To feel sorry for all the teachers who are about to be inundated with shite gifts

[Butterflyfluff]

My Facebook feed is full of utterly shit teacher gifts - mugs, glasses, baubles, sweet jars all with ‘Greatest Teacher’ on them.

Surely the vast majority of these end up in the bin - no one needs up to 30 odd of these every year?

What’s wrong with clubbing together for vouchers that would actually get used?

I'm a secondary teacher. I very rarely get gifts. They are never shit

I don't buy teachers gifts because there's lots of other people who support in the classroom so I wouldn't know where to draw the line. I have given useful things to the class dressing up box and other bits and bobs so hopefully I've been generous in other ways.

I’m a teacher in Scotland so we’ve already broke up over 2 weeks ago, like others gifts are totally unnecessary but very much appreciated, I keep all my cards in a box. This year I got a £10 Boots voucher which was very kind but even a £1 chocolate bar is appreciated.

I'm moving schools and stages so I’ve been buying resources every week when I’ve been out and about, I know I shouldn’t have to but I want to. It helps me as a teacher and my class, I have a play-based curriculum so am stocking up on toys from second-hand shops etc.

@Tulipvase , I wasn't thinking about you. I was thinking of the children whose parents couldn't afford to buy a gift.

I don't get it and have never bothered with either of my kids. I appreciate the work the teachers do but l don't feel the need to get them a present. I don't judge people who do but don't understand all the angst about it.

I mean if 30 people contributed between £5 and £10 each that would get up to £200.
£20 would mean an average of less than £1 per family. I can see that some people wouldn't contribute at all but surely those that do would put in more than £1?!

Maybe it’s more likely to happen further up the school but certainly in the classes I’ve been in that hasn’t really been an issue.
children are just as happy to give you a picture they have made.

Nobody declares them!

You are being kind, but setting a terrible precedent by buying the basics for your class. Teachers always spend their own money on room decor, plants, end of year gifts for students and a fewbother bits and bobs, but I draw the line at basic lesson resources like glue. This is not a norm that anyone should create for their colleagues. Please stop.

I will stop. My own children deserve the money I make too.

Sadly it means no D and T lessons for my class, barely any Art lessons and English/Maths lessons that involve cutting and sticking will have to just be written instead.

Yes, your family (and you) deserve your hard-earned money. Put it in your retirement fund. You cannot shoulder and pay for the consequences of poor political choices. If DT and art are not funded, then the nation will be poorer for it, but it is what it is. The onus is on heads to budget and the government to value education, not on you - a teacher whose pay has decreased in real terms. I speak as a fellow teacher.

I agree with you @mumedu

I think parents need to know what schools will be like when we withdraw what we have given for free.

Good on you.
How well managed is your school? Is it top heavy with non-teaching SLT? We're on our last legs but with three more days to go (!) can just about manage enough glue sticks to share between 2.
How much glue do you use? We cut back a lot on glue when we changed from IPC lessons to subject based lessons as children were sticking less bit of paper eg into books like knowledge organisers etc.

We sound very similar to you.

We've made conscious decisions for next year how to reduce glue and white board pen usage.

We're moving to folders (cheaper than books) for worksheets and having white board books (spare random ones from the cupboard that need using up) instead of using pens.

So this year I got :

8 bunches of flowers … was a struggle to get them all in the vases I had , but they look lovely and it’s inspired me to do a full house clean today now as with all the flowers and candles I need my house sparkling for the aesthetic 🤣 also , 3 of these were my favourite flowers which the children knew as they had asked me ❤️

Loads of chocolate - will be lovely to sit and snack on those in my flower filled house !

a few bottles of Wine - will go very well with the chocolates!

A vase - came in handy , obviously!

A reusable coffee cup with my name on - I needed a new one !

Notepads , journals and pens - can never have too many of these , I live by lists !

3 Yankee candles , 2 diffusers - will look lovely in my house and go along with the lovely flower smells !

Some lovely teddies - I have a little shelf for them in my bedroom .

And the best - lots of handwritten cards from parents , thanking me for the work I have done with their child and loads of pictures from the children also saying thanks … which will all go in a special box for such things ❤️

Not one thing is “ tat “ , not one thing is unappreciated - every single thing means something to me and none of it will go in the bin either .

I can honestly say , hand on heart , that a collection of money from the parents , instead of all this , would not have meant as much. Obviously I would have been grateful , but at the end of a long year sitting down and reading all these messages and opening the gifts was a lovely way to spend the evening last night and money would not have gave me the warm feeling that these gifts have ! Seeing the children’s faces as they gave me the gifts and pictures yesterday was absolutely priceless ❤️

Also - the atmosphere in the staff room these last few days , where we have had so many cakes and biscuits etc has made the world of difference . End of year in a school is very stressful for the staff and this bought a nice , relaxing almost party like atmosphere at lunch time!

We get paid . We dont do the job for free , we have a wage . Parents don’t need to pay us more . The last days with all these lovely gifts make it like a mini birthday for us ! We feel special .

No parent needs to get us gifts , we don’t expect it. Obviously, we know that they do come in usually , but no teacher is ever going to say xxx didn’t get me anything !

Parents , don’t ever stress about gifts . Whether it’s a teacher mug that costs £1 from B&M or a £30 bouquet of flowers - we have the same level of gratitude…. Knowing we have made enough of an impact that the child wants to bring a gift or a card in is beautiful x

We always did a collection. No pressure on anyone to contribute. There were 30 in a class so we normally ended up with four or five hundred so could get a decent voucher for the teacher, teaching assistant and the school janitor (because he was wonderful). Then we always got each child to write their name and made a card with all the names in. Some people didn’t contribute because they didn’t want to / couldn’t afford / wanted to do their own thing and that was fine

It's a tragedy of Greek proportions
Thoughts and prayers