To ask teachers what they would REALLY like

[BasilInTheRatatouille]

End of term gifts - what would teachers/TAs/support staff out there really really like. I don't go over the top with gifts but DS has special needs and a couple of people in the school really look out for him. I usually buy a nice tin or jar and son makes biscuits to put in it. Yay.
Be completely honest, what would a great present be (within a say £20 budget). And what presents have you received that made you thought wahay! or eeeww!

No mugs (after 30 years I have a gazillion). No toiletries or food either - I am allergic to a ridiculous amount of things and always regift them. Wine is always appreciated, but my favourite gifts are letters/cards - I have kept them all.

I had a great card from a kid one year thanking me for all my help. 'Without you Miss, I never would of did it.' So proud!

Was also given a big glittery, sparkly 'M' by a boy (aged 10), who explained that it was an M for 'Miss'.

I can't say that the chocs and other goodies aren't appreciated, because they are.

But the things that mean most to me aren't expensive. Just things that have some sort of connection to what I've done with the children/what they've appreciated themselves in the time I've had them.

Last year's favourites were a very cheap aquarium ornament, because I'd shared stories with the boy about my aquarium and his.
And the 2 small candles in the shape of bunnies, from a girl who had bunnies who'd loved seeing the pics of my DD's buns.

This year I had tears brought to my eyes from a 'report' that a child and their parent had written about me. It referenced things I'd done with my class that the boy had really got engaged with and that the Mum appreciated. It was so cute and meant the world to me.