To feel sorry for all the teachers who are about to be inundated with shite gifts

YABU!! Some kids can barely afford to eat unless they get free school meals so whatever token of appreciation A CHILD gives as a thank you should be appreciated!! The nerve of this ungrateful Pig of an Op - i hope you get stones for your gift pfttt!!

Seriously? It's this private or state?

At our school each child has to contribute £70 each year to cover teachers’ gifts.

I usually give the 2 class teachers a bottle of champagne each for end of term and a Christmas gift.

Well, I wouldn’t say no to a huge bar of dairy milk and a bottle of pink gin or baileys. Haha

I want both, I'm a caring and greedy teacher!

Sorry, in my haste to reply I see you did tell her to stop.
Even £50 is £50 too much. I pass on my child's old stuff, but I don't pay to work. I don't want to subsidise the Tories' austerity policy- I tell my parents when we can't afford stuff even though I'm not meant to (also madness- why do SLT think squeezed education funding reflects poorly on them?)

THEY SHOULDN'T DO THIS! Please please tell them to stop. This is not right. I spent about thirty quid for an art project we are doing as it's part of the curriculum. I'm happy to spend the time after work going shopping I suppose but first thing tomorrow I'm banging that expenses claim in. My HT will approve it as she doesn't want us buying stuff out of our own money. I went to the cheapest shop and wasn't frivolous, but it is not right for teachers to be spending their own money to this extent. It's unfair not just on them but also their colleagues; no decent SLT would allow this atmosphere to develop.

The last few years we have all clubbed together and got a voucher of the teachers choosing sometimes to present in a personalised bag or mug or with some chocolates. So one dodgy mug instead of 30
and a voucher for the place they want. It’s been a huge success!

As a teacher, I can tell you that gifts are completely unnecessary, but they are appreciated. I often get gifts that I either have duplicates of or I can’t consume. I have a nut allergy, so am often regifting boxes of ferrero rocher. My DP loves it when I get gifts haha.
I would much rather parents showed their appreciation, by listening to their children read, filling in any forms and returning them on time and just generally ensuring their children are ready for a day at school.

What a deeply unpleasant thread.
YABU.

None of this ever happened when I was at school. Hopefully in time, common sense and the cost of living will knock it on the head, but in the meantime if people want to show their appreciation in this way, then it's up to them. I do agree that something more personal than a tacky mug or box of matchmakers would be good though. A freshly home baked loaf of bread or a hand nurtured seedling perhaps.

I need to start an annual thread as a Learning Support Assistant

##Give us some gifts too please##
[chocs]
Anything will do tbh

That is exactly what we did when my kids were in primary, gave vouchers, chocs and a bottle of wine. Much easier and cheaper.

Rather late with these ideas, but when my children were small we did a few class presents.

took some organising, but one year each child gave me a hand print in their favourite colour, with a little message on the back, I bought a cheap length of ribbon and some balloons then on the last day one of the mums who worked in the school (pta I think) stuck this round the teachers desk with balloons round the class room. The teacher loved it, cost little more than time , took a lot to arrange though.

another year, apparently the teacher was really into art, so a group of us, clubbed together and bought tubs of special paint, pads of paper charcoal I forget exactly what, and each child wrapped an item up, so all together a lovely present.

the best one though, and again took some arrangements, and involved the head teacher 😂, and it helped the mother of a child was a class support on the day. Each child bought in an item of food/drinks. At break time the teacher was on playground duty, so the children decorated the class room, and spread out the food for a party. I think the teacher was probably in on the act but was very happy with the whole thing, I made a big thankyou cake which was shared out. It’s difficult in this day and age I know with allergies etc, but still doable, the cake I made was gluten and lactose free just in case

They'll be complaining about all the holidays they get next!

Oh please!

I was a school governor until recently.
There wasa limit on value of gifts which have to be declared, but it was per gift item per contributor). A class-worth of 30 parents giving a teacher £180 of M&S vouchers doesn't flag as a problem as its within the permitted threshold of gift value per person.
One parent giving £60 of vouchers solo would be a matter to raise.

I believe we could accept gifts under a certain amount tax-wise and I don't think we ever had to declare the vouchers given to us by the Class Reps...

And I'd equally have to declare a £5 box of chocolates as much as a £5 John Lewis voucher, surely?

I don't think clubbing together is necessary and I like hand-made gifts from the kids more.

My favourite was a decorated jar with my favourite sweets in from a Y9. Could I eat 30 jars of sweets? Probably. And better than tat. But £5 vouchers are much appreciated...

👏

It sounds like the poster was just saying it’s a lovely gesture -not that they’re entitled to it- as it’s one of the few “financial” perks (if you can call a teachers mug that 😆) of the job.

Well compared to some other roles eg. I used to get at least £20 a night in tips waitressing for a few hours at events and I wasn't even very good at it 😂
A friend of mine paid off a chunk of her first car loan, using the enormous amount of tips she got from bar work. And I got overtime working in call centres, and retail - lots of free meals & Prosecco when I worked for a PR company and then there’s bankers etc of course who get huge bonuses.

I don’t get gifts, tips, bonuses or overtime in my current job 😆 but OTOH I’m never expected to work overtime , or if I do I can claim it back as flexi, and also I don’t end up buying resources to do my job like many teachers do.

Bit off topic but I really hope they start funding schools better because teachers shouldn’t need to buy class books and stationary etc., they’re saving the government a fortune.

A lot of employees don't get bonuses, or paid overtime, and don't get gifts either!!

I feel sorry for people going out and doing thankless tasks - the emergency services assaulted doing their jobs, trying to protect people and saves lives, seeing horrible unimaginable things. I feel sorry for those in the NHS who are slaving away on low pay doing long hours and getting a lot of abuse from the public for something out of their control. I feel sorry for people having to work 2-3 jobs just to keep their head above water in a cost of living crisis. So no I don’t feel sorry for teachers getting cheap and tacky gifts, they are given from a place of gratitude and thanks

As a teacher this is such a nice thought and idea. We don’t get bonuses or paid overtime ( and we do alot) so end of year gifts like this are really lovely and appreciated but never expected.

I was a teacher. I loved every gift I was given.

My daughters class, we have a class rep, and in the last 5 years she's been at school, we've been asked to contribute £10 each to buy gifts for the teachers. The nominated person will then buy vouchers and other gifts for the teachers and TA's. One year, I did contribute, but bought a small personal gift and a card and wrote a personal message fir my daughters teacher and support teacher, who had worked so hard with her, and really instilled confidence in her. Both were very appreciative.
But yes, I can imagine a lot of what teachers get bought, they've already had hundreds of before, that muchnif it must get rehomed.