Primary teachers - is this a good or naff gift?

[TellMeHowToFeel]

Team of 5 shared teachers who we v much appreciate.

Don't really want to give them yet another box of chocs or bottles of wine though.

Is a Unicef Inspiration gift of 5 storybooks for less fortunate children a good or totally naff gift? Would have a card about it, which DS and I would write personal messages of thanks to the teaching team in.

If it's naff, what would a primary teacher like better which is scalable for a team of 5 (can't really afford 5 x £20 vouchers or similar)

[BubblesBuddy]

Just get DS to make and write a thank you card. Give to charity as a person gesture and don’t virtue signal via the teacher. Make the card exclusively from your DS. It’s not about you and what you wish to give to charity which your DS probably won’t give a fig about.

[ballsdeep]

A nice handmade card

[Grasspigeons]

a nice handmade card. If you really want to give a gift, a book for the library.

[BringOnTheScience]

Just a card each will be lovely, honestly.

If you do want to buy books, buy something for the class/school library. It'll be read by many, many children.

[Kyriesmum1]

When my girls were younger I used to get a fruit hamper the week before they broke up to put in staff room for all staff! They loved it and said it was much nicer than loads of chocolate.

[TheoneandObi]

We gave books for the school library when each of our children left. Tbh I have no idea how that went down but I like to think they were at least useful

[Bigearringsbigsmile]

Go for the wine or chocolate

[trotesio]

Sounds like a lovely idea, but we can't drink it

[TellMeHowToFeel]

Ha ok that's a no then 😁 If I were to get books for our own school library (plus card from DS), how do I know what books to get or does it not matter? I had thought of buying supplies like glue sticks or something but DS seems to think there's no shortage.

I know wine is lovely but surely not even after the hardest school year would you need 20 odd bottles? :p

[rededucator]

Wine. Every time wine.

[Bigearringsbigsmile]

Always wine.

[cliffdiver]

I know wine is lovely but surely not even after the hardest school year would you need 20 odd bottles? :p

6 weeks is a long time... I'd give it a go

[timeandtimeagain42]

A lovely thank you is the best possible gift. Teachers get paid they don't need to be bought presents for doing their job.

If you feel you must get a present then chocolates/biscuits to share or some nice soap and hand cream to go in the staff toilets.

[Backintime4breakfast]

Not wine every time! I’m teetotal , so it’s completely wasted on me!

[Bigearringsbigsmile]

I'll drink yours

[SE13Mummy]

My favourite ever gifts from pupils include a handmade card that has my teacher name on a pencil on the front, a scrappy piece of paper (mounted on gold paper that had been liberated from my art drawers) that has a note from the child thanking me for sticking up for them and a selection of green pens because the giver noticed that I marked in green and always needed new ones.

The personal note is always appreciated but if you really want to buy something, I think most teachers would appreciate something to use in class whether that's a set of a child's favourite books or something the child has spotted a need for. These days, I'm not in mainstream and gifts aren't really a thing.

[floraloctopus]

I can't remember what gifts I've been given as a teacher but what I can remember are the cards that fill a large shoebox. They are what I treasure.

[MyNewBearTotoro]

I’m a teacher and this is the sort of gift I would appreciate. Much better than another bottle of wine (that I’m not particularly keen on) or a tacky mug etc that’s going straight to the charity shop.

[Redpostbox]

Teachers actually rather like bottles of wine...

[pastapestoparmesan]

I would love that gift personally - I don’t drink, I’m extremely picky about chocolate and skincare products, I don’t wear jewellery or make up. Books for anyone is a winner in my eyes.

[ValleyoftheHorses]

www.notonthehighstreet.com/alicepalace/product/personalised-best-teacher-bag?DGMKT=FID__TID_pla-295586530990_PID_354746_CRI_295586530990&gclid=CjwKCAjw04vpBRB3EiwA0IieagOAPlHYUHO0Hr0RJxUDJ1ZJU5Nrq8jOapAqsJT2h_1_xMzsnuuHoxoCzkEQAvD_BwE

I’ve gone for these this time, really hope they like them.
Forest school one for DS teacher who is also the outdoor learning lead and a showtime one with G&S logo for his TA who runs junior Gilbert and Sullivan twice a year.

[Grapeyes]

I’m a teacher and a teetotaller. We don’t all like wine!
I think that sounds like a lovely idea. Otherwise books for the school library would be great.
Having said that, the best gifts ever are cards that the children have written themselves or where parents have taken the time to write a quick note in. 15 yrs ago I got a box of biscuits from a parent with a lovely note thanking me for looking after her son (he had a medical problem which meant we all kept an extra watch out) - I was so surprised as she always dashed in and out of the playground, it was lovely. I also remember being given a mug which was extremely badly wrapped with crumpled paper and loads of sellotape. The mum sheepishly handed it over and said ‘sorry, the boys (twins) wanted to wrap it themselves’. I still have that particular mug because I loved the fact that the boys, who were a cheeky pair, had wanted to do the wrapping themselves.
That’s the stuff you remember.
If you just want a straight forward thank you, contributions towards vouchers are super and I have bought lovely things for my holidays with those and really appreciated them.
Having said all that, I still go back to the first point. A card with a thoughtful sentence is better than all that other stuff.

[Grapeyes]

@ValleyoftheHorses - I would have loved those too. So much stuff to carry back and forth to school!

[FrostyGirl66]

I get my daughter to draw a picture of her teacher and then I get vistaprint to put it in the corner of each page of a note book with 'Mrs X's important thoughts' or similar. Teachers always need to write little notes down and it'll actually be something they'll use. It's only like £4 to get it done so cheap as well.

[TheoneandObi]

Grapeyes you sound like a lovely teacher!