Large end of year teacher/Head teacher gifts

In the NHS there are rules around this. I can’t remember the exact amount but i think it’s to the value of £50 max. No cash and no vouchers even under the amount. Gifts tend to be chocolates and biscuits. We sometimes also get tea and coffee for the staff. Some families brought in extra takeaway pizza if they were ordering late on.

Theae kind of figures are bonkers.Affluent area or not. I’m not saying a small gift:thank you card is not appreciated but wow.

I'll be a massive minority but clearly in the real world im not as you have these donations...

I don't get how People how are most likely happy to pay 12.5% automatic service in any restaurant no matter how shit the service think £10 x 30 for a teacher at Christmas is crazy...

I value the education my children are given.
I think many Teachers are woefully underpaid and undervalued.

Our school gives similar.
I have zero issue with it.

I would rather kick in £30 or so to make an few educators christmas joyful and bountiful and forego one singular weekend jaunt to gails with my dh and 2 kids and get coffee and pastries (which real speak costs about £30).

I am also happy to give £££ to benefit the school.

We gave our CM a big fancy hamper and a case of wine each year and a £400 voucher to cover a trip to a fancy spa hotel when we left (she was tending to and caring for our children - why wouldnt we show our thanks)

My sister is a teacher and when she went on maternity leave, the parents gave her £500 in cash in an envelope and told her not to declare it 😳

My last job was in a posh independent school. It was made clear to us we couldn't accept gifts worth more than £250. I got the odd bouquet / bottle of champagne but no Tiffany bracelets etc. my best gift was a teapot and a huge card from the class. .

I have stopped donating. Although I appreciate the job they do, I find it barmy that such a thing is done for someone who is doing their job. Imagine if we did this for everyone!?! It would be a logistical nightmare. But we don't do it for anyone else and that's why I haven't donated.

I only see this on MN.
I work as a TA and there is never this influx of gifts that people think. Yes a lot of people buy the teacher something (usually chocolates, wine, stationery, plants) but not everyone, and the occasional few also gift to the TA but the majority do not. If you are working with a kind teacher they will sometimes share out their stash.

I think it is all very area dependent and I would also not expect parents at our school to be gifting large amounts (deprived area so cannot afford it).

Surely teachers have rules around this. Other government workers are unable to accept gifts. I’m sure receiving several boxes of chocs, flowers etc,
is very different to receiving a £500 gift voucher. I would not be donating to this, as I think its outrageous they are giving such huge amounts and yes the head needs to put a stop to it. It’s different too when a parent what’s app group collects but even then should be a limit, but this sounds like the school themselves are asking. Really is wrong.

Yes I do know this. But I don’t know if you’ve ever had children who attend school? The expectation that you get an end of year gift is real and I don’t want to be known as the stingy parent who never gets anything. Nor can I be fucked sourcing my own teacher gifts so it’s easier to chip in to the class gift

At the primary mine attend they banned individual gifts over £1 (to allow cards). Instead people can, if they wish, contribute something to a pot that goes toward something the teacher has asked for to use in their class. Nobody knows who contributes what money wise.

DS3’s teacher got a box of glue sticks and a box of pens that she particularly loves this year. When she was DS2’s teacher a few years back it was a contribution present, but they hadn’t done wish lists and she got a set of scissors for the whole class and cried because it was something she thought she was going to end up buying herself.

it’s ridiculous that teachers are buying basic supplies themselves so this is a way of getting around the ban and helping them out at the same time.

25 per family is hardly outrageous if that’s what it comes out to. In various schools across state and private I’ve seen anywhere from £20 to £50 per family. People routinely spend £20 a birthday present for a child in the class so it feels fair to give at least that to the hugely under paid teaching staff who often go above and beyond. We’ve ended up this year with £250 per teacher x 2 and 100 per TA x3.

https://www.edapt.org.uk/support/knowledge-base/teachers-receiving-gifts-from-parents/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/acceptance-of-gifts-benefits-and-hospitality

Report to your education authority, these amounts are breaking the hospitality rules and will need to be de lared.

It would have been better to raise funds for equipment for the school such as fans and air con rather then gift vouchers for teachers.

Set up a new anonymous email address and email them...

I'm shocked the headteacher would accept that amount, particularly considering how little TAs are paid.

I hope they are reporting these amounts to HMRC, that’s taxable income.

I just didn't.
A sincere handwritten card thanking the teacher/TA/afterschool staff with specific examples of how they had helped my youngest dd was enough for me.

Gosh . I work on an organisation that works with children regularly. Often people want to give us gifts or money in cards . We have had to state that we can not accept any gifts at all. £ 2000 for a Head is crazy money just for doing her job for an academic term . So can she look forward to a summer bonus every year from now on .

Personally, I don't think parents need to give teachers an end of year present for doing our jobs.
It started some time after I left school so I was really taken aback when I started teaching and found that it had become a thing.

I thank the children and parents for any gifts that I receive although I would genuinely prefer that they saved their money and just gave me a card.

If I was given the amount of money (or equivalent in vouchers) described in the op then I absolutely would be embarrassed. In fact I would be completely mortified but, hopefully, would be able to thank parents convincingly and not show how I felt.

I would stop the collections for staff and ask everyone to donate the money for activities. Seems very strange to tip the teachers like this, they are professionals not underpaid bar staff.

This is crazy. I wasn't aware PTA's did this. My Mum used to be a teacher and was more than happy with biscuits or chocolates that children usually gave her at the end of year. She was very uncomfortable receiving other more obviously expensive gifts. She once told me about receiving a silk scarf and she wasn't the only teacher to get one. She said the worst was a necklace that was exactly the same as one I had bought her only in a different colour, they must have seen her wearing the one i had bought her and thought it a good idea to get her another.