To ask teachers and teaching assistants what you would really like for Christmas from a parent?

[Whosthecrazy]

Dd is in nursery and has I think 4 teachers in her class, 2 she is very attached to! I’d like to get them all something nice for Christmas but don’t want to fall into the trap of smellies or boring chocolates! So please, what would you really like if you could give a wish list?!

We do NOT want personalised mugs, ornaments, decorations, etc etc etc. We just don’t. If you give us a “thing” we will be polite and say “that’s lovely, thank you” and we will put it straight into the charity shop bag (or bin if it’s homemade).

I wish people would stop saying ‘we’ or authoritatively announcing ‘teachers never want…’. Speak for yourself, sure, and by all means share what you do and don’t like - but don’t bring me and every other teachers into it. I’m a teacher. Anyone who says they chuck away mugs and don’t want tree decorations or bath bombs does not speak for me. Anything that is a bit too random is used to decorate my classroom or lightens up my classroom cupboard.

Gift cards, wine or pot plants have always been my favourite. I actually love being given any presents though!

I spend money on my class, bits and bobs here and there all the time, if I had an Amazon gift card or even Tesco’s etc next time I popped out and got the bits for cooking etc it would make me happy!

An apology for all of the grumpy emails I've been sent complaining I've not done enough, when we are on our knees and couldn't do anymore.

In the absence of that...

Wine.

I always did flowers or a gift card for my daughters’ teachers.

At nursery we did vouchers for the main carer. A card with DD scribble on it and then a couple of sentences from us thanking her/him to give DD a great time.

We were lucky, the carers normally talked to us about their interests so we managed to get them vouchers they can relate to.

In school we did always a class collection and split the money between the teacher, TA and the allocated lunchtime helper.

I love getting cards and pictures from the children, I keep them all and look at them now and then.

Presents I've enjoyed the most are plants and nice plant pots, flowers, nice pens, tea/coffee/hot chocolate and biscuits. I'd be over the moon with a £5 book token/Amazon voucher/costa gift card/Starbucks gift card. Chocolates and sweets are also good as I can share them with my family.

I'm not a fan of mugs as I have enough at home and our staff room is full of them. Wine and candles I know other enjoy them but personally I don't as I don't drink and have migraines triggered by certain smells so I usually pass them on.

A handmade card or drawing with the child’s name on is best! Honestly!
Not only do you know it’s from the heart and that they’ve taken time doing it, but it’s also easy to keep as it doesn’t take up much space.

My faves have been:
Costa voucher
Personalised Christmas tree decoration
Lovely notepad and pen

I forgot one of my favourites!! At the end of the school year, a pupil had made me (with help from grandad, I believe) a wooden pen holder with my initials on it and felt on the bottom. Very special and it has lived on the many school desks I have had ever since.

Well. I’m a teacher, and I agree that the absolute best is a meaningful card with a nice message.

I have genuinely loved all gifts given to me by children I teach. I’ve been teaching 7 years, and I still use Christmas decorations given to me by a child in my first class. He’d made them out of clay with his mum, and they’re lovely!

I was also given a ‘best teacher’ mug my first year, which I love using because it reminds me of the little girl who gave it to me. A ‘best teacher’ teddy bear is on my sofa! All these things make me smile - I love the children I’ve taught, and it’s nice being reminded of them years on.

The first school I worked in was in a very deprived area, and I would have felt so uncomfortable at the idea of them spending lots of money or being pressured to contribute to a class collection.

Now, I work in a much more affluent school, and the parents organise a voucher each year, and ask the teacher which voucher they want. I asked for a book token last year, so I could do some bookshop browsing when the bookshops opened back up.

I think I’m very easy to please though - I feel so genuinely touched by and appreciative of anything. I love surprise bottles of wines and boxes of chocolates - who doesn’t? And if I end up with lots they’re easy to take round to people’s houses etc over the festive period and beyond.

One more lovely thing I remember from my first school was one of the parents gave me a book (for adults - think Richard and Judy book club list) and the child had written inside that she knew I liked reading, so she asked her mum to choose me her favourite book so I could read it in the holidays. So sweet! I also remember a very cute and random Monsters Inc keyring given to me by a little boy, who gave it to me very solemnly and said ‘I thought you would like this one’. Had it on my keys for years, and again made me smile so much!

I suppose I wanted to type this to say thank you as well to parents thinking about this - it’s really kind of you. Organizing those class collections must be a pain. I really do feel honored to do my job, and I love it. That’s why a card with a nice message, or a picture by the child inside (I love the random ones where a children has drawn me teaching, with a speech bubble - love little kid drawings!) goes such a long way. Anything else is a bonus, and rest assured it is all appreciated so much.

I work in a school and on Fridays most of the staff place an order for lunch with a local bakery / deli who deliver directly to the school. Everyone considers their fresh sandwiches / scones and coffee to be their Friday treat. Is there anywhere like that nearby that you could get a few gift cards for? Who wouldn't love to be treated to a nice lunch?

