Teacher’s Gifts - Not another mug 😫

[Jessprimarytutor]

With the end of term approaching, the adverts for "Teacher's Gifts" seem to be doing the rounds on social media.

As an ex teacher, I never expected to get any presents and was always grateful when I did. However, if you are considering buying a gift for your child's teacher, please consider what you choose. It's unlikely they need another "Best Teacher" or personalised: mug, notebook, keyring, plaque, bag etc etc.

The best gifts I got (that were also well received by my colleagues) were when a few parents or a class of parents had got together and gave us a voucher e.g. for an experience (spa, massage, local pub to put towards a meal) or so we could chose something we wanted/needed (e.g. book token, John Lewis). Vouchers for the frozen meal company Cook, M&S, Waitrose would be great to help them to buy easy to cook meals once term restarts.

Or if you have more time/energy, try and find out what the teacher enjoys doing in their free time - you could get a keen gardener a voucher for a local garden centre etc if you wanted to make it more personal.

If every parent who spends say £2 on a box of chocolates/mug, came together - that would be a lovely £60 voucher (in a class of 30) for a teacher and would make their day.

There’s enough Teachers Tat in the world already! Please don’t add to it.

What a lovely message Kimmy
"Saves them getting 30 bottles of wine"
Not a problem

By the time teacher had finished reading them all I bet she needed a bottle of wine - or two! 😂

On a lighter note, some teacher gifts are just comical. My strangest one was some fluffy handcuffs which the child said was a cat toy. I had my doubts, lol!!

Teachers on here may know of Mr P, parents on here, maybe check out Mr P. He's a primary school teacher but does loads of brilliant social media stuff too. He made this video about teacher gifts last year and it's very funny...

I would love it if my children were to write a nice card or choose a heartfelt gift. But they won’t (unless I nag them repeatedly), so I just contribute to the collection.

Where oh where has the OP gone? 🤔
On a spa break?
Shopping at M & S/Waitrose?
Counting their mugs, keyrings (tat) ?
Mortified and emigrated?

I wonder........

I buy a bottle of red and a bottle of white and let TA and teacher fight it out.

Amen to that, OP! Look, a gift is always nice of course. But don't waste your money on the Best Teacher tat. If you're spending money on us anyway, you may as well spend it on something that will be valued. I don't want a fucking mug, a bouquet of Aldi chocolates or stones arranged in a picture frame - despite Sharon down the road (and her FB business xxLuvlyShitexx) saying otherwise.

I work in a shop and our schools broke up today. The last few days children have been buying teacher gifts and cards. The joy and excitement on the child's face picking the gift for their favourite teacher in lovely to see. Especially when the child is moving up a year and won't have that teacher anymore. Don't think of the gift. Think of the love and thought behind it.

FFS.

Any gift is a bonus.

The child has spent time and effort getting the teacher something that they think that they might like.

A mug is great because I can keep it at school
a note book is fantastic because I always need one.
The amount of keys that I have is immense so its great to have more key fobs.
Reusable bags for shopping great.

That somebody thought enough of your efforts to buy a gift is what counts..

In all my years of teaching, my favourite gift is a picture that one of my reception drew of me

It's framed on my bookshelf and I absolutely adore it.

I'm grateful for anything but the personal things that the children make, or a little card is more more than enough!

Just knowing I have kept them alive for an entire year is reward enough

Oh dear I’ve always contributed to a generic class voucher collection but this year DD wanted to choose something. And has chosen a bone china mug with a theme she knows the teacher is fond of. I was going to put some truffles in it too. I hope she doesn’t think this is awful 😞

I'm a TA. Last year I was leading a bubble of children in school. At the end of term, I got (very unexpectedly) one of those 'all for one' vouchers of around £70 which the parents had clubbed together for. I think they must have put in around £5 each which is less than a bottle of wine. What they didn't know was I'd just signed up to do a teacher training course and I put their voucher and another I had from a non-school related present towards a lap top for my course. I have used it on a daily basis since and I think regularly how grateful I am that they contributed to it and how helpful it was on a lowly TA wage! I wouldn't have afforded it without that contribution.

