to think 140 quid on

[nannyplum75]

an end of term thank you present for our Year One teacher is excessive? The money is collected from the whole class. I am the only person to have expressed disagreement with this and think I may be the only one! AIBU?

was there an amount requested from everyone or did people just give what they wanted?

well how many in the class? Sounds fine to me. How much have they asked you to contribute?

Just do your own thing if you don't want to be part of it.

Its a lot of money but i guess it is £5 per pupil in a 28 pupil class? Some will find that l lot, others not so much. Probably £1 per person would be enough to get something really nice though!

On the surface it seems excessive but in a class of 30 that's £4.60 each which I suppose is about the average spend. not for me, I spend about £2 and begrudge that

What gift are people planning on getting?

Do it if you want to do it. Don't if you don't. I don't see why people care either way.

Depends if they asked for a set amount or just a "put in what you want". It's only about £5 per pupil which is about what I'd spend anyway.

As £5 per head, no, I think that's fine, less than we collect I think. Why do you see that as excessive?

They do this at my children's school - each parent throws in a fiver which adds up to 150, but this is then split between the teacher, the teaching assistant and someone else who I should really know what they do but I don't 150 sounds loads, but I couldn't buy presents for three people for a fiver or be arsed to

I think it's fine. I'd much rather join in with a class present for the teacher. So much easier than faffing about trying to find something half decent for under a tenner.

Depends how much per person?

As a teacher I'd be uncomfortable with as much as that, a thank you card is plenty

I think it's excessive and wrong.

If you compare teachers to nurses, similar skill levels imo, nurses can accept almost nothing apart from a box of chocolates to share with the rest of the ward, teachers on the other hand get loads.

One teacher at my children's primary school was getting married. The school send two letters, two texts and a request on parentpay reminding parents to contribute to his present. This was sent out to every parent in the school. Terrible behaviour from the school imo.

Now I don't mind parents giving teachers presents at all. What I do object to is any kind of request from the school or even from other parents that you do or the implication that you should.

I think its fine. We don't do a collection at our school so it's individual presents and they cost me more than £5 a head. I even do a MN no no and buy for the TA's, head and office staff plus few other members.

DS's teacher has daily input in his life and is a big influence, sending a thank you present with a nice card shows we appreciate that.

WE normally collect about £6 per head and buy for the teacher and the TA

I don't agree with presents for teachers, but if that's the done thing, a collection where the parent puts in an amount of their own choosing, and it is shared between the teacher, the teaching assistant and anyone else who is deserving (lunchtime supervisors?) seems the best way to do it. Perhaps to buy vouchers that can be used at a variety of shops?

Dictating amounts is obviously unfair on poorer families, where even a pound or two might cause difficulties and actual buying presents probably ends up with the recipients receiving massive piles of generic cheap gifts like special offer wine, chocolates and toiletry gift sets that they must get fed up with eventually and donate or regift most of it.

So surely it would be better to get one nice thing than a load of small cheap things that they don't really want?

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat exactly...we decided to suggest an amount but anyone can pay whatever they want and opt out if they choose...the card is signed from the whole class..no one has to know who didn't contribute for whatever reason

It sounds quite a lot as a lump sum, but in all likelihood the majority of the class will buy some sort of present which would cost around £5 each min anyway (thinking candle, box of chocolate, hand cream/toiletries, etc) which would cost the same amount.
Obviously this shouldn't be enforced either for those who can't/don't want to contribute or wish to buy their own gift.

At dd's nursery the average donation per parent was £30!! They have more staff so worked out at £80per person plus flowers each but definitely felt a bit gouged!!

It is total madness. £30 per parent. But I can understand people thinking what's the point of everyone buying something useless for three or four pounds when they can get something decent for the same amount by clubbing together. But nobody should be shamed into donating if they can't afford it.

It's better than 30 boxes of chocolates!

I would spend about a tenner on a present so I don't think it is excessive, as long as people paid what they could afford or wanted to give and weren't pressured to pay a certain amount.

It also means the teacher has to report it to her employer to have it okayed and HMRC to pay the additional tax. A PITA for the teacher, quite frankly.

I would embarrassed to receive this as a gift. A handmade card means so much more.

End of TERM......not year? If end of Term then that could get quite expensive per annum!

I'm a teacher at a private primary and I get (don't expect!) a huge range of gifts.....from £150 pieces of jewellery to a small pot plant to nothing. I am very grateful but am just as happy with a hand drawn thank you card....but I do like a bottle of wine too though! ??

Just to clarify it is end of year, not just term! We are also being asked (not by school, by other parents) to stump up for TA and PE teacher. I just don't see what's wrong with a box of chocs and some lovely flowers! This is for my youngest's teacher, the parents in my eldest's year were never so OTT. Things seem to be getting out of hand. Very interesting to read the responses.