Gifts for Teachers

jem16

across wrote:

we always get a little something only about £1 each (two pressies) it is just a little token but dont worry it is a month off yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scottish schools finish next week.

I'm a primary school teacher and have to say, as have others, that often the home-made gifts are the ones I remember most. One P7 class I had organised a little party as a way of thanks. They organised the food, decorations etc by themselves and tidied everything away after it. I was really chuffed.

I never expect presents but they're nice to receive and I always write a letter of thanks. Often the class that has given me most work are the ones which surprise you.

In every profession there are good and bad - please don't tar us all with the same brush. Yes the holidays are good but it's the only time when I actually get to have a free evening & weekend.

misty

I'm a teacher and love it when students buy a card to say thankyou. I teach adults so they sometimes buy alcohol too!!!!!

I'll be buying my son's teacher and teaching assistant a present. They have been fab and my son has loved school, he cried when he had one day off sick because he would miss school. I know what I am buying them - it's not mega expensive but it's not cheap either but I'm buying it because I thought it was so appropriate for them. My son will be making a card to go with it. He was in reception this year and I was dreading him starting school because I wanted him at home with me for an extra year. They have made his first experience of school very, very enjoyable and I can't thank them enough for that - the gift is a small reflection of this.

Guinea_2

profpatpending wrote:

Don't set me off about teachers! I'm a school administrator and I see just how pampered they actually are and they still have the cheek to moan. They complain that they are low paid, but they actually only work part time hours 32.5 hours a week for only 39 weeks a year. They get over an hour for lunch (NEVER TAKEN AS WE ARE ALWAYS PREPARING FOR THE AFTERNOON!)and a morning and afternoon break when they aren't doing a playground duty....(OH, YES! TIME TO GO TO THE TOILET AND MAYBE GRABBING A VRY QUICK DRINK!) They also get to sit in the staff room stuffing their faces during assembly (WHERE DOES THIS HAPPEN....SERIOUSLY?!). On top of this they get half a day a week out of the classroom for planning an preparation (AND?! HOW ELSE ARE WE GOING TO PLAN FOR LESSONS....OH YES, IN OUR 'SPARE' TIME! THAT IS CALLED OUR HOME LIFE). If anybody should moan it's the office staff who work much longer hours for much less pay (but we don't moan 'cos we're lovely!!) (CAN YOU GET A CUP OF TEA WHEN YOU WANT? YES! CAN YOU GO TO THE TOILET WHEN YOU WANT? YES! CAN TEACHERS? NO!). Most of them have never had a job in the 'real' world having never really left school (school, uni, then back to school). (DO YOU HAVE CHILDREN? WHO TEACHERS THEM? A GIRAFFE? OH, REALLY....A TEACHER!?) When I was a lass (many moons ago) teachers worked much harder and were more prepared to partake in clubs out of school hours (football, netball, cricket etc). (WHATEVER! I DO AFTERS SCHOOL CLUBS!) Save your money on pressies - you pay enought out of your taxes for them! (SERIOUSLY...I THINK YOU SHOULD BE QUIET AND GET A 'REAL' JOB!)Anyway, rant over.

Well, I would love to know where YOU work! Yes, we get half a day for PPA...ooh, big wow(!) I had mine today and all I did was photocopy, trim and tend injured children. Oh yes, and trying to use the phone in the office to book a coach for a trip we're going on. I HAVE had a job in the 'real' world. I got paid much more money than I do as a teacher....AND I got more thank yous in the 'real' world. Being a teacher IS a thankless task with all the cr*p you have to put up with. Also, I DO NOT KNOW ONE SINGLE TEACHER who works just 32.5 hours a week!!!! Hm...let me think about this. When was he last time I did not go home, have dinner and WORK until I go to bed. Hm, can't think of a time so must be a long time ago!! My LIFE is school and the children. All I do is for school and the children. I go shopping (even food shopping!) and think what can I use for school.

ALSO.....everybody moans about teachers holidays. Ooh...we plan and prepare for the next term!! Anyway....how many bank holidays are there in a year? TEN! Teachers get....ONE of those! THAT IS IT! People in offices (obviously not everone gets these but MOST people do!) get all of these bank holidays so that is at least an extra TEN days holidays....TWO WEEKS!

AND....yes, presents we get ARE lovely but the most meaningful ones are the ones that are home made.

This has made me really angry. I would LOVE to see some of these complainers try and TEACH...not babysit...THIRTY children.

kazstevens

The way I see it, my daughter (7) is very happy at school and I Think a small 'thank you' present for her teacher and class room assistant don’t hurt anyone, Surely there should be more thanks and more positive things we receive in life, will not only make us better humans, but also make us happy, after all, we only live once ‘Allegedly’.

kabie

I went and got Lush bath bombs in the end, going to get the kids to help me wrap them nicely. It only occured to me after I'd bought them that I really should have thought about making them doh!
This year all of the teachers have been fab, although eldest is on his 3rd through family bereavements and other things; he's had at least 2 different teachers every year since he started; they seem jinxed.

Dead_Eye_Jones

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote:

This makes me realy angry!

I was concerned by your anger, I think you are missinformed on a number of points and suggest you read the following so that in future you will be a bit more relaxed about the subject . Thanks.

