christmas gift for teacher - cheap & cheerful

jellyhead

I tend to give a gift in the summer, to show appreciation for the teacher's input throughout the year they've had my little darling At christmas it seems, well, just because it's christmas rather than any real thanks towards that particular teacher they only met a few weeks ago.

If anyone plumps for chocolate there are little boxes of Guylian (?) choc seashells in tesco for 99p, containing 4 or 5 chocolates if you're cutting costs, or I just saw in a tesco petrol station a 3 for £6 offer on shelves full of chocs including boxes of dairy box, guylian truffles etc.

McCreary

dawyldthing wrote: »

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!

That really made me smile! As a Primary School Teacher myself I do not expect to receive anything extra on top of my salary. I've read threads on various other forums that criticise the whole giving gifts to teachers 'issue' - it is refreshing and humbling to see the opposite perspective here.

I think what a lot of people do not realise (not necessarily on this forum) is that as teachers we generally only hear complaints as opposed to compliments about our work. For example, parents are most likely to speak to teachers when there are issues rather than when things are going well. Thankfully I do have nice parents at my school who write letters of thanks etc. It is these things that I treasure and keep forever.

I have received lots of these lovely memories that remind me of happy times I have had with my classes and to remind me that my work is appreciated - despite the teaching profession being subject to constant criticism.

I still have a handmade card that a child in my final teaching practice class made me saying I was the only teacher that ever made learning fun for him and he was sure I would do well in my career. It also had a drawing of me. I have moved schools since then and the card still has pride of place on my classroom wall.

Thank you on behalf of teachers for appreciating our work... it is a truly rewarding profession!

snowqueen555

That little book is cute!

But why do you buy teachers gifts?

We tell our kids to not give in to peer pressure to have the best gedgets/clothes etc, but all this teacher gift buying is exactly the same thing

vwelsh13

McCreary wrote: »

That really made me smile! As a Primary School Teacher myself I do not expect to receive anything extra on top of my salary. I've read threads on various other forums that criticise the whole giving gifts to teachers 'issue' - it is refreshing and humbling to see the opposite perspective here....

Thank you on behalf of teachers for appreciating our work... it is a truly rewarding profession!

can I add that as a nursery nurse I feel exactly the same :A

moneypenny2k

I work in a secondary school and rarely get gifts from pupils. We're lucky if we get a card :rotfl: However, last year there was a lovely Polish boy in one of my classes. His mum asked me to sign a naturalisation form for him which I did. Come christmas I was given a pressie, A lovely pack of Avon anti wrinkle cream... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Oh it's so great being 50

Seriously, we don't expect pressies, but it is nice to be appreciated. Just a note to say thank you does it for me. I've got a 'happy box' where all the thank you notes go. I get that out on the days when I wonder why on earth I do the job.

mr_knight

moneypenny2k wrote: »

I work in a secondary school and rarely get gifts from pupils. We're lucky if we get a card.

Seriously, we don't expect pressies, but it is nice to be appreciated. Just a note to say thank you does it for me. I've got a 'happy box' where all the thank you notes go. I get that out on the days when I wonder why on earth I do the job.

I'm the same. I don't expect anything but I too have a box of cards and things my students have made me.
I did put a post on the regifting thread about a gift I did once get. Was from a family who didn't have much money and they regifted a smellies set. When I looked closely it had obviously been sat in the bathroom (was in a clear plastic shower bag) and had splashes of soap on it. On closer inspection they had even included a few pubic hairs :rotfl:.

It was still really lovely to have been thought of but none (well at least the vast majority) of us expect anything. A nice homemade card or letter would be really lovely though It makes no difference whatsoever to how I do my job if I get pressies or I don't.

McCreary

snowqueen555 wrote: »

But why do you buy teachers gifts?

We tell our kids to not give in to peer pressure to have the best gedgets/clothes etc, but all this teacher gift buying is exactly the same thing

Because some people feel it is a nice way to show teachers that they appreciate the work they do. Just like some people send flowers to nurses when they have been in hospital or how I will be getting my mortgage advisor a box of chocolates because I appreciate how she has helped me and prevented me from getting very stressed while buying my first house.

NBirdy

This year DD and I have made mini Christmas cakes for her pre-school teachers. She helped tip ingredients onto the scales and mixed them with a spoon, cut some of the paper to line the tins, pokes holes when we 'feed' them etc. When we ice them next week I MAY have her cut the decorations out with little cutters (will see how effective/hygienic that is first!). We'll wrap them in pretty cellophane with bows and ribbon. She's also made them a card each and done all the writing herself, plus drawn a picture of her teachers in them.

I'm hoping that's ok? I don't really talk with the other mums there so not sure what the norm is. Debating whether to put a little Body Shop set or some M+S socks with them? I'd have liked to do cheese & crackers/basket of fruit or something for the assistants, but we won't be going there again until 2 days before the end of term, and I bet they get loads of biscuits and chocs. They don't have a separate staff room as they have snacks and lunch with the kids. Any ideas?

room512

I'm a teacher (based in Nursery) and I'd be thrilled to have a cake and card - don't think you need to put anything else with it. It's lovely when you get something that the kids have participated in. I would make it clear to the staff that you have made them wash hands, etc as then they'll be likely to eat it!