Teacher gifts - yes, no? What do you do?

[ItsTheHumidity21]

My children are pre school age so not in main education yet but ds goes to a school nursery. There are five amazing ladies that work so hard in his nursery so I've got them all a gift to show our appreciation for the end of term. Ds is a challenge so I feel like I really want to say a big thank you for that especially. I got them a small bottle of wine each, a £5 Costa voucher and some M&S biscuits. Plus homemade cards.

I'm interested to know what other parents do? Do you get the teacher or staff a card or gift because there's a genuine appreciation or do you just feel like it's the done thing so do it anyway? Or do you not give anything because you don't think it's warranted or maybe you don't like the teacher? Or maybe finances don't allow (totally understandable at present)?

I'm just curious. Tell me what you do and why 😊

That's be a wonderful thing to receive.

Because people enjoy alcohol?

Not everyone lights candle, eats chocolates or has a bath

I teach and am grateful for the thought but I'm teetotal and actually, the DD of an alcoholic so never feel comfortable receiving alcohol. I like a card/letter best. Or a verbal thank you which costs nowt 🙂

This year I bought gift vouchers for our local independent gift shop.

Teachers can choose to treat themselves to a summer read or buy a resource for the classroom.

It feels nice to support the local school and a local business.

Where are you based out of interest?

That's an excellent gift. Fantastic. They will be much appreciated x

Book shop. I meant book shop, not gift shop.

It's too hot to think.

Due to complicated circumstance, singling out one teacher at school seemed wrong so the class got together and ordered a truckload of pizza from Dominoes and some Krispy Kreme boxes for afters. They got it as a surprise for Friday lunchtime last week.

Which is why generic type gifts to strangers are a bad idea.

I write a card and buy a couple of nice boxes of biscuits and ask for them to be put in the staff room. There are so many teachers involved with my kids care (it spans sen) that I couldn't single anyone out.

Scandinavia.

I think when you've seen someone you love struggle with alcoholism you don't really see it as being something you want to see in a school setting...a bit like giving the teachers tobacco or something.

I am aware this is my own personal issue though.

I bought some brightly coloured plant pots from Homebase and a bag of muck, our spider plant had 'babies' so DC chose some babies, snipped them off and planted them. They have 6 TAs and teachers between them!

I’ve put some money into the class collection but have also got DS to make a card, put a £5 Costa voucher in. He likes handing something over himself. I emailed the head last week to say how impressed we are this year, giving specific examples of when the teacher has gone above and beyond.

I love all these ideas and experiences. Thank you for sharing. 👍

My DC's school has a tradition of collections and it's all really well organised with personal messages from the children, a voucher and a token gift for each of the teachers/TAs. People usually give £5-£10 so it's a good amount for them to spend.

The school where I work doesn't. It's lovely to be acknowledged but I do usually end up with quite a lot of plants/flowers that die while I'm away, chocolates I can't eat (diabetic), wine I barely drink or smellies. I was actually delighted this year to get a mug as parents often think we have loads but I like a good mug! It's also in a less affluent area so I feel guilty that parents have spent money on things that mostly end up regifted. I do really appreciate the effort but in all honesty I'd prefer everyone to put £1 in an envelope and have a nice card from all the children and £30 to spend on a little treat.

A message to the Head would be lovely though - great idea!

I don't normally buy much for my DD9 teachers but this year I will buy something extra special,1 teacher and 2 Teaching assistants.My son passed away aged 22 last November from Bowel Cancer and they have been amazing with supporting my daughter at school and helping her to work through her feelings and dealing with the grief.I really can't thank them enough and really want to show them how much I appreciate them so I will hopefully try to show this with an extra special gift each for them.

I have three DC eldest is 12
Ive never bought a teacher a gift
I don’t think we should be buying gifts for teachers
No other profession receives gifts
We all work equally hard

DD is 8 and leaving Y3. She painted a little trinket box for her teacher, and one for her TA. I was thinking about buying something to put in them, but I'm not sure what. She's going to write them a card each, plus one for the lady who's been seeing her on a one to one about her anxiety.

DS is 4, and has just left preschool. We gave his keyworker some chocs, a candle and he painted her a suncatcher. We also gave the manager (who he adores!) a handpainted suncatcher, and wrote them a card each. Then we bought a box of biscuits for the staff, and a set of books for the preschool. He's been there since he was 2.5, and it was previously DD's preschool with many of the same staff, so I wanted to thank them for their hard work over the years! DD insisted on writing preschool a card from them both, too.

@RubyJam I'm sure other professions do. My dad worked in print, self employed, for years and always gave clients gifts at Christmas and vica versa. I know my mum always buys her hairdresser a Christmas gift too.
And I gave the midwives a massive bag of chocolates, biscuits and cakes after I had my son as I was so grateful for all they had done.

My DC are teenagers and over the years they've given all sorts of gifts to particular adults at their schools. They've tended to choose something personal to that adult whether it's a set of pencils with quotes from a favourite book, a Lush bath bomb in the shape of a planet, nice coffee or a gift voucher for the pub they know the teacher goes to with colleagues. We've never done gifts for the sake of it but have for those who've developed a relationship with the DC, helped with a specific situation or who have just 'got' the DC. Any gift is accompanied by a card/note with a message saying what specifically the DC has enjoyed/learned.

It's not always at the end of the year; a couple of months after DC1 started Y7 I dropped in a bunch of flowers and a card to thank a member of the office team for smoothing out a few Y7 crises, more recently DC1 has given flowers to the sixth form admin person who is amazingly efficient, kind and whose support is much appreciated. DC1 said the member of staff was really touched by the gift and note.

I'm a primary teacher. It's been ten years since I was given a gift- they tend to be given to class teachers which is not a role I'm in these days. From my class teacher days, my favourite gifts are a note from a child thanking me for sticking up for them, and a homemade card from a parent thanking me for believing in their child and getting them back on track.

I wouldn't give anything related to alcohol as you don't know if they are teetotal, but then tbh I wouldn't give them gifts anyway.

But then, my partner does not drink alcohol at all. It would be a complete waste of a gift so maybe I think differently than most. I'd only gift booze fi I knew for a fact the receiver drank.

Nothing. They get paid relatively well and enjoy long holidays it's not the worst job in the world. It's a ridiculous concept.

My dd always makes a very elaborate crafted card, she puts in a lot of thought and time to it over several weeks to make it relevant to her teacher. Then I get the teacher an M&S voucher and this year I also gave teacher a thank you letter as she has been magnificent and is leaving the school, and I think she had a tough class and a terrible year so I wanted to let her know that we truly appreciated her and my dd will remember her always.

I don’t get a gift for the TA which is possibly a big rude but my dd has always insisted she has nothing to do with them and barely knows them!

i think about the fact I tip my my milkman and my cleaner and the person who serves me a meal at Pizza Express… so why wouldn’t I buy a decent gift of appreciation for a teacher who has put their heart and effort into developing my dd and giving her the best education they can?