To be irritated that people buy the teacher but not the TA presents at the end of term.

[Lucyellensmum99]

This really annoys me! My DD had both a lovely teacher and TA this year. Her TA helps her loads, but when i asked other mothers if they bought for both they made a face at me and said that they only bought for the teachers. I think this is really sad, as the TAs often have quite close contact with the children. My DD loved her TA this year and was quite clear she wanted to buy the same for TA and Teacher. We didn't buy much, some cheap flowers and choccies, we spent no more than £8 as DP and DD managed to find some bargain chocolates (i hope they weren't minging!) that looked nice.

Why would you not buy for the TA too?

Actually my DS's school won't have a Bursar til September but I've already put him/her on my Christmas card list to avoid disappointment Hearts

We always buy/make/contribute for TAs as well, from conversations with DD the children regard both as being their teachers. I buy occasionally for other staff who have made a real difference to one of the DCs.

Ooh, my DH is a TA and he is always treated very generously at the end of the school year. It's really very very nice that the parents appreciate how hard he works.

I've always bought the assistants a present, my presents are always the same - something around £5 from M&S with a gift receipt so they can get what they want, or use it to buy a present for someone else

i just made biscuits and send them in to be shared, my kids have had a variety of ta's so i wasnt buying individual gifts for all but something that can be shared is fine.

ds2 is having the same teacher next yr as well so again just biscuits but next year i will get something nice as he has been fab this yr and i expect he will be fab again next year and am thrilled that ds2 gets him as his teacher for two yrs, plus its his last yr at primary next year as well.

As a teacher.... yes.

I think unless your child is having specific help from a TA, they're often seen by parents as being more use to the teacher than the kids.

I would expect the teacher to buy a thank you gift for their assistant but I wouldn't necessarily expect most parents to.

Try being a ta in a secondary school. You get diddly squat :( (i don't actually expect anything, but do feel a bit jealous when my primary school teacher friends get loads. )

I didn't buy anything for the TA and tbh the teacher only got a shop bought card, dd also made one about 3 weeks ago in golden time which i thought was a far more genuine gesture.

The TAs are nice enough, but I don't really know them (they switch across the two year group classes over the week). DD rarely mentions them. I have far more contact with the school receptionist and dd speaks about the head more.

I'm sure they do alot of work that I just dont know about.

I confess the teacher got a posh present and the TA some chocolates. But the teacher was brilliant with my quirky dyslexic DD1 and the TA was hopeless.

In past years presents have been chocs or fancy biscuits all round.

I wanted to give this particular teacher something special because she and my DD2 were both leaving the school and she's been great with both girls for 5 years ( Job shares and combined classes). She had 3 years of quietly ensuring DD1 didn't get bullied, some while not offending a job share who didn't get DD1 at all.

She also puts huge effort into music and drama that both DDs enjoy.

I know what you mean Worra - both my DCs have needed quite a lot of extra help from various TAs which means they are more relevant to us than they may be to other families. The other thing is I volunteer in the school most weeks, so I have got to know most of them (it's a small school) and I see what they are doing. I know from chatting to other parents that there are many who don't even know who their child's class TA is because they just don't cross their radar the same way they do mine, especially as you move into KS2. Which is fair enough.

My DD's class has 1 teacher and 4 TAs (class of 5!)..could get expensive, so got a dozen nice cupcakes delivered for them to share with their tea

I never buy for any teachers - problem solved. A handwritten card or letter is much more appropriate I think than yet another box of chocolates/bottle of wine/best teacher mug etc. I am on the PTA and can assure you that loads of the pesents come back as raffle prizes .

All the classroom staff I know get presents, probably to a lesser monetary value than teachers but they all get recognition for what they do.

Children like having something to give the people that they spend a lot of regular time with, it's quite an enjoyable moment seeing your child hand something over and watch the lovely little interaction they have with their teachers and TAs. I like being able to use it as one way of teaching the dc that they should appreciate the people that look after them and educate them.

I hadn't actually thought about it like that but in our case DD's TA got by far the best present.

I only give to the one's she says she wants to because they have struck a chord.
Her TA had fallen in love with something it took me a lot of time and care to make and DD wanted to give her that. So she got it.

