£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’ve paid £20 to the joint collection this year. But there are 6 teachers/TA’s in DD’s class so this seems a reasonable amount!

But when it’s expected, or when children’s names are left out of group cards, that’s when it’s awful.

I agree.

But I have sympathy for the organisers who circulate cards and let people sign, it's a bit unfair to blame them if names are missing, or expect them to have to go through the list to check every single name is there.

@Viviennemary

A state school which doesn't cost you anything?? Err yes it does. Most of us pay taxes.

Plus uniforms, books, days out, donations for this & that...

I like the idea of all contributing and giving vouchers etc. Ours gets our name on the car if you contribute 50p or £100, no one knows how much each gmail it contributes.

It's the idea that the TOTAL amount shocks or offend people that I have an issue with.

I can't understand why the idea that someone else gets something can upset anyone so much.

Each to his/her own.
When I was financially struggling, a fiver had to do. At year’s end this year, I gave £100. It goes towards class teacher/TA/admin/Art/PE teachers.
I pay no fees for my kids’ schooling other than lunches. They don’t take any extracurricular lessons/do clubs. The teachers do an extraordinary job. Considering I really pay nothing towards my children’s education, a contribution to say thank you really ain’t no thing.

A state school which doesn't cost you anything?? Err yes it does. Most of us pay taxes
You know what they mean. Come off it. You’re paying taxes, yes, but not £9k a term for little Dulcie to wear a Prussian blue felt bonnet.

And if I was, I might feel even less likely to give a gift.

@giggly

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've only ever seen this sort of crap on Mumsnet.

I have friends who work in private schools and schools in very expensive areas in London.

Not one of them in all the years I've known them - and bear in mind we are almost retirement age now - has ever received anything like this. Nor do they know any colleagues who have. We've laughed about this kind of urban myth. Most teachers are lucky to get a best teacher mug and a card - and that's generally only in primary schools. If you teach in a secondary school it's very rare to get a thank you.

Again...

could someone explain WHY a teacher shouldn't accept or be given £200 or £300 vouchers?

I work in the private sector. The new disclosure rules etc are a pain in the arse, but I get a hell of lot more than £300 worth from my suppliers! Or some clients as it happens.

So what?

But we are not talking about you and your Corporate gifts. We are talking about embarrassing families into giving a sum they can't afford.

@Viviennemary

But we are not talking about you and your Corporate gifts. We are talking about embarrassing families into giving a sum they can't afford.

no, we are talking about people objecting to teacher receiving a gift over a certain amount.

No one has said people should be forced, shamed or made to do anything.

We are talking about the outrage over an amount. If 2 parents decide to give £500 each, what is it to you? I would neither care nor be jealous, let alone pressured to do similar. Why would you?

That’s madness, £5 would be a stretch for me but seems about the right price per child.

My DM was a primary teacher now retired.

Her favourite "presents" by far were handmade cards from the children.

So much so she's kept them all in a memory box (having written the name of the school, full name of the child, year group and year it was given on the back).

She takes the box out a couple of times a year to look through some of the cards each time and she says it brings back lovely memories of her teaching career.

She wouldn't swap it for box containing Laboutains or £400 of vouchers for anything.

Honesty, she'd have been mortified/embarrassed to have been given extravagant presents.

Cards were her favourite but if a child wanted to wrap something then she was grateful for really simple practical things like boxes of chalk, pencils, nice erasers, blu tack etc

It's interesting that (pretty much) every single teacher on this thread (and others like it) comes on and says please don't do it and how they much prefer personal cards or thoughtful small gifts.

I'd be mortified if a parent spent £15 on me! I chose to teach, it's my job. To receive a card or little gift is always lovely but £15 seems too much. My favourite present last year was a glue stick - the child knew that glue sticks are like gold dust at school 🤣
I'm planning on taking scones, cream & jam in for the staff at DD's school this year.

It's interesting that (pretty much) every single teacher on this thread (and others like it) comes on and says please don't do it and how they much prefer personal cards or thoughtful small gifts.

I don't know, every teacher I have met, or read , is very grateful for thoughtful small gifts but would rather do without them, because not everyone is fan of clutter.

And the most generous gifts tend to be from the least well off families, which is what embarrass them so much. So many families put the education of their children over everything else.

We are collecting £20 per child, but that cover christmas and end of year, and also teacher plus 2 TAs. It’s completely voluntary as well, cards are online for everyone to sign, no matter if they have contributed or not.

We seem to do a teacher gift AND a gift for the person who organises the teacher gift.

Aka the class rep. But really all they do is forward emails and arrange coffee meetings from time to time.

I struggle though that even if I just put a token amount into the class rep collection I'm putting in 1/5th of the amount as I do for the teacher. Which seems disproportionate.
Aarg.

That's a lot, is it for teacher and TA? The lady organising ours just said pay what you want/can and that most people had put in £5-10 (for teacher and TA, not each). I thought £5 was a bit tight personally as that's only £2.50 each, but it really depends how much you like the teacher and what you can afford. Our teacher/TA have been brill and have really gone above and beyond, so I put in £20 and will probably get them some wine too.....

I think it's wrong to mandate an amount ... it's been a rough year though so I would give what you can. If £15 means you don't have enough food, of course don't do it... if you spend £40 a week on a cleaner then do a bit more.... no one should keep count or exclude kids from the card though - that's horribly unfair.

I organised the class collection last year and glady contributed £15, but there was no set amount. People gave what they wanted and I got amounts between £5 and £20. The teacher and TA got a very healthy amazon voucher each.

This year I'm letting DS choose his teacher's gift as then it'll be a bit rubbish, which I feel reflects her efforts and attitude as a teacher. (I'm aware that makes me a bit of a bitch, but I'll live with it.)

I haven't even bothered to read the whole thread.

No. Just no. Teachers are doing a job and are paid accordingly. They have pensions and other perks. Of course there are some lovely teachers but at the end of the day they are doing a job of work which they are paid for and receive pension contributions.

As a teacher, I would say you shouldn't feel obligated to do this. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but most teachers would not expect so much money spent. Just having thank yous and appreciation at the end of the year, whether it's in a card or verbal, is a really lovely gesture in itself.

To be fair, I've worked in a relatively deprived area in recent years so I have no idea what it's like to work in a school with affluent parents. Maybe expectations are different or greater.

On the flip side, teachers also struggle a bit with gifts and money. I usually spend about £30/£40 on Christmas gifts, £30/£40 on end of year gifts, maybe £10 or so on something small at Easter. I would never ask or expect my LSAs to contribute unless they offered as I don't think that's fair. Admittedly it doesn't sound like much per child but I also spend a lot on things for the classroom too so it does all add up.

No teacher wants a haul of tat to throw in the bin. Homemade gifts including baked goods go in the bin mostly even during a good year never mind this year. Just put what you can into the collection.