Teachers don’t want Thank You Teacher gifts

[Graveltone]

Even though schools have 5-8 weeks of term left, the shops have various TYT gifts such as mugs, coasters, keyrings etc. Teachers do not want this crap! Charity shops near me have numerous TYT mugs and crap on sale!

My friend is a teacher and parents have been told not to give gifts. Teachers don’t want 30 mugs, boxes of chocolate, alcohol (that is embarrassing if teacher doesn’t drink for various reasons) etc. Nor want flowers - don’t have enough vases at home to house 30 bunches of flowers.

Friend’s school accepts cards and hm gifts.

Think before you spend your money on your DC’s teachers.

Not sure when all this started, but it was certainly never a thing when I was at school in the 80s. All our teachers got was a wave or the V sign when we left. 😅

I think it’s an important lesson for children you understand that you should show appreciation for someone’s hard work.
it doesn’t matter what the present actually is really, it’s going to the effort of showing someone who has been incredibly important in your child’s life for the last year, that you and your child appreciate it. Teaching is pretty shitty a lot of the time, gifts and cards make anyone feel appreciated.
I once helped a friend clear her mum’s house after she’d died. Her mum had been a teacher and had kept a box of carefully stored cards and small gifts she had received from pupils over the years. She’d obviously really appreciated them in her lifetime and my friend was so touched to see just how much she’d been valued as a teacher. She put them out at the wake so that everyone could see them and it was really special.

At our state school it’s not unusual for a class collection to reach £250. I’m quite sure teachers are v grateful for £200 of vouchers that we give them!

They could try gifts for support staff instead? They don't get enough to be fed up with them.

A card can show appreciation. Making a donation to charity that the teacher supports can do so. Sad that they are necessary, but a donation to a food bank so that the teacher is not having to deal with hungry children is showing appreciation in its own way.

With that analogy you give a gift to every single person who happens to have a job, being as loads of people work hard? I am assuming you don't do that?

I think there can be a lot of pressure to buy stuff which can be hard on those without much money. Setting the expectation of cards or homemade gifts would get rid of some of this pressure and make things fairer. I’m a peripatetic music teacher and appreciate kind words more than anything - I’ve kept every thank you card I’ve been given. My best gift ever was a poem written and decorated by a student.

I’m also a child of the 80s and this definitely wasn’t a thing. I remember being quite surprised when my eldest finished reception and parents were bringing in gifts for teachers.

We certainly weren't rude when we left, but we didn't turn up with gifts either. School was decent, in an area with a good mix of incomes including some fairly well off folk. I think the whole teacher gift thing has got a little out of hand - £200+ of vouchers? Why?

I can't imagine they want that tat x30, every year.

Why doesn't someone start a campaign that each parent anonymously donates what they would have spent and the school buys something to benefit the school?

That would work out much better.

Primary school teachers get loads of presents while secondary school teachers get bugger all. I propose a Fair Presents for Teachers campaign where the wine and chocs are pooled, then divided evenly throughout the nation's teachers so that instead of one teacher getting 30 lots and other teachers getting nothing, we all get something.

Like restaurants do with tips.

I have a friend who is a housemaster at a well-known public school. He has explained to me that there are only so many jars of piccalilli a man can eat, and that it takes much of the year (and some redistribution to raffle prizes at a local church) to get through all the Fortnum’s hampers and champagne at Christmas. He doesn’t get as much at the end of the year but he has had a couple of holidays.

We went away with a teacher recently. In her twenties, recent graduate, it’s all about the money for them. They love a whip around. Pay is low, it makes sense as they deserve it.

I agree with the OP to an extent. I retired from teaching 3 years ago and was always very grateful for any gifts I received but the cupboard in the Staff room was groaning under the weight of all the Best Teacher mugs! I used to leave school on the last day and go home via the charity shop to drop off all the stuff I didn't have room for at home or in the classroom.

A friend who's a teacher said any home- made stuff like biscuits, cakes etc go straight in the bin. She sees kids scratching their heads and picking their noses and she wouldn't eat ànything they might have touched no matter how nice they look.

and that it takes much of the year (and some redistribution to raffle prizes at a local church) to get through all the Fortnum’s hampers and champagne at Christmas.

My heart bleeds 🫠

Weird post. I love everything I've been given, especially the things the children make, or the cards. I have kept them all. I never got alcohol because I don't drink, but if I did, I would have been very grateful and passed it on to someone who did.

I certainly didn't expect anything, but it was lovely when someone wanted to show their appreciation. The best gifts were the ones I could use in the classroom. A box of glue sticks was a particularly memorable one!

Aw, no, bless.
In the 70s, when we went on a coach ride, we'd have a whip-round for the driver.
"There you go, butty! Have a drink!".
He needed it more than us.

I wouldn’t buy a teacher a present, but I got my kids to send a thank you card.🙂

I remember a thread from last year where a teacher was made to feel incredibly ungrateful because the very expensive "thoughtfully chosen" hamper she was given by the parents was full of food she couldn't eat (allergies) and alcohol she couldn't drink (teetotal).
I expect that yes - most teachers wouldn't want 30 identical mugs from Card Factory.
Perhaps schools should say that cards/letters are much appreciated but for gifts a joint class one is best and Amazon voucher is probably easiest.
Also £1 donation per child. £30 is fine for a treat.
If parents want to spend more then donate to the PTA for school equipment.

I always stuck to the basics - alcohol, JLP vouchers or Waterstones vouchers.

Anything else is just clutter.

My mum was a primary school teacher and I loved last day of year when she came home with loads of chocolates 🤣 but yes I wouldn't appreciate mugs

Cards are always nice, cheap, thoughtful and easily stored

Perhaps parents could pay a service charge at the beginning of the school year? Like some restaurants do.

I do actually. I'm not a teacher, but I often give gifts to people in my team when we come to the end of a project or if they’ve done something i think is worth rewarding, it’s very normal in my industry. I also always give my team gifts at Christmas (outside of any performance/project extras).
in my opinion a teacher is part of a “child-raising team” so I just like to show appreciation.

Oh give me strength.