Teachers don’t want Thank You Teacher gifts

Weird post. I love everything I've been given, especially the things the children make, or the cards. I have kept them all. I never got alcohol because I don't drink, but if I did, I would have been very grateful and passed it on to someone who did.

I certainly didn't expect anything, but it was lovely when someone wanted to show their appreciation. The best gifts were the ones I could use in the classroom. A box of glue sticks was a particularly memorable one!

and that it takes much of the year (and some redistribution to raffle prizes at a local church) to get through all the Fortnum’s hampers and champagne at Christmas.

My heart bleeds 🫠

A friend who's a teacher said any home- made stuff like biscuits, cakes etc go straight in the bin. She sees kids scratching their heads and picking their noses and she wouldn't eat ànything they might have touched no matter how nice they look.

I agree with the OP to an extent. I retired from teaching 3 years ago and was always very grateful for any gifts I received but the cupboard in the Staff room was groaning under the weight of all the Best Teacher mugs! I used to leave school on the last day and go home via the charity shop to drop off all the stuff I didn't have room for at home or in the classroom.

We went away with a teacher recently. In her twenties, recent graduate, it’s all about the money for them. They love a whip around. Pay is low, it makes sense as they deserve it.

I have a friend who is a housemaster at a well-known public school. He has explained to me that there are only so many jars of piccalilli a man can eat, and that it takes much of the year (and some redistribution to raffle prizes at a local church) to get through all the Fortnum’s hampers and champagne at Christmas. He doesn’t get as much at the end of the year but he has had a couple of holidays.

Primary school teachers get loads of presents while secondary school teachers get bugger all. I propose a Fair Presents for Teachers campaign where the wine and chocs are pooled, then divided evenly throughout the nation's teachers so that instead of one teacher getting 30 lots and other teachers getting nothing, we all get something.

Like restaurants do with tips.

I can't imagine they want that tat x30, every year.

Why doesn't someone start a campaign that each parent anonymously donates what they would have spent and the school buys something to benefit the school?

That would work out much better.

We certainly weren't rude when we left, but we didn't turn up with gifts either. School was decent, in an area with a good mix of incomes including some fairly well off folk. I think the whole teacher gift thing has got a little out of hand - £200+ of vouchers? Why?

I’m also a child of the 80s and this definitely wasn’t a thing. I remember being quite surprised when my eldest finished reception and parents were bringing in gifts for teachers.

I think there can be a lot of pressure to buy stuff which can be hard on those without much money. Setting the expectation of cards or homemade gifts would get rid of some of this pressure and make things fairer. I’m a peripatetic music teacher and appreciate kind words more than anything - I’ve kept every thank you card I’ve been given. My best gift ever was a poem written and decorated by a student.

With that analogy you give a gift to every single person who happens to have a job, being as loads of people work hard? I am assuming you don't do that?

A card can show appreciation. Making a donation to charity that the teacher supports can do so. Sad that they are necessary, but a donation to a food bank so that the teacher is not having to deal with hungry children is showing appreciation in its own way.

They could try gifts for support staff instead? They don't get enough to be fed up with them.

At our state school it’s not unusual for a class collection to reach £250. I’m quite sure teachers are v grateful for £200 of vouchers that we give them!

I think it’s an important lesson for children you understand that you should show appreciation for someone’s hard work.
it doesn’t matter what the present actually is really, it’s going to the effort of showing someone who has been incredibly important in your child’s life for the last year, that you and your child appreciate it. Teaching is pretty shitty a lot of the time, gifts and cards make anyone feel appreciated.
I once helped a friend clear her mum’s house after she’d died. Her mum had been a teacher and had kept a box of carefully stored cards and small gifts she had received from pupils over the years. She’d obviously really appreciated them in her lifetime and my friend was so touched to see just how much she’d been valued as a teacher. She put them out at the wake so that everyone could see them and it was really special.

Not sure when all this started, but it was certainly never a thing when I was at school in the 80s. All our teachers got was a wave or the V sign when we left. 😅

Yep, me too.

imagine “friend” doesn’t exist

Ha ha, we all have different tastes.
I wouldn't buy someone random wine, if I was going to buy wine I'd make sure it was something they liked.
As it is I didn't ever buy wine for a teacher.

Nice. 🙄

You're right - she won't be back. The thread didn't turn into a teacher-bashing thread full of haters like she planned ... It's just made her look like a proper Charlie! 😆

The OP is full of shit - they aren't even a bloody teacher!

My dad was a teacher, he retired last year and was always incredibly grateful for any gifts. He still uses a best teacher mug for his coffee and the chocolates and alcohol always went down a treat. He didn't get a lot of mugs either, I think that might have been the only one!

Dd is leaving secondary and her form tutor has been her tutor since year 7. She’s been really poorly for 2 years but has struggled in part time to see her year group through to GCSEs. We’ve bought her a silver necklace with a forgetmenot flower in resin. It’s delicate and pretty and when dd gave it to her she cried.

best teacher mugs however seem daft to me.

I’m not a teacher but if I were I’d certainly welcome flowers, chocolate and alcohol!

definitely wouldn’t want a million “best teacher” mugs though.