Teachers presents - class gift

[angsanana]

I'm organising the year 5 Xmas present for staff this year. 2 teachers, 1 LSA, 1, one-to-one. When I've done this in the past the pot is usually 250-400 (our school tend not to ask a set amount there is a real mix of affluence). I've reminded a couple of times and Im at £115 between around 10 families.

WIBU to buy the gifts and put "love from Tom, bob, Kirsty etc" rather than "love from year 5"? In the past I've put as a class gift but the majority have contributed.

What's the consensus here?

Charity shops are foodbanks know they will do well in January from unwanted teacher gifts. Good for those needing a foodbank that chocolates and treats will be available.

I’m a teacher and no, I wouldn’t. Please don’t give us endless boxes of chocolates. The card is nice - write something really meaningful in it.

As a teacher, I would absolutely hate a gift with a few names on it. I spend all my working life trying to ensure no kids are left out or left behind because of family circumstances. I’d rather it was from everyone and I couldn’t give a toss whose parents coughed up and whose didn’t. That’s a parent thing and is nothing to do with the teacher the gift is for.

Also, give the lion’s share to the TAs. They would make more money working for Amazon or Aldi - so give where it is needed most.

As a teacher, I’ve kept very few of the gifts and mostly repurposed them. However, I still have many of the cards with meaningful messages written in them.

The gifts are ‘meh’ - the words mean the world.

Donate it all to the food bank in the year group's name. Job done

You leave out one child’s name?!

As a teacher, I would despise you. I would ask that child to participate in any extra curricular activities I was running, just to make up for their parents’ lack of wealth and their communities lack of compassion.

That actually is a very nice idea.

As a teacher, I would despise you. I would ask that child to participate in any extra curricular activities I was running, just to make up for their parents’ lack of wealth and their communities lack of compassion.

If you think having two parents as solicitors means they are poor - go ahead and offer their kids everything for free. Their parents will gladly accept.

250-400 for a Xmas gift for teachers are you bonkers !

And that's the poor child's fault HOW??? You all sound like a horrendous bunch of stuck up tw@s

Its the parent's decision not to add his name to the card.

Not the organisers. The parents. His parents have been quite vocal in saying they do not think they need to contribute to the teacher's pay packet which is what they view contributing to collections as doing.

From reading the teacher's comments, here it will mean he will get special attention from them in the classroom so it benefits him if anything. Perhaps that is his parent's intention.

Thank you I thought so.

DRFT but had to comment on this by pp: "there's just something about it, the expectation."

I have worked in schools for over twenty years. Leafy middle class village schools, those in deprived areas, large, small, high level of SEN...a real range. Not once in any of the schools has there ever been this thing I read about it on Mumsnet of "the class gift" to a teacher. A few individual families have chosen to make things or give a token gift, but it's certainly not the organised malarkey I read about on here.

Any expectations come firmly from the PFA and traditions for that school (ie the parents) - and, of course, guilt about not doing the correct thing or keeping, up with the Joneses which is fuelled by publicity through this kind of post and online articles about what to get the teachers for Christmas.

School staff expect nothing, on the whole. Anything is a pleasant bonus - which is something we don't get btw.

Reading some of the responses it does sound as though these are school policy decisions, or maybe PTA/Class Rep decisions with the tacit knowledge of the school.

I have never understood how this became such a thing. Card, fine. Teachers are public servants, like civil servants etc. Most public service organisations frown on gifts from the public - mine used to have a “hospitality register” where any gift/gratuity from a member of the public had to be recorded to make sure we were not providing preferential treatment to service users. I had to record box of apple turnovers handed in as a thank you on one occasion 🤣🤣. Some teachers’ gifts are pretty extravagant, and as an earlier poster mentioned the aggressive class collection can be an issue too - also support staff get nothing! It always seemed a bit bum licky TBH. I did always buy the card and bottle of plonk when my child attended primary but it was pure peer pressure, seeing all the kids streaming in with gift bags and bouquets I didn’t want mine to feel left out.

Just ask the people who contributed to sign the card. I'm sure you'll get more in the next month but maybe some prefer to contribute their own gift.

Firstly, it’s payday this week…I’d wait until after that!
Secondly, do all the parents definitely know? I was the mum that was never at the school gate (work) and not in the WhatsApp group (by choice - a million messages a week!) and I often heard about things after the event!
Finally, if the parent specifically declines, I wouldn’t include their name, but if there’s a chance they can’t afford it (or never knew!) then be kind.
PS I always did teacher gifts, just didn’t realise there was a class effort elsewhere…I wasn’t the only one not in it, either!

If you can't afford anything or haven't been impressed by the teacher that's fine but I'm always pleased to give the person who looks after my children a small gift. Luckily they have had wonderful nursery staff and school teachers so far. Schools run on the goodwill of teachers - I know how many of the resources used will belong to the children of school staff and how many will have been bought by the teachers themselves rather than the school budget. At every Saturday summer fair, I've seen every member of staff there unpaid. Presumably they could use that time raising money for their own children's schools or spending time with their own family, but they do it for the benefit of my child instead. In those respects, they're not like other civil servants. I agree that a handwritten card is the best thing you can give.

Removed

I’m actually with you on this! It’s not that you’re trying to shame people who don’t contribute- it’s more saying that the idea hasn’t worked so those who have contributed, it can be off them and the others can sort their own out if the wish to or want to send a personalised gift.

I would send a what’s app message asking those who have contributed to send you their message that they would like in the card so you can add their name to the card

that way you are telling people that if they don’t contribute their name won’t be added

Hi, If it is just a small percentage of the year that has contributed so far I would just put a message out to parents saying….
“It seems like there is not much interest in giving a whole year gift this year, so I’m assuming people are preferring to do their own gifts. Based on this I will just sign the card from those that have contributed. If you do want to be part of the group gift then please can you contribute by xx. Suggested amount is xx but please feel free to give less or more, any amount is welcomed!”
If in the end the majority of the year do contribute then I probably would sign it off from the whole year, but if it is only still a small part of the year then just put the names down.

Why would you include a suggested amount - how would the suggested amount be calculated?

My kids are all out of primary now but we used to receive an email around this time of year specifically asking that no staff were bought gifts as they’d rather the money went to the children, and redirecting parents to the classes’ Amazon wish list if anyone wanted to get anything. They did the same at the end of the school year.

I know quite a lot of teachers - and every one of them would rather have stuff for their class / classroom than stuff bought for them. They all liked the cards though.

I personally do not contribute to teacher Xmas presents. Not through lack of money, just I don’t see why teachers get Xmas presents for doing their job, no one else does. Just personal choice