Help with gifts for teachers please

jap200

My children all go to a school (and pre-school) where there seems to be a tradition of giving teachers a christmas present. Most parents also extend this to teaching assistants as well.

I have 3 kids

Child 1 has 1 teacher + 2 TAs
Child 2 has 2 teachers (jobshare) + 2 TAs
Child 3 at Pre-school has 1 keyworker + 5 other staff members

Grand total is 13 people to buy for.

Lots of the parents seem to buy bottles of wine or chocolates. I happen to know that at least 2 of the teachers don't drink (how odd!) and that several of the other staff are on diets. Also, my budget will not stretch too far.

I have some home-made jam and wondered about giving this nicely wrapped - but can't spare 13 jars of it!

What do others do in this situation?

Dan_Thunder

Dunno, could you go to somewhere like Poundland and buy them all teacher-y stuff i.e. stationary/pens etc?

floydy

jap200 wrote:

My children all go to a school (and pre-school) where there seems to be a tradition of giving teachers a christmas present. Most parents also extend this to teaching assistants as well.

I have 3 kids

Child 1 has 1 teacher + 2 TAs
Child 2 has 2 teachers (jobshare) + 2 TAs
Child 3 at Pre-school has 1 keyworker + 5 other staff members

Grand total is 13 people to buy for.

Lots of the parents seem to buy bottles of wine or chocolates. I happen to know that at least 2 of the teachers don't drink (how odd!) and that several of the other staff are on diets. Also, my budget will not stretch too far.

I have some home-made jam and wondered about giving this nicely wrapped - but can't spare 13 jars of it!

What do others do in this situation?

dont bother, u shouldnt feel pressured into splashing out, spend time with ur kids maybe making some xmas cards with loads of glitter and stuff and the kids and teachers will be more than chuffed with their efforts :T

A_LANCASHIRE_LAD_2

floydy wrote:

dont bother, u shouldnt feel pressured into splashing out, spend time with ur kids maybe making some xmas cards with loads of glitter and stuff and the kids and teachers will be more than chuffed :T

I agree jesus these people get over 25k a year and about 140 bloody weeks holiday n all thrown in plus 978 inset days ! What more do they need ... bah humbug !

Dan_Thunder

My wife was a teacher and if she put in less than 12 hours work per day we counted that as a blessing! Plus she had to do about 6 hours work at the weekend for the week ahead plus term planning during school 'holidays', plus deal with umpteen angry parents whose little angel would never shout, swear or hit another child!

It's not a criticism of anyone but I think if people saw how hard being a teacher actually is they'd probably avoid it as a profession with a ten foot barge pole! Those adverts on TV looking for teachers are a crock o'sh*t!

jap200

Dan_Thunder wrote:

My wife was a teacher and if she put in less than 12 hours work per day we counted that as a blessing! Plus she had to do about 6 hours work at the weekend for the week ahead plus term planning during school 'holidays', plus deal with umpteen angry parents whose little angel would never shout, swear or hit another child!

It's not a criticism of anyone but I think if people saw how hard being a teacher actually is they'd probably avoid it as a profession with a ten foot barge pole! Those adverts on TV looking for teachers are a crock o'sh*t!

So - as someone with some inside experience, what is your view on my original post? Can you suggest a low-price, useful/thoughful gift? Or should I resist the pressure and go for a home-made Chrismas thank-you card.

manorman

see here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.html?searchid=6390017

..search on "Hellmans"..2nd item down in listing..a totally free book for sarnie recipes plus express delivery..my 10 copies came in 2 days!..also can order other stuff in the package and benefit from the free postage..reckon the teachers might get a few of these as gifts! ps I was one for 32 years...not as easy a job as some on here would like to think.. retired early..no regrets at all!

jap200

manorman wrote:

see here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/search.html?searchid=6390017

..search on "Hellmans"..2nd item down in listing..a totally free book for sarnie recipes plus express delivery..my 10 copies came in 2 days!..also can order other stuff in the package and benefit from the free postage..reckon the teachers might get a few of these as gifts! ps I was one for 34 years...not as easy a job as some on here would like to think.. retired early..no regrets at all!

Actually I already have a couple of these books in hand and one on the way, but hadn't thought of using them as gifts for the teachers - good idea!

alyssa_mae

we now organise a collection in each class and put in a suggested amount of £5 each them that is shared between 50% the teacher 25% each teaching assistant then we buy a voucher for a shopping centre. teacher £70 assistants get £35 roughly. I know what you mean by feeling presure to buy something it was a bit of a shock when my boy started school. but i just grin and bear it now. My daughter starts school in Jan so that will be two lots of collections. I think if I were a teacher I would ask parents not to buy gifts.

wendym

My daughter is now Deputy Head at a primary school serving a really hard-up area, and she feels really uncomfortable that giving teachers a present has become a duty.
She would say a card saying thank you would give as much pleasure. For years her fridge door was occupied by a cardboard lighthouse made by a 5 year old (it moved house twice).
At her present school I guess not many parents can begin to afford a present, and the staff all know this and have chosen to teach there. The new baby sister in one family is sleeping in a cardboard box. I'll ask her this evening what she would recommend if you have the bad luck to have children at a school where it is now 'expected'.
I guess that if head teachers started saying it's no longer school policy, that would give offence to some parents too!

Butterfly24

I am a TA in a class with 2 teachers. Parents are very generous at both Christmas and the end of the summer term and for many it must cost them an absolute fortune, especially if they have several children. Remember at the end of the day we are only doing a job we are paid to do, so gifts really aren't necessary (although they are always well received!).

You might find that the TA in your child's class doesn't actually work with your child and is assigned to just a few children in the class, so check this out before dipping into your purse!

Quite often parents just send in a tin of chocolates or biscuits to the school office to be shared out by all the staff - just make sure you attach a label to the tin saying who it is from.

Personally, I would suggest either getting your child to make their own Christmas card for the teacher (make sure your child signs it themselves ... you'd be surprised how many parents write out their child's Christmas cards!).

Another idea is to have a collection in the playground and buy a bunch of flowers ..... after all, we'll all be dieting in the New Year.

Hope this helps - but please, please do not feel obliged to buy a gift.