Spill the beans... on end-of-term gifts for teachers

Mrs.W_2

The 'teacher gift thing' does not need to be expensive. I look on in horror at some of the expensive flower arrangements in the arms of kids marching through the classroom door on the last day of term! For me, nothing represents worse value for money than cut flowers.

Similar to the lady who bought plants and herbs for her children to pot for their teachers, we forward plan for the situation.

Christmas:
I buy a bag of hyacinth bulbs every September. Stick them in the bottom of the fridge for three months (for the bulbs, that's winter done with) then give one each to the teachers and assistants with forcing jars (easily found for pennies in charity shops) and care instructions handwritten by our daughter.

End of The Year:
All the teaching assistants and teachers get handmade cards - our daughter usually starts making them three weeks before the end of term. To keep her interest, we make it the craft activity for her play dates in the weeks leading up to end of term.

For gifts this year (because I've fallen in love with my sewing machine again) I made several cloth shopping bags. They were personalised with little details such as a known favourite colour, and a little hand embroidery for a much loved teacher.

I know the above is heavy on forward planning, and some of it is time consuming, but these people have done their best for our kid all year.
By comparison, two evenings at the sewing machine is a small show of thanks.

ETA: The link below has some fantastic ideas on making cloth bags..
http://tipnut.com/35-reusable-grocery-bags-totes-free-patterns/

daisiegg

Well, as the end of term has come and gone (yay!) I thought I would report in as a secondary teacher.

I received one present from a girl in my form - a toiletry set - absolute gorgeous and VERY much appreciated. But more than that is the tag on the gift bag on which she had written 'to the best form tutor and English teacher EVER!' - that has been carefully cut off and put in my 'memory box' and I will never throw it away; it will remind me of that lovely girl long after the toiletries are used up and long after she has grown up and left school!

I also got a couple of cards - which are proudly displayed on my mantle piece and which will be kept and treasured. The most meaningful one is from a really unexpected girl, a long message of thanks all about how my lessons have helped to increase her confidence and all sorts of other lovely things...I nearly cried when I read it and I may stick it on the wall above my desk at work - it's too nice to be hidden away in my treasures box!

So the moral of the story is - the presents are welcome and appreciated, definitely. But what really means so much, and will continue to mean a lot long after the present is forgotten, are the personal messages. I got cards with no present from quite a few children and that's perfect - I'm glad they understood that the message was enough, and no present was required

ellesbellesxxx

As a Teacher, this subject always causes a rift! The opinions in our staff room vary from someone who considers the presents he gets a testament to his teaching and boasts about the amount for the rest of the year (!) to people who cry as overwhelmed!
I was really upset to hear of one parent at our school who was organising a collection of money for the teacher/ta -towards gift vouchers - suggested amount £10. As a Teacher I would be mortified if I had £100+ of gift vouchers. As others have pointed out, it's a job, a much beloved job but equally if families are struggling, to hear that they have been asked for £10 each - how embarrassing.

I was very touched to have even been thought of on Friday. To have been given cards and presents was very thoughtful and kind, and they will all be treasured - saying that, the chocolates were treasured as they were being eaten...!

oliviasmummy

My DD1 has recently finished nursery and will be starting reception in September, I made little gift boxes with 6 different flavoured cupcakes in and wrapped them with ribbon and she wrote on a gift tag a short message. One of the nursery teachers is gluten free and I had made some for my DD birthday before to take into nursery and she was chuffed that she could eat the cakes like everyone else. I thought it was something different other than chocolates or teddies and a bit more personal, they went down very well.

rdchick

I only gave one gift to a teacher when I was at school and he is now one of my best friends. It was an 'in-joke' whilst I was there and now I still send him things to his school - with no message to say it's from me but it's fairly obvious it's from me.

Teachers stick with you for life and it's nice to be able to show how much they mean to you with a small token of appreciation xxx

cottonhead

I think its best to be honest with any present / card. This yer my son didnt have a particularly great relationship with his teacher. She was Ok but even meeting her at the end / start of school it was plain to see she was a bit moody and snappy some days. So she just got a thank you card. I certainloy dont feel under any obligation to give a gift just as I only leave a tip in a restaurant if the server was really good - nto just for the sake of it or becauase its expected.