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote:

Teachers be they good or bad actually GET PAID TO DO THEIR JOB! Just like everyone else!

Yes, yes they do get paid. My missus is up at 6 and works til 10 every night. Non-stop, no lunch (taken up by everything from break duty to detentions), no breaks in the day. At home we have time to say 'hi', eat, and then off to do the preperation for the next day. Sundays are an all day work day too, Sats involve the weekly chores so no time for oneself. All for a tad over 20k a year. Whoopee!?

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote:

They also get about 13 weeks holiday

Ha thats just funny! When do you think they develop a scheme of work for the following year? Yep thats half summer gone! When do they come in to sort GCSE and A level results out, yep thats another week gone. They also come in for a few days when the kids have gone, and come back 1st too, with summer now 5 weeks long, it doesnt leave much does it?

We had just 1 week free for a holiday last year. Easter, Christmas and 1/2 terms are spent marking course work, lesson preparation and practise exams - you know about course work in the modern GCSE right? Clearly not lol! 13 weeks holiday? lol why bother posting if you have no idea of what goes on?

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote:

have the cheek to moan, (I do have several friends who are teachers) that they have to pay more for their holidays as the price goes up during school holiday time!- As do mere working parents who have to use their very limited 5 week allowance, also in peak holiday times, as schools don't like you to take your child out of school!

The price increase is noticable, my missus can only afford to go on holiday cos I pay for it. Fair point about parents with kids, but the difference is a teacher has that for their whole working life, the kids will fly the nest and presumably there was a time before them too....

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote:

It must be the only job where you get presents twice a year from about 30 people who don't really know you!

Again you show massive and total ignorance. Teaching is not a 'job'. For the teachers that love it, it is a lifestyle. My missus puts blood, sweat and, trust me, plenty of tears into her work and genuinly cares for each and every child in all her classes. She goes way beyond the majority of people here in a 9 to 5 job and works continously and non stop so that little Timmy has a shot in life.

"30 people who dont know you"? What are you talking about? Clueless, totally clueless. What do you think a teacher does, did you go to school?

If the majority of people had to work in the conditions that teachers have to work in they wouldnt be able to cope for a start. Theres no such thing as a bonus, the head only cares about stats, parents often hold you responsible for their inability to set boundries (its a parents job to provide a moral framework, teachers are there to teach), and people like this poster who have no idea as to the reality of the modern job, you come home physically exhausted on a Friday.

Unfortunately most of the ungrateful kids expect teachers to do the work for them, they know the teacher's career is on the line if the stats dont add up, responsability for results firmly lies with the teacher, not the pupil - its a joke isnt it - some kids are in for a rude awakening. I look forward to the day new grads start work under my charge and wonder why im not doing the work for them. Some short sharp lessons will be learnt!

My missus got cards from 2 of her GCSE pupils this year, just 2 recognised the effort that went in, the time that was taken to make lessons spectacular (not just "adequate"), the time spent helping them in lunchbreaks, after school, the sleepless nights, the extra revison classes and the preparation of them in the teachers own time, they dont have to do it, they just care about the kids - not that had to understand?

I saw those cards and thought it was the most touching thing, since when did just saying thank you become such an object of disgust? Surely its nice to say thank you in any job? Even more so when the worker has given up their life to do it. Sure there are some teachers who 'just do enough', they dont last long, they get sacked with the pass rate is 59% and not heads target of 60%. By all means, dont thank these people, these types are generally a drain on the hard working teachers who end up having to run revision lessons in their spare time because they care that the kids dont fail. Why wouldnt you thank the good teacher who actually gives a damn?

Who here would work 14 hour days for no over time and no thankyou and not a great deal of cash tbh - well thats what most teachers have to do, mostly thanks to the attitude of this poster. Just look at the tube drivers next time they strike, its a total joke, if the same union represented Teachers the government wouldnt be able to cope - schools can only exist because of the crazy working conditions that are taken for granted.

True.

*Louise*

Woah - I thought this was a discussion about what gifts to give teachers at the end of term? Either you give one or you don't - why all the argument?

As far as I am concerned, I don't care what they are paid or how many weeks they have for holidays - as long as my son comes home from school happy every day, then I am thankful and appreciative.


I found a lovely poem for my son's teacher (who has just finished her first year since she qualified) which I have charted and stitched and will frame it as a gift:

A hundred years from now
It will not matter
What my bank account was
The sort of house I lived in
Or the kind of car that I drove.
But the world may be a different place
Because I was important
In the life of a child.

pennineman

Thought this might show what I like if children want to give a gift.
Received this around 20 years ago. Still have it.

*Louise*

^^Aww - that's sweet:D

Willxx

bobmacuk wrote:

why on earth do people feel they have to buy a gift for a teacher, its their job nothing else. It pays the mortgauge and bills I dont see people rushing out buy a present for me while i sweep thier street or when I went overseas in the armed forces. Get a grip

Perhaps I'm odd and I must work for an odd company but if my staff do well I (and they) benefit by way of a bonus and if its a good bonus I like to buy them a gift to thank them for the extra effort.

As far as the apparantly despised vocation of teaching is concerned whats the old saying " walk a mile in someone elses shoes"?