@Felyne

Best card I got from a kid had the words "things I like about Mrs ... " and then reasons that her DD gave her. Meant so much as it was personal.

This is great I'm doing this with my dds

Best card I got from a kid had the words "things I like about Mrs ... " and then reasons that her DD gave her. Meant so much as it was personal.

DD's teacher used to do this with a different child every week in primary one and the rest of the class would say what they liked about the person. The teacher would write what the dc said on a certificate and a certificate and send it home. It was incredibly cute coming from the mouths of 4 year olds. So random - things like 'she sings beautifully' and 'she smells nice' 'she gets things for me that are too high'. Great idea for a teacher too

I asked the teacher … worked for me. If they said chocolate or wine or beer, asked for brand.

Mug is the absolute worst of ideas but really so are the hampers and chocolates and bath salts etc.

Get them a nice written card made by dd
Then the teacher can read it, smile and bin it. And not be stuck with 24 mugs. Or tons of chocolate when she is trying to lose weight. Or bath salts when she doesn't have a bath. Or some ugly Christmas decoration that will end up in landfill.

Just a card. Or some heartfelt words/thank you.

Oh and please no "thank you for helping me grow" plants

Teachers, like any group of people are not homogenous in their personalities, likes and dislikes so I can only speak for myself (ex teacher).

I used to despair at the amount of tat and waste at ends of term and, like most of my colleagues used to end up trying to foist the wine, tea/coffee, excess of boxes of chocolates and biscuits onto friends and family. If you don't know a persons dietary needs or preferences what is the point.

If you think about how many pens, keyrings, mugs, candles etc are being given how many times a year, every year, it is difficult to grasp how anyone imagined theirs will be even kept let alone used (with the odd exception). It is so much clutter at home. I used to feel very guilty but almost all of it went straight to charity or the food bank.

The only thing I kept were lovely cards with messages and drawings etc from the children themselves , and I'll keep those forever I think. Gifts aren't necessary.

If you don't know a persons dietary needs or preferences what is the point.

Do people's dc not know this? My dd could probably tell you all of her teachers favourite snack and the dietary requirements of the whole class. One term in I can tell you that her current teacher is vegetarian, what brand of coffee he drinks, his star sign. I don't actually know his favourite treat yet but I do know last years was fererro rocher. I'm sure by Xmas I'll know.

I am a childminder all I want for Christmas from the parents of children I care for is for them to recognise when their children are too unwell to attend in the run up to Christmas and keep them at home rather than send them in and I am ill for the 10th Christmas running!!

I don't know a single teacher or TA who wants mugs, personalised baubles, "best teacher" type stuff etc. On the last day before Christmas 2020, we were all gathered in the staffroom having a chat ready to go home and agreed that we end up keeping them in a drawer or cupboard out of guilt/obligation (because we genuinely do appreciate the thought!) and then inevitably chucking them at some point during the year when we have a clear out. So we made a pact to get rid of them at school before we left and not actually take them home. It felt equal parts awful because people had spent money on them and it was such a waste, but also quite liberating that we weren't going to hoard them for the standard 6 months before chucking them anyway.
It is tricky because as this thread shows, people's taste varies wildly. I am sensitive to lots of smelly stuff and I don't drink but I'd love chocolate or a nice second hand book. Other people hate chocs and want wine. There's not really a universal "safe" gift. So I'd probably say vouchers would be your best bet. For a department store or similar. Why not try and club together with a few parents? If you got 5 people to put in £4 each you'd be able to give a £20 voucher which I'm sure pretty much everyone could make good use of.

Wine (not Prosecco); posh chocolates; a voucher; good soap; coffee beans; fancy tea bags.
Not a mug; nothing that says ‘best teacher’ etc; nothing homemade.

A pen or nice leather notebook? My brother is a teacher and I think all his mugs have come from school. Someone bought him a ceramic panther one year 😂

I personally don't think alcohol, but a voucher is great. Can easily be picked up in the supermarket - Amazon, John Lewis ( can be used in Waitrose )

A card with a personal message or an email to the Headteacher saying how much you appreciate the teacher in question. This would make sense much more positive impact that another bottle of wine or box of chocolates

We've always done a collection and bought vouchers, teachers generally end up with a voucher for over £100. I like to think that will be genuinely useful for them and they can buy something they like and would have chosen for themselves. I remember one teacher managed to buy a pair of bar stools for her new kitchen, think she was pleased with those

I had a student buy me a small dairy milk with their pocket money and it was the loveliest present ever (we shared it at break time). I don’t like anything expensive, personalised, or that is supposed to be decorative (what if it doesn’t match my theme?). Honestly a nice packet of biscuits (Tesco finest type if you’re feeling flush) is something I’d like, or something the child has made like a nice card or picture. I’m not into the whole teacher gift circus that has sprung up with spa day vouchers etc I think it’s obscene and embarrassing.