letter from school

Legacy_user

had a letter from school saying a teacher is leaving and "inviting" parents to send donations to pay for the gifts !!!
don't tell me teachers don't get enough to club together !:mad:

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CHRISSYG wrote: »

had a letter from school saying a teacher is leaving and "inviting" parents to send donations to pay for the gifts !!!
don't tell me teachers don't get enough to club together !:mad:

So don't send anything. Problem solved.

candygirl

OMG I've never heard of that before:eek::eek:All the schools i've worked in have a fund for these sort of occasions where the teachers put a certain amount each in per year

System

it isn't compulsary. Some people appreciate the job that teachers do to educate their children so may want to give a small donation as a gesture of thanks. If you do not feel inclined to donate then don't do it.

soothyerboots

It is strange, but no need to get your knickers in a knot. Just ignore it if you do not wish to donate. Simples!

Oliver14

goater78 wrote: »

it isn't compulsary. Some people appreciate the job that teachers do to educate their children so may want to give a small donation as a gesture of thanks. If you do not feel inclined to donate then don't do it.

Why stop with teachers then? How about whenever a nurse or doctor leaves your local hospital maybe a letter to all the patients to contribute to gifts. What about other jobs. How about shops asking for contributions to gifts from customers when a member of their staff leave?

When a member of staff leaves these gifts are normally from work colleaguesto wish them well. It's a bit of a cheek asking patents etc to contribute. Otherwise where will this end?

tbw

Ok, so teachers do educate our children and most of them do an excellent job. But, at the risk of inviting shirty comments, I do feel that its only what they are paid to do and, personally, I think its a ruddy cheek for the school to send out such letters!

If parents feel that a particular teacher has gone the extra mile for many years then they have the option of showing their appreciation with an individual gift - the school asking for money makes it a bit awkward for those that simply can't afford it/don't agree with it and can be even more awkward for the child who doesn't take a gift envelope.

In fact, I would go further and say that the present escallating practice of every child taking in increasingly expensive gifts for teachers is crazy. It becomes a competition as to who can take the 'best' (most expensive !) gift and its time the practice was stopped. I don't want to get into an argument about whether teachers are paid enough etc but I don't see why they are deserving of a gift/'tip' - most other workers don't expect/get anything and many companies actually forbid their staff from taking gifts of any sort.

I'm not being mean - I certainly give both my posties a Christmas gift and I do always tip for good service - but I object to emotional blackmail.

soothyerboots

No-one is forcing anyone to donate, stop over-reacting lol. Just bin it and move on.

Mojisola

The only occasions I've seen this done was when a very long-serving member of staff of leaving, one was a teacher, the others a cook and a caretaker. All had been at the school for a very long time and had been involved with parents when they were pupils at the school so were well known to their parents as well. Their leaving dos were real community events involving lots of people with no current links with the school.

System

Oliver14 wrote: »

Why stop with teachers then? How about whenever a nurse or doctor leaves your local hospital maybe a letter to all the patients to contribute to gifts. What about other jobs. How about shops asking for contributions to gifts from customers when a member of their staff leave?

When a member of staff leaves these gifts are normally from work colleaguesto wish them well. It's a bit of a cheek asking patents etc to contribute. Otherwise where will this end?

A nurse or doctor is in your life for maybe at most a couple of weeks. In addition when my doctor did retire when i was 13 my parents did give him a retirement present because he had looked after me well after a long term illness.

A teacher could be teaching your child for years, they can become a valuable part of your childs life. Some people like to show appreciation for people. If you don't then thats fine. I am not here to judge you. If you operate on the policy that they get paid to do their job and that is it then thats a perfectly valid approach to follow.

In addition I doubt the school would send a letter round unless some more generous parents had contacted the school and asked how they can show their appreciation to this teacher.

stephent82

Now, be careful with this. We don't know who this letter came from - was it the school (as in the Headteacher) or the Parent Council (or whatever your school calls themselves). If it is the latter, they represent all parents of children representing the school. I have seen this happen in a number of schools. If it was the Head, I feel this is unacceptable.