Teacher presents. End of term.

[rackhampearl]

Aibu to ask you teachers what your best and worst present experiences have been from --parents students. Also has anyone got any ideas? I'm thinking of miniature bottles of Hendricks gin and a small can of fever tree in a gift bag for the teachers heavily involved in my DDs school life and some loaf cakes for the staff room. Is that abit naff?

We did £4 a head at Xmas. 23 kids. £10 would definitely be too much for a lot of the families (including mine!) whereas just under a fiver seemed pretty doable for everyone.

@agirlhasnonameX believe me, nobody in our scho
is anywhere close to poverty. we are on very healthy salaries, and definitely in the “less well off” group

Goalie I hope the label was similar to that but without the apostrophe or else ‘Miss Jenning’s’ will be sobbing into the wine...

We do joint presents - £10 each. It is not mandatory to contribute and it is simply ti make life easier for parents who would be buying something anyway. I am grateful for it and I know other parents are too because it saves the hassle of choosing an individual present.

That is for the teacher and the TA and whatever is collected is split evenly between them

Ds (reception) wants to give a little chilli plant he's grown from seed in a pot he's painted. The chilli's are actually super powerful and delicious!

Teacher here, club together for a voucher or buy booze. Teachers are the same as any other adult female you'd buy for. Please don't buy a 'teacher' teddy or such tat. I still have one from 4 years ago that sits and judges me every time I use the microwave

No cake. I work in a school and we dont eat it. With the mess on some kids coming to school and the state of their lunch boxes we dont eat them. We dread to think what kitchen they have come from.

Gin/wine is good. Boxes of chocolate as they will keep till September.

Last year my DD’s year 6 teacher was amazing.

We got him a little sapling in a pot and hung a $20 voucher for the local hardware/garden store on it, as we knew the day after school ended he and his young family were moving into the new home they’d just had built. He loved it! He thanked me in person and then during the holidays texted me a photo of the tree planted in their garden to show DD it had ‘pride of place in the centre of the garden’

We also always give a card, I write a thank you on one side and the DC write a message on the other side, usually saying how they’ve enjoyed the class and their favourite memory from the year.

DS year 1 teacher told the class if their parents ask she loves going to the movies

My go to gift if I can’t think of anything personal is a gift card that can be used at several different places so the teacher can choose to either get something for themselves or something for their classroom.

I can get the point about giving a gift to someone just doing their job

but its not fair on a kid to be the odd one out if everyone else is buying gifts

My MIL teaches and gets loads of 'best teacher' teddies. She regifts them every christmas / end of year through her grandchildren.

I don't eat home made food sorry.
Nor do I drink wine or gin... but I was never short of a raffle or tombola prize for my child's school when I was given them. I sometimes give them to another teacher now or to the admin staff who never get anything.

This year I got a box of teabags from one parent who I do with with... and who should know I don't actually drink it as they have break with us. Weird.

Honestly a well thought thank you card it better than any gift. I’ve had a few thank you cards this week from my y11s leaving and they were so heartfelt I was absolutely chuffed

I agree with @REDCARBLUE I just wouldn't touch anything homemade that came into school, most teachers that I know would throw homemade cake straight into the bin.

Not in front of the kids obviously! I mean that it would be thrown away later instead of being taken home or eaten.

We had a biscuit/ cake hamper delivered to the staff room at the end of year 6. Our child had had some specific difficulties and so many staff had made such a positive contribution to turning her life around from the head to the midday supervisor. We wanted something neutral for everybody.

I go for a nice card and a £10 Amazon or Debenhams gift voucher too.

I have some friends and family who are teachers. They all say they don't expect anything, and are grateful for most things (possibly not the photo frame with a photo of the child and a naff poem about them that one once received), but the best is vouchers.

One of the big coffee shop chains round here (Costa? Caffe Nero?) does a thank you card that doubles up as a voucher for tea/coffee, for about £3 or so. DSis has received a few of those and loved them - it means she can treat herself to a nice morning out during the holidays.

They all say they'd much rather receive a voucher for a couple of pounds than another mug, socks, wall plaque or whatever that probably cost £5-6 but which they don't have room for.

My sister when buying presents for teachers always says she asks herself "If I received 30 of these, would I be happy?". If the answer is no, she buys something else.

I find this thread baffling. Especially the first page post to OP about “save money you probably can’t afford” - wtf? I’m sure OP knows whether or not she can afford a tenner

A tenner for teacher and TAs is nothing compared to buying Christmas and leaving presents for nursery staff!
Don’t know why teachers would be mortified to get a gift either- they’re one of the most influential and important people in my DCs life why wouldn’t they get a Xmas present? Blimey the window cleaner gets a tenner and much as I like him, he’s nowhere near as important as the teacher!

For Christmas this year I made a personalised bauble. I was pleased with those aiming for a thoughtful token that doesn't take up much space. When my DS was a preschool I made some bunting with the preschool name on it. Not yet thought of something for end of this year, I like the idea of something for the classroom.

We do a class collection and get something like John Lewis vouchers or a voucher for a spa so they can get a massage or treatment. I think this is sooo much better than them getting 30 individual presents.

I have always tried to send personal gifts based on what they have told me . One year he bought a large bottles of a drink ( none alcoholic) that the teacher drank all the time . Another teacher had a cycling hobby so got socks and tie , one was a scout leader so a compass , personalised pens.

However one very special teacher my son wrote a letter about how he has helped him through the year. It moved him to tears and he told me he had shown the head. Nothing I could of bought could compare to that I don’t think

@passthecherrycoke Haha yes I agree. I'm not worrying financially about the gift, but I dont want anything too showy or flashy. Just a token. It seriously won't break the bank to get a token gift for the teachers who look after and teach my DC.

DH is a teacher, and he's most happy/touched by handwritten cards from pupils. Nothing fancy, some are just a bit of cardboard with a few lines.

The wine is nice, but the cards are what makes him smile (shows them all to me)

I buy them funky stationery items.
Snazzy pens that aren't easily muddled up with anyone elses, bright post its and bulldog clips.

A lot of bah humbug here. It seems literally every present someone might think of is unacceptable. I was going to make cakes, as I know many don't drink. Is there anything that is a safe bet? Obviously children will write cards too.