Floggingmolly. Because it is a competition between parents, quite often, with pupils feeling eembarrasses, ashamed or left out, and sometines even stealing. Gifts are heavy, ( try getting on a bus with ALL your summer holiday marking and 20 boxes of biscuiots or chocolates) that's if we are allowed to keep them. Some school forbid staff to take them home. You have to try and calculatre the value for tax returns, and we ( speaking for myself and my colleagues) don't want or need them.

A little, personal, specific note , though, very much wanted, easy to carry, no legal or tax implications, no competitivness between parents, last for ever and reminds me of my individual pupils! Lovely!

Worra - I am a Ta in Y1 and I spend far more time working with and for the children than I do for the teacher. I am a teaching assistant not a teacher's assistant - or a learning support assistant sometimes. I work most specifically with 7 or 8 children in terms of lit/num but more also with them all every day. If a child's upset in a morning then I am the one there to wipe their tears and get them bsy and occupied so parents can creep out knowing they'll be fine, I'm the one who will sit with a child if they are poorly or if they need a little bit of help in class 1:1 for a while. And in my class I'm the one that will stay extra hours and create the big role play area each half term that they all so love :) I obviosuly do lots more too but this is what they see most.

My class teacher did buy me a lovely very thoughtful gift and card and she did include the children on the tags. But I did also have some lovely thanks from parents - and by that I mean words, not just the cards and presents. I think our parents very much see what I actually do with the children though - parents come in every morning and see how I work with them and how I help settling them, with teaching them and just daily support. Many really appreciated the CD jammed packed with photos of the children I sent home too that I have been taking all year.

You have to pay tax on your presents?? only if you declare them!

I do know what you mean about the competition, i don't like that, i wanted to just get chocolates for DDs TA and Teacher, but she insisted on flowers too and DP was too soft to say no.

Hulababy, i think that about sums it up!

I always do a note or card and encourage the DCs to do the same. Generally give vouchers as that isn't going to fill their house up with clutter unless they want it to and I love receiving vouchers myself, but if the DCs want to make something, DD did Hama beads for them this year, then that is fine.

I don't buy anything - if dd wants to she makes cards, and I make sure that she does one for both teacher & TA. This year I did send in a homemade cake for them to share (because I'd had a bit of a baking frenzy).

Frankly, I just can't afford to get them a present. I have limited money until DH's payday. We need to feed our children this weekend and we wouldn't be able to do that if we spent food money on presents for the TAs. We have had an awful month with unexpected outgoings. I bought the teacher some quirky bits from Paper chase but DS always talks about her, he doesn't really mention the TAs. However, I feel bad because I did want him to make a couple of cards.. We didn't get around to it.

What really annoys me is people badgering you for money for group presents that you haven't got on you at the time. I was asked 3 times and was told my name wouldn't be on the card if I didn't contribute about a tenner for the teacher and TAs-TBF i never expected it to be if I didn't contribute but it is rather humiliating to be told this in earshot of all the other parents.

Why does it annoy you? People give as much as they can (often), who are you to judge- you don't know everyones circumstances surely?

lemonpie - I have never been a school which comments at all on presents in terms of monetary value or whether or not you can keep them, nor have any of my teacher or TA friends. In my experience that is very unusual. No competition between parents seen here either, and definitely nothing negative towards children who don't give a gift. Infact both myself and the teacher made a point early on this week that our very best present this year was just having them as our class all year. As said before and on other threads - I always send every one of my pupils home with a gift and a hug at Christmas and end of year, every child is important to me in my class.

Oh - and although I would never expect a present at all, and a message of thanks is more than enough - I do very much appreciate every single gift and card given, and enjoy them too. Infact just this evening I have been sat chilling, MNing and drinking a chilled glass of fizz and some delicious chocolates which children in my class were kind enough to give me earlier.

We are strapped for cash too goldenbear, we did have spare this week, thankfully as DP just got paid but had we not been able to afford to buy for the TA as well then i would have just got DD to make cards rather than giving to teacher and not the TA. I would think that if you bought stuff from paperchase im willing to bet that we spent less than you did.

As for the group presents, i totally agree and think its horrible that people try and guilt you into it.

Im not sure when this all started though - my DD1 is 22 and we never bought presents for the teacher then.