AIBU to not buy 'teacher present'..

[mrspicklepants27]

..for teacher i genuinely believe has been completely useless, incompetent and has singled out my child.
The assistant has been wonderful but DS class teacher is ridiculous

Perfectly....a lot of parents buy Christmas presents for teachers and thats only three months in to the school year. And yes they do get a new teacher every year, but they do all talk in the staff room. It makes some families appear to be nicer than others and does curry favour. I really think it shouldn't be allowed. A simple note to parents by Headteachers should suffice. I know it won't happen, but it should.

I'm a teacher.

I appreciate presents because of the thought that goes behind them, but certainly don't expect a gift or make a note of who doesn't give me a gift.
It's completely up to you whether or not you give a present. There's no obligation and it would be pointless to give a present to a teacher that you are unhappy with.

Those posters who feel that presents are used to curry favour - I hadn't heard of parents doing that and if they do it is a complete waste of time. There is no way that a teacher would single out a child for special treatment because the previous teacher had been given an extravagant present by that child's parents.

For those posters who feel that teachers are well paid, it depends on who you compare their salary to and if you look at the annual salary or the hourly rate.
Quite a few of my friends are in low paid jobs which makes me feel very well of. If I compared myself to the majority of parents at the school where I teach then I'd end up thinking of myself as hard up. A colleague and I once added up how many hours we work in an average week, took into account the holidays (and how many days of the holiday we usually work) and worked out that our hourly pay is pretty much the minimum wage.

We did a class collection for a fiver (optional but suggested amount) and that covered the Teacher and the Teaching Assistant and PGCE student. Much less than I would have spent, less hassle and the got vouchers. One parent refused as they had issues but want to donate to teaching assistant and PGCE. This was taken into account and they only signed their cards. All got vouchers for John Lewis. Job Done. Don't like her, don't do it.

Teachers don’t expect gifts.

"well off" not "well of" - my spelling isn't usually that bad, honest

I've never bought a teacher a present either and I've got 3 kids going through school. I say thank you at every parents evening for what they do. Seeing some of the mums walking in with bags and bags of presents is a bit weird. If my kids want to buy a card or a present they do so but THEY do it not me.

Why would you assume that parents who buy Teachers a 'Thank you' present are trying to "curry favour"? Some people just like to show their gratitude and get satisfaction for doing something nice for someone else. How sad to go through life so suspicious of others motives.

I received 5 this year. 4of which are of no use to me - alcohol or chocolates, the other made up of £75 vouchers meant a lot as I have put a great deal of time into this family for various reasons. I don’t expect presents, but it’s nice to get them when they are meant. I’d rather have less well meaning ones than generic it’s the end of the year so I must get a gift gifts!