Teachers! What is the nicest/best gift you've received?

[user50316]

Looking at getting an end of year gift for my child's teacher and wondered what is appreciated.
She's been an enormous help and a big part of my DC's life for the past year, so want something a bit better than the usual "tin of biscuits" which I give 😂
I asked my friend who's a teacher, but she gets gifted designer bags and purses from her parents and so that was a non-starter 🤣
Maybe something around the £20 mark?
Would a groupon for a day out over the summer be a good thing?

The best thing I ever got was a booklet the kids had put together full of photos of them, school trips, anecdotes and basically a lot of thank yous. It was the loveliest thing imaginable to receive. I'm a sucker for a lovely card or these days even just a nicely written email even better if they CC the headteacher in.

Avoid anything with 'best teacher ever' daubed on it. If the child can, ask them to see if their teacher likes chocolate or wine. To be honest, most staff who don't drink still appreciate wine as something they can re-gift. Vouchers can also be great even better if they show an understanding of someone's interests i.e. garden centre vouchers are great for the eco coordinator not so good for the teacher who lives in a flat without so much as a balcony.

I got a lovely reusable coffee cup once, I use it all the time. And i got some a nice water bottle one year too.

I got a bottle of Nicolas champagne and a cheese board from my favourite Sixth Form group one year. Such a lovely bunch of students. We had an 'in joke' about about me liking Nicolas.

Question - if you contribute to a group voucher would you still send a small personal gift? My son has a SEN team and they job share so it's 4 people plus class teacher. I don't want to buy 5 presents as I already gave money. I feel they do a lot for him and teacher tolerates a lot!!

Cards are the best! I've still got all of mine. But a voucher for somewhere that sells 'things' and consumables is a safe bet, as others have said M&S ticks those boxes very well. My plan as my kids start their school careers is a card, a voucher (if no class collection) and a tin/box of something tasty to go in the staffroom.

For me I've had many memorable gifts over the last 20 years ranging from a tin of smart price baked beans (class joke) through to a birthday cake made and hand iced by a student's nan. But just as memorable is a tin of biscuits from a small group of students for sorting something out that was very small but very important to them. I've still got the tin and use it fondly to keep my vegetable seeds in! It's classic 'its the thought that counts'.

I've had many lovely gifts as a Reception teacher but the stand out ones for me have been this amazing 'fake' bouquet of flowers made of all different stationary items. Another one was a scrapbook and it was all about the things Mrs DisneyGirl could do over the summer and things were stuck on each page - a packet of seeds to do some gardening, a £5 Costa voucher, a £5 book voucher and a £5 cinema voucher all accompanied by her writing and drawings about each thing on every page. It was so sweet. One year a parent embroidered me a hoop with the words 'you are loved'.I think I cried for days after and it is still hanging in my classroom many years later!
But honestly I am always so grateful of any card or gift however big or small, bought or handmade and I'm sure your daughters teacher will be too.

The very best gifts I have received are the cards with real heartfelt messages by parents. Messages that show they truly appreciated the impact I’ve had on their child. I take these out a couple of times a year and it really reminds me why I do this job. I have to say I’m also a lover of personalised gifts though know they aren’t for everyone! I was the first in my family to complete university and being a teacher felt like such an amazing achievement. The longer I’m in the job this doesn’t feel quite so important!

Not me but my dad, he 's been retired for about 20 years and still gives price of place to a picture one of his pupils have him.

That's easy since it's still on my mantelpiece . A little silver box with a handwritten note from a dyslexic student saying thank you . Other than that a plant goes down well even just a herb plant from tesco.

Sounds really sad but I got a set of coffee mugs one year. They were really pretty and I really needed them.

Last year DD drew a picture of the name of her class (animal) and I photocopied it and made it into cards for the teacher and TA's, I bought personalised stickers for them e.g Mrs Apple says Well Done! Put both in a paper bag with some sweeties and DD made labels for each bag.
They seemed to go down really well :) going to do similar this year!

In previous years, for primary I have got. A dressing up outfit for the dressing up box at school as theirs were getting very depleted and a separate gift for the teacher.
my dd drew a picture of her teacher (infants so not a Picasso) and I got it put onto a material bag so the teacher could carry her books in it.
one teacher liked sweet shop sweets (like pick and mix) so we got her lots of bags of different ones and blue wld as that’s what she drank.
the teacher who played the guitar we got some personalised plectrums in a little tin

first year at high school this time and a male teacher and I’m stumped what to get, I may pinch a voucher idea off here though.

Don't forget my TA, she sometimes has more time with the children than I do!(playtime and lunch duties daily) we love it when you write to the head to say how you've helped your child.

A lovely hand written card always means the world to me. In terms of gifts my class all put a couple of quid in and I normally get a decent value voucher like a Love2Shop or similar. Please don’t waste your money on mugs we have them coming out of our ears!

Unless of course they are insulated coffee mugs, they are awesome!

How about an "educational donation" gift so for £11 you can get a child school materials with actionaid. There are a few international charities, you can get a gift of school books, or seed packs to grow.

Last year I mentioned to one of the children that I was going on holiday to the same place they had recently been to. Her mum got me a beach towel, some flipflops and some suncream. So useful and really thoughtful, I loved it. I also really love wine and chocolates and candles though so I’m pretty easy to please!

Only present that I’ve ever received and didn’t like was a voucher for a full body massage - the mum who gave it to me was the masseuse and worked from home. Didn’t really fancy getting naked in front of her or in her house!

The thing I would really truly love but have never had is an email sent to the head teacher saying something nice about me. That would be amazing!

Do not give alcoholic beverages to someone if you don't know whether or not they drink alcohol.

A card with a heartfelt message. If you email the Headteacher too even better. A John Lewis voucher in the card would be very well received.

Quiche. Two of them.

Most of my teacher friends say a heartfelt card- but if pushed they love a nice notebook (molskeine or similar). I always email the head if they have been good, pointing out something specific- e.g that they found a specific way to help DC with an area of maths they found hard.

Two quiche? Don't be greedy, Lorraine...

Our teachers mix between classes a lot (very small school), so I tend to get something they can share in the staff room - one year I made up a cream tea hamper and gave it to them the beginning of the last week so they could enjoy it in the staff room. Usually I go for biscuits and chocolate!

Genuinely gobsmacked at the people saying money. I teach in a very nice middle class area and would be extremely uncomfortable receiving cash. We have to do bribes training as council employees and it’d very much be frowned upon

I’m a TA not a teacher, but the best present I got was a nice, big pencil case with several layers, like big pockets. One layer had pens, pencils, a sharpener and a rubber. One layer had white board pens and a sharpie in it. The last layer had a hole punch, a stapler, a pair of scissors and a glue stick in it!! Best present ever and so useful. I have my own kit (with everything in blue so you can see it’s mine not schools - the teacher got a set in purple so we don’t muddle them). I don’t spend hours playing ‘hunt a hole punch’ - the child who gave it to me has a parent who is a teacher and also ensures I think of them with fondness several times a day, every day!