£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!!

Our suggested amount is £20 per child. I have no issue giving £20 for the women who have taken care of my kid all year. If you don't have it then just give what you can. It usually is split between the teacher/ta.

When my children were at primary school there was nothing like this. A small token gift if we wanted to. I gave books to the class or school library.

@tinyem77

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

Those are the best presents! (As someone who works in a primary school)

MIL was a teacher. She used to take presents to the charity shop, in a different town so as not to be spotted. I wouldn't bother or just get a box of biscuits.

I think it’s too much. Just transfer the amount the you’d like to give, no need to explain yourself

This never used to happen when I was at school! Is it a relatively recent thing?

Ours wasn't quite £15, but I've paid £10 for DD's class and £7 for DS's class this year. While I do think it's a chunk of money in DD's class it's a teacher share plus two TAs so it still feels better - because I wouldn't be able to get a nice box of chocolates for each of them at £2.50 a person.

Nobody gave teacher cards/gifts when I was at school, is it one of those things card shops invented for extra sales of tat.
Surely a £30 voucher be fine, bloody £400 that's crazy and this is a yearly thing not even like retirement/leaving gift?

Was £20-25 at our prep school a few years ago and £50 for the leaving school gifts. One parent bought a teacher a pair of Louboutins as their Christmas present which I found a little odd, another box tickets to a football match. It does get a bit out of hand, as grateful as I am to the teachers.

I got volunteered for the collection this year - also nice middle class area - I normally put in £20 when someone else is doing it so it has been interesting to see what others do so far I have got some £5 donations and one of £40! We give vouchers and everyone gets to sign the cards (digital this year because of COVID) But this isn’t just for the teacher it is also divided up between the TAs plus a little for the SMT and the school caretaker and his cleaners and the ‘lunchtime controllers’ I’m happy with my £20 contribution but don’t have anything against those that give less, or in fact none...

@Peanutbuttercupisyum

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

How many teachers in the class? And how many kids do you have in school? Do you do anything for Xmas?

Way too much. A fiver is enough

I'm a nurse, and we're only allowed to accept token gifts e.g. sweets, biscuits, at a push a bottle of supermarket wine. Even then I let my manager know and document it on the patients notes.

@Spidey66

Way too much. A fiver is enough

I'm a nurse, and we're only allowed to accept token gifts e.g. sweets, biscuits, at a push a bottle of supermarket wine. Even then I let my manager know and document it on the patients notes.

I always brought our nurses cakes and biscuits whenever we left hospitals with Ds. It never lasted long enough to be inventoried!!

Ours are always a donation for anyone who wants to donate. No specified amount.

I would not buy anything unless the teacher has been exceptional. Get the kids to write a thank you card and that’s it

@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!!

Ridiculous! We have a voluntary class collection and there is no set amount at all. It appears that people are quite generous (we're in a reasonably affluent area), but even when I have chipped in just a few pounds it has been gratefully received and the teacher has ended up with a very nice gift.

£400+ is preposterous. Many schools have limits on the size/value of gifts teachers are permitted to accept so going overboard may simply result in the teacher donating the gift to charity.

We've done a class collection and I think most people have given £10, but that's for the teacher and TA so works out at £5 per gift basically.

I don't think that's too unreasonable.

That's crazy! In my area we don't collaborate at all. Mostly I do a box of chocolates and a handmade card.

Ridiculous, surely a homemade card from each child would be sufficient

Less than 13p a day!

Or just don’t buy a gift?

Are they allowed to receive the gift? We have a policy that anything over £20 has to be donated to the school!

This is why I never join WhatsApp groups. More hassle than it's worth. Get the teacher a box of chocs or wine. At least they can regift if they want to and save themselves some money which they will appreciate, unlike a 'world's best teacher' mug.

What about the TA? Did I miss that?

We did £5 each to cover teacher and TA and bit more like £7.50 for the y6 class who were also sending pressie to headmaster

There shouldn't be any suggested amount.

When people were collecting cash, it could make sense to have a set amount and tick names so the organiser could not be accused of keeping some of the money for themselves!

Now it's online, just do a pool on paypal or something, amount can be anonymous for the others but the total will show and there's no drama.

Give what you want.

But £15 for a teacher who had the child all year, sorry, I fail to see how that's outrageous. That's what most people buying their own gift would spend anyway.

IMPOSING it on anyone is wrong.