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

Loz01

Im 21 now but I always used to buy my teachers a box of chocs and make a card or something at the end of the school year when I was younger! I think its a nice lil way of saying thanks for their hard work.

Also I think its nice if kids that are 1 to 1 with a TA give them a card or something - my Mum was a TA for 11 years and used to spend 24/7 with the same child for a whole year, so I think its nice that the parents say an extra thanks for their commitment to the one particular child etc

mrcow

needtoearnmoremoney wrote: »

As a parent I never bought presents for teachers. They/we are doing their/our job in exactly the same way that every single one of you does your job. Do you expect to get presents from your customers each year?

I don't think anyone expects it - but people in business often do get presents. Ive worked in sales for years and have often been rewarded for good work (free holidays/chocolates/money/wine/nights out/computers etc) Customers will often buy me gifts too if they are appreciative for a specific job I've done.

I guess it depends on your industry?

savingholmes

I always get my kids to make a handmade card for each teacher and take a little present worth approx £1 or less. A few years ago I got some little glass candle holders from Ikea and some packs of 10 coloured candles in the sales - My daughter will take 1 of these in each for the teacher and classroom assistants. My son - we have a candle painting kit and a box of cream candles - I'm thinking of getting him to do some candle painting tonight. Job done, cheap present using what we already had but with some thought and effort.:cool:

I think teachers are under-paid for what they have to put up with. My kids are developing really well and I am grateful. I often get bonuses and sometimes freebies in my jobs - I'm not aware that teachers - and particularly classroom assistants do that. My daughter has talked about her teacher all year and loves her to bits.:rotfl: I'm grateful for that and I think it is right to show it.

bylromarha

I worked in a school where the parents were not well off and about 50% still stretched out their meagre budgets to afford a pressie for me and the TA at the end of the year...yes it was tat, but it was appreciated tat as I knew it was their way of saying thank you...I sensed that talking to a teacher was scary for about 25% of parents, so this was the only way they felt they could show their appreciation.

I have lots of friends who work in nicer areas and get some lovely wine/chocolates/ £250 gift cards...and whilst I'm slightly envious, I'd always much rather teach in schools where you can see the difference you make in attitudes and behaviour of the kids, and helping them on the journey of self belief and that they can achieve if they work their socks off. Find that far more rewarding than a £250 gift card for Touchwood shopping centre.

So for my son's first year at nursery, in a similar catchment to the school where I taught, I bought the TA and teacher a really nice box of chocs-in March when Tesco were selling them really cheaply!:rotfl:

poodledoodledoo

I think any thankyou gesture is just fine, even if it's just a couple of kind words said to the teacher at the end of the year.

In my opinion, if you are going to give a present it's best to stick to consumables, flowers etc otherwise the poor teacher will end up with a house full of unwanted junk.

SuzySu

I always made presents for the teachers, papier mache, salt dough and the children helped paint/decorate them. I know they were appreciated as one teacher was going round the school showing other teachers what I had made.

Homemade wins every time for me.

eira

A heartfelt personal thank you every time- especially from children and parents from whom it is genuinely heartfelt. If you want to spend money a box of biscuits/chocolates goes down a storm in the staffroom.

Another thing (nasty this )is that teachers going through the upper pay scale are sometimes being asked for 'evidence' of thank yous from parents and children !!!!!-I kid you not

gelato_cat

My friend is a secondary school teacher and expects gifts... when we were kids, you didn't buy a present for the teacher (I'm 30 now).

However, when me and my family went to Canada when I was 11, my mum made me buy a present for my teacher (I think she felt guilty that she was taking me out of school for a month). It was a ruler with pics of Toronto landmarks on it. I saw the teacher in Sainsbury's a few years ago - he remembered me and said he still had the ruler

Suze