in his sats. (yes we were lucky to get our results) His excellent results all 5's were soley down to his teachers help throughout the year (previously getting high 3's low 4's in year 5). I think that if your child's teachers have helped your child throughout the year beyond there teaching means then why not thank them, and yes in the past if a gp/nurse has helped up in some way then yes we as a family have given then a little something to say thankyou. Many times throughout my sons time at primary school i have not given the teacher a thank you card because imoh they had not warranted one.
I think a thank you either spoken, pressie or a card means something.

hannahsmummy1

I bought a box of chocs for the staff to share around at my daughters playschool- that she is leaving to go to school. They have been brilliant with her & i felt they deserved a little something, and i wrote a little thank you note telling them the same too. I dont give in to this buying for the sake of buying & certainly wouldnt buy something if i thought it was going to end up in the bin, or given away- when someone has taken the time to go out & buy a teacher something for them to give it away seems such a waste. I know all the girls (and lad) at my daughters playschool like their chocs- so i know they wouldnt have been wasted! I agree though- things like this are just too commercialised these days (i sound really old but im only 27) Remember though its the thought that counts!

kingfisher1961

My youngest son left primary school this term and we sent a thank you card to his teacher who has been wonderful with him. Both he and his brother have been on the special needs register so I have had a lot of contact with the SEN especially, for a long time.

To thank them for all their help we donated some money to the school for the SEN to spend. She is buying some cooking equipment as my youngest loved doing that. She was very grateful and we both ended up in tears on the last day of term.

Nikkisun

Me and my 7 yo son spent yesterday evening making and icing fairy cakes. For the teacher, the TA's and one for each kid in the class. Went down a storm when we took them in this morning!

SuperSaverSue_2

Becles wrote: »

We bought the Oxfam Unwrapped gifts too. One son bought a bit of a classroom and the other bought two text books.

My eldest left primary school and wanted to get something for all the teachers, so he bought an Oxfam gift that teaches a teacher in Africa. He wrote a message on it thanking all the teachers for giving him a good start in life, and he'd bought them this gift so children without teachers would be as lucky as him. I thought that was really sweet!

Wow, what a fantastic idea! I just looked at the website and I'm going to get the same thing, my daughter is leaving nursery soon and I think this would be appreciated more.

Thanks

RoxieW

I'm in the 'to buy' camp as i think its nice to show the teachers that they're appreciated.
Although it does get abit silly - I just bought a box of chocs and an orchid for ds1s teacher, then for ds2's nursery teacher and 4 (!) teaching assistants I bought a small box of chocs each.
It does seem alot but it is for a year of hard work - so really not much at all.
I hope that they're appreciated! I thought that they would be which is why I thought it was worth the money. All the posts on here saying they get binned or recycled have put my nose out of joint a bit. After all - thats my hard earned cash I'm spending because I think the teachers deserve a treat. Not because I want to look 'good'. Giving them away is quite ungrateful and if thats how teachers feel then perhaps a note sent home saying 'no gifts' would save mums and kids the time and money of bothering!

morganb

RoxieW wrote: »

All the posts on here saying they get binned or recycled have put my nose out of joint a bit.

I can assure you that this is just in the very small minority of cases. I have taught for 14 years and not known of anyone who has done this, everyone has been REALLY grateful to receive a gift and a card. It is very much appreciated.

thriftmonster

I'm in the HM biscuits/ sweets/ jar of chutney camp. It is very competetive at ds2's primary school - and I made a conscious decision to step off that. This year the teacher and the two classroom assistants got a small bag of the Almond Roca toffee from the TWG. By just giving biscuits etc I can include the swimming teacher and the boys' music teachers.

I had thought it would stop at grammar school but ds1 was the only one not to give a gift to his form teacher at Christmas (!) so we did HM sweets this summer as well.

BTW whilst I don't give a pressie to the GP, at Christmas I certainly do to the window cleaner and I tip the postie and the binmen and take a tin of biccies up to the vets as well as hampers for all 4/5 secretaries who work with dh - it might be a bit mean to leave out the teachers!!!! Now I'm wondering why I don't take anything in to the surgery.....?

bestpud

Personally I don't buy gifts. DD makes a card or little book with the things she wants to say and all I do is help her really. We have attached a little bar of chocolate before now, but the card is still the main bit.

I don't actually see the point in me going out and buying, or even making a gift for my child to take in.

If I wanted to buy them a gift from me then I would take it myself -same with a card.

If it is from my dd then I think it should be just that! If I was inclined to buy something then I would ask her what she would like to get and take her with me to choose it. Anything less than that is mechanical imo, and more about the parent than the child.

I have this image of teachers going home with armfuls of stuff they don't know what to do with and, even if they wanted to keep them, how much space can they realistically give to these things over a period of many years teaching?

I think with hand made cards or letters, they can store them easily and they will still be meaningful if they look over them years later, even if they have forgotten the actual child.

Just my thoughts of course and there's no right or wrong here.