I never expect anything but I am always grateful. My DD is in secondary school and I still get her teachers gifts. I got a M&S goody hamper for the staff who'd been in caring for DD during lockdown just before school's reopened as we were so grateful she'd been able to go in to school.

We do a joint class gift. I'm the rep so I'll be buying it.
Case of wine
Afternoon tea for two at a tea room down the road from her home
A copy of their year book

Oh, and I have a picture in my house currently which a child made for me last week which says 'I love Mrs X. Mrs X is caring and I love this just as much as anything else!

@IHeartKingThistle

Holy shit. I teach secondary. When I get a card it's like the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't believe what I just read!

Same!! Maybe this is more for primary teachers?

@Paddingtonthebear

Oh dear I’ve always contributed to a generic class voucher collection but this year DD wanted to choose something. And has chosen a bone china mug with a theme she knows the teacher is fond of. I was going to put some truffles in it too. I hope she doesn’t think this is awful 😞

That's a lovely present though because it's personalised with a theme she likes, not just another generic teacher mug.

To the poster who said they didn't get a thank you, I most certainly do say thank you individually to each child for their card/gift. I don't always get chance to see parents but I definitely thank the child who the gift is from.

I agree with people saying it's just a small token gift from a child. My niece makes handwritten cards and drawings for her favorite teachers every year, last year it was a Smartshow 3D video from their whole class (due to the online school etc). I really wouldn't go for a spa certificate

Gift vouchers @Brunts12. It’s crazy isn’t it? Only an ordinary school with a mixture of families, and I don’t mind admitting it was hard to find the money sometimes, because you have all the added expenses as well like photos, whole class photos, class tea towel (I wish I was joking) your child’s picture on a tote bag, bottle of wine for the bottle tombola, fill a jam jar with sweets for the school fair (then of course money for the school fair), mufti day (and there was always a theme), sports day barbecue, leavers flippin hoodies.

I was so glad when my children left primary school as it seemed like they wanted something every day. Only a pound or two, but they add up.

Thank you for all your comments, I can see this has started a right debate!

To clarify:

1. Teachers don’t expect gifts and are always grateful if a gift is given.
2. Handmade gifts and cards are amazing and very well received because time, effort and thought have been put into them.
3. However, if you would like to spend money and buy something, just consider what it is and don’t buy a quick fix “best teacher” gift that is unlikely to get used.

I never said there was an expectation to give a gift, I was just asking you to consider what you choose, if you are thinking of buying something.

@Jessprimarytutor

Thank you for all your comments, I can see this has started a right debate!

To clarify:

1. Teachers don’t expect gifts and are always grateful if a gift is given.
2. Handmade gifts and cards are amazing and very well received because time, effort and thought have been put into them.
3. However, if you would like to spend money and buy something, just consider what it is and don’t buy a quick fix “best teacher” gift that is unlikely to get used.

I never said there was an expectation to give a gift, I was just asking you to consider what you choose, if you are thinking of buying something.

But you didn't, you became very specific as to what you want, vouchers to expensive supermarkets and food ordering businesses, spas, massages and pub meals, people finding out and catering to your hobbies and particularly having whip rounds to give you what you want.

I never said there was an expectation to give a gift, I was just asking you to consider what you choose, if you are thinking of buying something.
You actually gave a very specific list of things you had already "considered" suitable yourself.

Being careful to shoehorn in Waitrose, M & S and Cook, when there was no need for further clarification at all.
Hope you do get 30 mugs, frankly.

I never said there was an expectation to give a gift, I was just asking you to consider what you choose, if you are thinking of buying something. you gave a list of what you considered acceptable though.

Not really a debate, nearly everyone disagrees with your OP

Me too!

What a revolting attitude! If you really cared about not getting Best Teacher tat you would tell the pupils no gifts please and get the Head to endorse it.

I don't remember my Mum showering my teachers with chocolates and wine in the 1980s, no one did!

Years ago, I was days away from giving birth and exhausted by two toddlers when I forgot to buy a Christmas gift for my son's Reception teacher. She blanked me for the rest of the year!