christmas gift for teacher - cheap & cheerful

heatherks

jaymac wrote: »

Some teachers aren't too keen on home made edible gifts unless they really know the child/family it's come from.

we were talking about this the other day about home-made biscuits etc for christmas gifts ..the teacher / assistants see daily what some kids do with their fingers ( up nose etc) and at christmas / end of term they come in with some home made goodies ..i often wondered if they actually ate them ...even if they know the family personally that made them

toontron

I found the buying presents business a bit more difficult this year, for the first time ever, the Toonies have male teachers, and I was quite thrown! Every other year it has been lady teachers so we have given Lush gift sets and Thorntons or wine, this year we have gone for digital photo frames and wine for each.

PopeSock

I'm a trainee teacher, and during my teaching practice I've seen a whole range of gifts being bestowed on the class teacher, and got one or two myself. However, the best story I've heard about getting gifts was from my group tutor, given during an introductory lecture.

He told us that one present he got from a pupil was a rock wrapped up in some newspaper, and brought it out - he'd kept it every since he got it. He said that he'd recieved it from a pupil who knew he had an interest in geology, and since she couldn't afford to get anything, as she was from a poor family, she'd given him what she thought was an interesting rock.

He said that meant more to him that all the chocolates and other stuff he'd received that year, due to the thought and earnestness the child had put into it.

mintymoneysaver wrote: »

I'd love home made cakes etc, but there are certain children who I would worry about hygiene etc

One teacher I was with said thank you for the home made cake she'd been given, then popped it in the bin in the staff room. I can see her point, though - it was a home made rice krispie cake that had been carted around all over the shop.

Rainey_LB

We have at least one teaching assistant in addition to the teacher in all the classes at our school, so a little gift card etc for each can soon add up, so we started all clubbing together, one parent will volunteer to collect the money, buy a large card for each teacher/teaching assistant in the class for all the kids to sign in the class to sign and the remainder of the money is used to purchase gift vouchers for the local shopping centre and can be spent in the shop of their choice.

It works for us, you put in what you can afford and teachers seem to really appreciate it, they often end up with over £50 each to spend on what they like, I know I'd rather that than 30 boxes of roses!!

dawyldthing

The_Hodges wrote: »

do teachers not get paid enough. I personally don't agree with all this buying of presents for people who already earn a good wage, i thought there was a recession on and most of the the time it's parents trying to buy the best present for the teacher, i feel sorry for those who can't afford it!! :mad:

A lot of people do say teachers get paid a lot, but you have a year (or 4 in my case) of training plus the endless days of 6am-12am days.

When someone says something about teachers pay it always reminds me of an e-mail I once received:

Subject: this made me chuckle

Aren't you sick of all those high paid teachers?
Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year!
It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do...baby-sit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage. That's right. I would give them £3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time. That would be a day (7:45 AM to 4:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch).

Each parent should pay £19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now, how many do they teach in a day... maybe 30? So that's 19.50 X 30 = £585.00 a day.
However, remember they only work 180 days a year!
I am not going to pay them for any vacations.
Let's see . . that's £585 x 180 = £105,300 per year.
(Hold on! .. My calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers and the ones with Master's degrees?
Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair, £5.52 an hour.
That would be £5.52 times 6.5 hours times 30 children times 180 days = £193,752.00 per year.
Wait a minute, there is something wrong here! .....There sure is, duh!

Make a teacher smile; send this to someone who appreciates teachers!
(Average teacher salary £21,000/180 days = £116.66 per day/30 students = £3.88/ 6.5 hours = £0.59 per hour per student.)

Very inexpensive babysitter, and they even educate your kids!
Crazy, eh!

meerustar

Every year me and youngest bake a Christmas Cake (already made this year) and my son takes this in for all the teachers in the staff room. I feed the cake with brandy and we both decorate it. He takes it in a couple of days before the end of term and the teachers love it. The Head has said that they look forward to it now

Saves a fortune on gifts (I do get his main teacher a bottle of wine) and we get to make a lovely cake - as no one in our house likes xmas cake, but we love to bake them, lol

mintymoneysaver

meerustar wrote: »

Every year me and youngest bake a Christmas Cake (already made this year) and my son takes this in for all the teachers in the staff room. I feed the cake with brandy and we both decorate it. He takes it in a couple of days before the end of term and the teachers love it. The Head has said that they look forward to it now

Saves a fortune on gifts (I do get his main teacher a bottle of wine) and we get to make a lovely cake - as no one in our house likes xmas cake, but we love to bake them, lol

We'd think you were a lovely parent!!!!

P__G

Surely some Uncle Joes MintBalls would be acceptable? That is what a good friend of mine did recently.

http://www.uncle-joes.com/sweet-shop/uncle-joes-mint-balls/uncle-joes-mint-balls-200g-tin2/

wonderbetty

last year we gave the teacher and the two helpers little candles from the pound shop. they were in a set and I seperated them for 1 each. Jess tied them in a little homemade cloth bags with a ribbon on and made a tag. i think it cost £1.50 for the lot.

This year she wants to give them a homemade cookie each. We'll wrap them in a cello bag and a tag. She mentioned dgiving them all a little plastic dinosaur as she loves them but i doubt the teacher will want that!

I agree, the playground thing is a bit of a show and tell when it comes to gifts. Some did a whip round last year, but the suggested donation was a tenner!
I think if the child chooses then it is truely from the heart. If the teachers put it in the bin, or don't eat the chocs or give it away then it is up to them.

*debbie*

I work in a preschool and as every other teacher / ta / preschool worker has said here, the small things that are personal are just the best. My all time fav present was a home made tree decoration - a tiny wooden fairy from a wilko's kit (with lots in). The little girl had obviously had help, but she had stuck all the stars on, and had decorated the face herself. It come out every year, and every year I remember her.