To think £100 voucher class Xmas gift to teacher too much?

[curiouscat]

Every year we parents contribute £30 to a kitty from which the class reps organise teacher's end of term presents, maternity cards, etc. This year's class Christmas present to the teachers (3 of them for the year) is a £100 voucher each (=£300 from the kitty).

Surely this is too much? Isn't £50 plenty? It's not like it's the end of the year or anything? And aren't teachers just doing their job? And wouldn't we do better giving eg £150 to charity by halving the teacher gift?

[KittyFane]

Wow, £100 is OTT. £50 is pretty generous.

[GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy]

It does seem a lot but the collection was for the teacher, not for charity so YABU for deciding what should be done with everyone else's money.

[MyChildDoesntNeedSleepAtXmas]

I don't know when all this giving presents to teachers malarky started.

Didn't do it in my day.

[KittyFane]

I'd say £20 was more appropriate or a bunch of flowers. Am I mean?

I am a teacher BTW.

[purplewednesday]

Blimey, you must be in a fairly affluent area.
I agree with you, too much.
Whats wrong with each child bringing in a small gift?

[usualsuspect]

Bloody hell ,in my day it was a box of matchmakers

[LineRunnerCrouchingReindeer]

Crazy. Just crazy.

[Callisto]

That is ridiculous. I wouldn't be contributing £30 to a teachers kitty every year. They get paid you know. Why do they need a bloody tip at the end of the year. A Christmas card and a box of chocolates is above and beyond in my book.

[AnotherMincepie]

Much nicer for individual children to give the teacher something they've made themselves, which shows some thought, effort and appreciation. It's not about the money.

[LovesBloominChristmas]

Usual ditto here too

[FootprintsOnTheMoon]

Well - it sounds like a zero-sum game - if you're all happy with your £30 contribution & it's all earmarked for teacher treats. However, I always think people should make sure to give the TAs equal attention at present time. Goodness knows, they certainly don;t get rewarded through salary!

But, overall, if it is a class of 30, I think £3 a head is a lowball estimate of values of gifts that people might buy if they were buying independently (making only a few assumptions of the social and economic mix of a school where a compulsory donation to a class kitty is a workable idea!)

[natation]

How many children are in the class and how much do you have in the kitty? Where does the rest of the money go? Just being curious too, is this a private school because £30 is an awful lot to go into a class kitty, unless you are using the money to organise Christmas parties, outings.

I don't give anything at Christmas other than a Christmas card with a (usually too long) note inside it. In the Summer, our class has collected from parents (usually around 25 in a class) between 150 and 250 euro (live in Belgium) and the 250 euro is really very generous, on the teacher's own admission. I admit one year to giving our son's teacher a 200 euro gift voucher which took her and partner away for the weekend, but that was a one-off for the enormous efforts she put in for our son. No really £300 just for Christmas seems an awful lot.....

[EssentialFattyAcid]

£30 a year each contribution from parents is ridiculous surely?

Personally I think class presents are ridiculous and parents should be free to give teachers as much or as little as they like as individuals.

I would spend between zero and £40 per year on my dd's teacher at primary, depending on how much I thought my child had benefitted from their input.

[hocuspontas]

Well if there's that much in the kitty why not? If everyone is happy to comtribute £30 a year I can't see the problem unless they are going to ask for more next term to cover it. £100 is the equivalent of everyone buying a £3.33 box of chocs isn't it?

[lechatnoir]

Totally OTT - I'd suggest a decent bunch of flowers & card for the teacher, a little something for the TA and then put the rest into a kitty for drinks at the local pub

[ButHeNeverDid]

We are giving £10 each for the teacher and £10 each for the TA.

Much better cash in my view than upteen boxes of chocolates or mugs with "the worlds best teacher" on it.

Its about the same as we all spend on presents for the kids Birthday Parties - so I would have thought anything less would be wrong.

[Northernlurker]

That's ridiculous. I buy a present at the end of the year and that's it. I would not contribute to a 'kitty' nor would I be giving anything like £30.

[usualsuspect]

£20 each? really? that's wrong imo

[JamieComeHome]

I think this puts a lot of pressure on poorer parents. It's ostentatious and unecessary (and I work in a school)

[EssentialFattyAcid]

Surely this isn't a state school?

[WilsonFrickett]

But I thought the whole point was for the DCs to show their appreciation... I mean, I know the parents actually pay for it, but it's the whole point of going 'what would Mrs Thing like' that makes it worthwhile. Like last year when DS insisted his teacher would like a Hot Wheels car - and she did! She totally teared up when she opened it . I don't see how a kitty can replicate that.

Although given you do have a kitty YANBU. that's a lot of money. They do get paid a salary you know.

[amerryscot]

I think the point of a kitty is that you can get one decent present instead of lots of trivial ones.

If you would normally spend £5 on a teacher's Christmas gift, then that is £150 from a class of 30.

I would say that the problem is that £30 a year is more than most parents would spend per child, so there is a lot of money in the pot.

[SauvignonBlanche]

Class rep = private school.

[JamieComeHome]

Not necessarily. Our state school has class reps - just point of contact between each class and the PTFA

[SoupDragon]

"Class rep = private school."

utter nonsense.