to ask you not to buy Christmas presents for teachers.

[Crabapple99]

I have seen several threads on the topic, so want to give my point of view and experiences.

1. Many staff are not allowed to accept a gift above a certain value ( £3 in my school) so these big gifts, especially class gifts, leave staff in a very difficult situation, causing all sorts of paperwork and recording, and leaving us open to accusations of favouratitsm from families, and other allegations

1. Many staff don't want gifts, quite often the item is unwanted, even edibles, if the box is big, heavy, and we already have too much to eat over christams. It is also embarrassing to have to accept.

1. Many staff worry about the reason for the gift, especially if it seems some pupils and their parents feel pressure to keep up: I've been given gifts in the past that when I know the family can't afford even a couple of pounds, it makes me feel terrible. I've had gifts in the past which I suspected were stolen, which makes me feel worse.

1. I don't really think there is a problem with Christmas cards, but even then, as someone who could easiluy have 300 pupils on my timetable, even then that can get a bit overwelming, not to say meaningless.

1. A very small token, such as one of those tiney boxes from thornton's with just two chocolates in, is a nice way of acknoledging when a teacher has really gone above and beond, for your child, but even that is unnessesary rreally.

Hope I'm not coming across as a scrooge! I love christams, but dread this aspect of it.

so you weren't a pathologist you just had a pathology degree?

I have two pathology degrees and worked as a research pathologist.

I gave up teaching crab because it took every evening and one whole day at the weekend-and more if report writing etc.

mostly into viruses with insect vectors. why does this matter so much to so many people? Like I said, if you are interested in the career path, go for it, its great.

yes, there are a lot of hours, but apart from the 8-5 at school, you can do the rest when you like, I can sit and mark at my tanle unti lmidnight or beuond, but I couldn't spend that time out of the home in a lab. I often work late at night or early mornings, as I 'm sure you did, but it can be done to fit around DC, which path research cant.

Ah, so you were a research pathologist, a pathologust and a pathojgist?

The plot thickens.....

All pathologists are medically qualified. You can become a microbiologist by taking the sort of degree that Crabapple references. Also very important in research but apart from anything else paid a hell of a lot less that a doctor.

For anyone interested in a career in pathology here is the careers page from the Royal College of Pathologists: www.rcpath.org/index.asp?PageID=10

Referencing the policies of local authorities is fairly irrelevant in this discussion as those policies apply to LA employees, and teachers are not employed by LAs. So they are essentially irrelevant. The whole of the public sector is covered by very similar rules on governance, and one of the standard requirements is to have a policy on gifts and hospitality. The policy is usually that senior management have to declare the receipt of gifts or hospitality over a certain monetary amount.

A teacher who picks their own kids up from school?

Nah....not buying it.

oh deat crabapple...
i bet your sorry you even mentioned all of this!
ive got ds teachers little stud earrings,he needs 1-1 and they share it amongst what they can spare,i got them in oasis they were reduced to £4!!! perfect!
i like to give them something and try and keep it under a fiver.

I think you are all bonkers! Maybe you should be asking yurselves why you feel the need to log onto an internet forum and spend your time calling other posters liears, for absolutly no reason!? Or jeering, or insulting or aggresive, ort any other negative response, either to me or to others posters? Why on earth should I not be a pathologist? why on earth shoudI not bea teaccher? why on eatrth should I not be a mother? Why on earth can I not collect my kids? Why on earth should I be accused , of all thing, owning an Ipod?????? Don't even think I would recognise one if it bit me?n Why shold I be a fantassist? Why on Earth couls I not fit marking around DC? Why should dyslexia be a bar to any of the above? You are crazy!? You seriusy need to sit down and ask yourself why you hehave like this? Are you jealous? Are you just worried that you made assumptions that may be wrong? Are you in the jhabit of jeering at disabilities? are you incapable of thinking outside of your own experiences? Or are you just so cynical you can't take anyone att face value? Or do you just log on to be oppositional? Carry on! you utterly amaze me!

CRAB..........................I totally agree this forum is bonkers.

God help you if you have an opinion that differs from others.

You have to laugh at them, I know I do daily.

And for the record I do not buy the teacher a present I cannot think of any reason why I would, neither do I buy the headmaster anything. I have also never bought the dinner lady anything or the lollipop lady.

I beleive they all get paid, maybe I am wrong though and it is voluntary.

crabapple i would never slag off you dyslexia as i have it myself,
and as for what you do,work wise,is your business.x

If you start with the premise that at least half the posters on AIBU are bonkers you don't get upset-they generally are. (the half that don't agree with me
I still think that it is a long winded way to try and stop the habit of present buying, because you don't want to do it!!

What amazes me is that people read the whole 19 pages and dissect each post that they dont agree with and then they even remember previous thread in which something else was said.

I never even remember any names.

If I looked away from the laptop I would not remember any names on here it really is not a big part of my life as amusing as it is at times.

I do think it's a bit rich to tell people they are bonkers to feel they should log onto an internet forum - basically to discuss a strage topic that YOU yourself started you've made me want to go out and buy more for the Teachers now

no maxy brown, I wasn't alking about people who posted to discuss my topic, whether agreeing with my point of view or not, I'm talking about the rest!

Mine was a genuine question, I'm medically qualified and looking for a family friendly speciality, but was thinking that you'd changed from medicine to teaching because pathology was a bad idea. I was thinking you'd fitted a lot in, in terms of training, as i normally think of a pathologist as someone with 11 years minimum of training, but I have no idea how old you are...

I remembered the squash thread because I still think its odd that someone with a scientific background would say that 'water didn't hydrate'.

I'd have thought pathology did have potential on the family friendly front although general practice seems to be where many women head to with that in mind (generally no on call and if you are a partner more opportunity to arrange your own working hours).

I only remembered Crabapple because of her insistence that drinking water had absolutely no benefit, insisting this was the case even when gastroenterologists (and everyone else) disagreed with her.

This thread it seems to me follows the same pattern. Make a wild and unsubstantiated statement and then essentially refuse to engage with anyone who points out that it's highly unlikely to be true.

When I worked within a prison and also with YOs we were completely and utterly barred from giving any form of gift entirely, even keeping it quiet. Had it been found out it would be a serious disciplinary - way way more than if a pupil tried to give a gift to a tutor believe me!!!

Crabapple - I am not bullying at all but I do find your experiemce entirely at odds with any experience I have had within education over the last 16 years or so, or any of my teacher friends too.

I certainly disagree with the idea that Christmas cards given by pupils not being important or not being wanted. I am most certainly not unusual, ime, in thinking that a card from a child means a lot to us.

One of the reasons why I left teaching was that I didn't find it very family friendly and didn't want to have to have DD in after school club every day and to miss her school assemblies, plays, etc.

yeah Hulababy - Dh very sad he has had to miss DS first nativity and parents evening and so on and so on!

It was the reason I left too.

When my MUM finally retired from teaching she said she hoped she could finally put her own children first instead of other people's.

I am a teacher and have never heard your views expressed. In fact, other teachers often seemed to view the amount of cards/presents they recieved (few in a inner city comp) as ameasure of their success. Though i found this strange.