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Original poster

Your kid is leaving school, what are you buying their head of year?

37 replies

dewne · 31/05/2026 10:14

Especially if you regularly bought presents for the class teacher at primary school
Please show your working.

(NB I don't think any teachers should get or expect presents)

OP posts:
SaulGood · 31/05/2026 17:20

We don't have heads of year at our school but people absolutely do buy gifts for teachers.

My colleague got an entire crate of alcohol just before we broke up for half term. She had done a fantastic job mentoring/teaching a particular student through their gcses and the parents wanted to say thank you.

I've had some lovely gifts from parents. Usually because of pastoral work rather than teaching tbh.

As ever, hand-written cards and letters are always the thing we appreciate the most.

Parker231 · 31/05/2026 17:17

dewne · 31/05/2026 10:35

I wonder why.

We didn’t buy as in primary and senior the teachers and staff were not allowed to accept any gifts.
At the primary I was a Governor at, teachers were not allowed to accept gifts but the school asked parents to donate a book to the school library (one they no longer wanted, one from a charity shop etc) if they wanted to mark their thanks to the school.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 31/05/2026 17:14

DS is in year 13 and he bought and wrote thank you cards individually to all of his teachers and form tutor. His messages were really thoughtful so I hope they were appreciated

Burningbud1981 · 31/05/2026 17:14

Nothing. I didn’t buy for primary school teachers either.

Creepybookworm · 31/05/2026 17:14

Treats for the staffroom are always appreciated. Helping students through school is a team effort.

Octavia64 · 31/05/2026 17:13

The kids sometimes buy small presents or make a card.

presents from parents are rarer.

most parents wouldn’t have that much contact with head of year so unless they’d done an awful lot for your child then nothing.

if they had done a lot to support your child then chocs

coolastheproverbialcucumber · 31/05/2026 17:12

AImportantMermaid · 31/05/2026 10:29

Nothing - nobody buys gifs for secondary teachers.

Some absolutely do

TeenToTwenties · 31/05/2026 17:11

After DD1 left, at the start of Sept all her GCSE teachers got a bottle of wine (I was delighted with her results, her teachers had really helped).
DD2 missed y11 so they got nothing.

Momorning · 31/05/2026 10:36

Nothing. Why would I?

Original poster
dewne · 31/05/2026 10:35

I wonder why.

OP posts:
AImportantMermaid · 31/05/2026 10:29

Nothing - nobody buys gifs for secondary teachers.

worrisomeasset · 31/05/2026 10:28

Nothing. Giving presents to teachers in primary schools is fairly widespread, in secondary schools it’s not. It never crossed my mind to give a present to any of DS’s secondary teachers.