£15 per pupil for teacher present is way too much!

[Watermelon221]

We’ll just that really.

Quite prepared to be told Iabu and also I know that I don’t have to join in with the collection!

But £15 x 30 children is over £400! Even if only 20 give money it is £300!

What sort of planet are some parents on? It’s the same every year and I shouldn’t be surprised after 3 children!

Someone on the class WhatsApp group suggests a collection. Everyone agrees it’s a good idea (me included). Then some bright spark suggests everyone gives £15 (£20 was mentioned initially!). Then everyone says they’ve transferred it over and you are suddenly stuck with 3 choices:

1. Opt out and buy own present. Probably something the teacher doesn’t want or need.

1. Text and say I’m only transferring £5. (Not because I can’t afford it but because it’s plenty and only supposed to be a token gesture! But then is that fair on others who pay £15?

1. Suck it up and pay it!

Our school is in a fairly middle class area but attracts children from a fairly mixed bag of different areas. I imagine many will struggle to afford this- especially those with other kids in different year groups- is it me or is it totally tone deaf of these parents to suggest this and not just pay what you can afford? It is supposed to be a kind gesture of thanks from the class not enough to find a mini break ffs!!

I always just buy my own. I have 6 teachers and assistants to buy for this year!

I think I 'd be tempted to reply just what you've said here "I think a fiver is plenty - it's only meant to be a gesture of thanks".

I am a teacher and presents are absolutely not expected whatsoever! Particularly ones costing £15 per parent 🤦‍♀️.

When I have received a gift, my favourite has been from a collection of any parent who wanted to donate (and plenty don't, so please don't worry) £1 and it gets turned into an Amazon voucher. Very practical and handy.

If people are just transferring money into a bank account why can't everyone transfer what they want by a certain date, then the organiser totals up the amount and chooses a gift accordingly. There's no need for everyone to pay the same amount. They'll be some parents that can easily afford £20.00 and some who can only spare £2.00.

1. Or just get your child to make/sign a card.

Ref:every other thread about teacher gifts

That's insane.

£15?! I fully appreciate everything my DD's fantastic teacher has done this year, but I wouldn't be contributing £15 to a collection! (Thankfully it's never been suggested.)

I think the fairest way is for people to contribute what they can afford/ want to spend.

I guess for some, it's worth paying more than they'd like for the convenience of not having to sort their own gift.

Opt out, £15 is too much

I have 3 DC in school so if all asked for £15 I’d be £45 out of pocket, there’s no way I could or would do this every year. I usually buy a token gift like a nice house plant or box of chocolates. Always well received, never anything tacky. I’d opt out of this personally, it’ll be expected every year if not.

One of my favourite and most memorable gifts as a teacher came from the pound shop and only lasted a week or two.

No teacher needs £400. (Plus, at many state schools you wouldn't be allowed to accept gifts of that much anyway.)

There’s was a thread last year or the year before where the teacher was given enough money to buy a pair of Jimmy Choos. I though that was insane but was shit down by the mummies who told me that was the going rate in their schools
Teachers need to make a stand and say no but hen again I was shit down by some teachers on here who were happy to tell me how hard they worked and were happy to take £400 vouchers.
Completely missing the point of the other millions of hard working people out there.

I have never been in a situation where a group gift was suggested. I wouldnt bother with it. I didn't buy gifts at all in recent years - just sent a thank you card or email to the teacher. As they get paid to do their job there really is no need to buy gifts for them.

Not “shit” down but that’s probably more accurate

Opt out and get your child to make a card (you write something heartfelt in it) and then stick a £5 Costa voucher in it. Guarantee the teacher will understand why you’ve done it and be grateful 😂

Unless it's a private school there will clearly be people who can't comfortably afford £15 so it's a ridiculous, insensitive amount to choose. If that's too much for you don't feel pressured (literally no teacher I know would want any parent to spend money on them they weren't comfortable with). Then either buy a token gesture gift with a lovely card or buy a £5 voucher from the same place as the class collection. The teacher can gather the vouchers and buy themsleves a treat.

That is insane. My favourite presents are handwritten cards.

I bought 25 pritt sticks and 30 board markers this year, hope the teacher wasn't expecting Jimmy Choo shoes 🤣

Although speaking as a teacher I’ve never received a £400 gift but if I happened to be so lucky I’m not sure I’d really turn it down 😂 (although i would have to declare it under the bribery act)

I'm not a teacher but do some volunteer work with kids and often get gifts. I genuinely do appreciate a nice card with a genuine message in more than a gift, I'd be mortified to get an expensive gift from someone who would then have to go without family spending money as a result.

That's mental. My DS is in a class of 30 pupils with 1x teacher and 2 x assistants. We each put £5 in and get each of them a £50 gift voucher (and a nice card).

any of those options are fine.

this is one situation when nobody is unreasonable regardless of what they choose.

with 7 kids we usually give what the average is (it ranges from £5 -£20) because we can afford it.
occasionally we have forgotten to donate🤷‍♀️

this year we have/had lots of extras.
DD's teacher left a month earlier (we are all heartbroken, parents possibly more than kids as we wanted him to teach our younger ones too😭😭😭)
so we had a special collection of £20 each and DD wanted to give him a personal present too.

Also we are leaving our infant school after 16 years (13 days to go) so we are giving headteacher a personal gift and will do some things for office staff & dinner ladies too. probably in the region on £200-£300 in total. don't care. love the school, love the people and we want to know we appreciated them a lot.

I have absolutely zero clue what anyone else is doing. I don't care. it's their business not mine

We've just done £15 but that will cover a teacher and two assistants so £5 each. Saves me the hassle of buying them each something so I'm happy. Also about 25% of the parents opt out and get a personal gift so there's no pressure to join.

That is mad. I work in a private school where parents do this and buy a John lewis gift card and flowers/wine/chocs with what is collected. I think I got £50 plus a present at Christmas (which I think is very kind and generous) - there are 15 in my class. I suspect the TA probably got the same, but even so, that amounts to less than £10 per parent. £15 for a single teacher is a huge amount, particularly if some parents are likely to find it a struggle.

Why not make a donation to a charity the teacher supports?
Or something like the charity based in Somerset that, for £20 sends a bag of school essentials to children in nearly 50 countries to help them with a much needed education.

In ours we give £30! It’s a lot but not much for once a year I guess