Gifts for Teachers

jockettuk

bylromarha wrote:

As for being allowed to receive the presents, we could accept one off gifts from parents up to £20...anything over £20 we had to ask the head about and record the gift in a book.

HTH

£20 i know teachers arnt paid enough for the abuse they put up with from parents and kids but theres no way i would give a teacher £20 arghhh im looking at spending around a fiver..

and it depends on weather its a male or female teacher females easier to buy for

bylromarha

jockettuk wrote:

£20 i know teachers arnt paid enough for the abuse they put up with from parents and kids but theres no way i would give a teacher £20 arghhh im looking at spending around a fiver..

and it depends on weather its a male or female teacher females easier to buy for

I felt bad getting presents that were more than £5...my school wasn't in the most affluent area, but the generosity of the parents was amazing...even though their taste sucked! And, I never expected presents at all...I was being paid more than the majority of the parents to do a job I loved. I just knew that they appreciated the way I'd been with their children for the past year and that was the way they wanted to show gratitude.

The £20 is a limit set to ensure there is no favouritism shown at SATs time. I've only once known a collegue to get an "expensive" present..she was bought a silky nightie by a parent...we had a good laugh about that one in the staff room. The poor girl got mocked for months about it.

A friend in another school had a parent on the playground ask all the other parents to donate the money they would have spent on a present + card, and got gift vouchers to spend at the local out of town retail park...she had about £100 in total...which is just over £3 per parent...but a present from them all that she really loved! You'd really get a teacher remembering your class with fondness if you organised that!

jellyhead

i'm a volunteer and i'm given choccies by the teacher because she has so many, i don't complain though

last year spud got a lovely notebook in home and bargain, it was really nicely hand decorated, the teacher loved it. teachers have also said they liked getting bubble bath type stuff off spud instead of the usual chocs. i wonder how many teachers this year will get boots med products in orchid bags? :rotfl: (see the boots med thread). i got the gift bags but only got face masks, i don't think they're really appropriate for teachers, it's like saying they're spotty lol!

bargainaddict

When I worked in a nursery one of the nicest presents was a special keyring. We all had one that was different but appropriate. Still use mine. We used to divide the chocolates between us but what was really special was the hand made cards, decorated by the child with their own message of thanks. So sweet. One Christmas, a child bought us all a bauble she had decorated with glitter glue and I still put it on the tree. Candles are always popular as well. :j

aliasojo

My daughter's teacher is a complete horror. Only thing I would consider buying for her is a book on how to relate!

What about a paperweight? Sounds old fashioned but you get some jazzy ones these days and the teachers at my son's school were delighted as it meant their papers etc didn't fly off the desk every time little Johnny ran past, lol. (Or at least that's what they told me ).

jellyhead

if she's a horror do you have to give a gift? it's the end of year, it's not as if she'll be teaching your child afterwards, so it won't matter if sher harbours resentment for not getting a gift :rotfl: not all kids at our school bring gifts, maybe a third, possibly less. if i didn't like a teacher and spud didn't get on with him/her i wouldn't buy a gift. luckily he's had nice teachers so far, there are teachers i don't like but he hasn't been in their classes.

i got a keyring off a child one year, i still have it, i thought it was really sweet :-) mind you i also kept a picture she drew for me.

aeuerby

I have in the past bought little items for teachers my daughter got on with very well. Little things like smellies (not cheap and nasty one's though )

However this year my daughter's teacher will not be receiving anything as we have had a dreadful year with her. It's been one problem after another that the teacher has managed to squirm and in one instance lie her way out of. :mad: Here's hoping she doesn't get her again in September and we have a better year. ( I do realise there are some excellent teachers out there too :A)

bluep

The nicest present my boyfriend got (he teaches secondary school though) was a bar of chocolate and a pack of cookies from these 11 year old twins who lived with their grandmother and when they heard he was leaving made the grandmother take them out to Tesco's so they could spend their pocket money on him!!

I guess, the moral is, its the thought that counts! He'd love to receive personalised mugs, anything chocolate, a couple of really nice small bottles of ale (waggledance or organic, interesting ones to try out), paperweights, or perhaps something personal to the student i.e. from the one who always turns up without a pen...a pack of pens!

Sounds like primary school teaching is far more lucrative though! Lol

jellyhead

lol! i think if you don't like the teacher there's no need for a gift. the teacher i volunteer with is very popular with 'difficult' children and she gets a lot of chocolate from parents who are grateful that their child has had a good year with somebody who understood them. some teachers are inundated with end of year gifts, others aren't and it tends to be the assistant who get the gifts because it's the assistant that the child likes. i don't think i'd buy a gift for a teacher i didn't like, but it hasn't happened yet so i can't say for sure. it would depend i suppose - if your child would be the only one in the class not to give something then that's different - here there are plenty of children who don't so it wouldn't be noticed. i notice that teachers like getting a thankyou card, especially a handmade one, or handwritten if the child struggles with writing, that makes it special.

mjenn5

Well I am in Scotland so my children have just started their summer holidays.

I have 4 children at school so had to buy for a total of 6 teachers and 4 nursery school ladies for my youngest.

With 10 gifts to buy I had to be careful.

For the male teacher I got a pen and key fob set
The ladies got a small bunch of dried roses and bath caviar & confeti (sounds naff but actually was really nice)

The nursery ladies got crystal ornaments with flowers engraved inside.

I think they all went down well and I am sure that the teachers appreciate even just the thought of a token gift.

I spent around £2.50 on each gift and would agree that chocolates are probably not the way to go.

As for the teachers handing things into the charity shop well that doesn't bother me as long as they smile nicely at my child and make them feal good for giving them something, and as long as they realise that the parent has had to go and buy it for them.

I would also like to point out that what one person likes another may hate so just buy what you think suits because you can't please everybody.