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?

The alternative is to not buy this tat in the first place.

It's more than the rest of us ever get, just for doing our jobs.

Better about what?
I've had some truly weird and wonderful gifts over the years. I don't think Bob was trying to make himself feel better when he bought me a pot noodle.

When mine were at primary we had a good system - £10 per parent and a John Lewis voucher which was usually £300.

Never bothered with secondary school.

DD went to a state primary (hence my gifts in years gone by of Pritt sticks and tissues). She's at a private school now and what happens is someone puts a message on the year WhatsApp with bank details and a request for money. They share it out among the form tutors and buy an end of year and a Christmas voucher for each person from everyone. Very efficient. DD also writes personal cards for teachers she likes.

As the child of a teacher, between Christmas and end of year presents the chocolates kept us in treats all year.

I buy the school glue sticks, pencils, rubbers, white board pens etc. and a couple of books for the library.

If they run out and there’s no budget to replace then the teachers feel they have to replace.

Its been taken incredibly well and they’re all incredibly grateful.

Honestly I love the gifts (HLTA here). My favourite is a costa voucher😂

The best gratitude I expect many parents gave was in the ballot box last week. Then the next is treating teachers with respect and courtesy. The parent who will never say their child does something wrong and then buys a gift to the teacher is in a way a hypocrite.

I've bought beer, prosecco and chocolates for the teachers/TAs, if they don't like that they can re gift it

I know quite a few teachers. They have never complained and talk about how sweet it is that the kids get excited about it all. Often presents are thoughtful and much wanted. Plants for a gardener. Sports shop voucher for a cyclist. So many examples they've told me Other times, not right but still thoughtful. Cards are precious. It's lovely to feel appreciated and I think it can be quite overwhelming in a nice way.

There may be a number of things that are not used by the teacher but shared with friends and family and colleagues - chocolate, alcohol, toiletries.

Oh especially don't do it if you can't afford it!!
I've found writing cheesy/cheeky begging emails to companies sometimes works wonders from a school email address works wonders for freebie classroom stuff. Not the usual ones- you can offer a line in the newsletter etc. Metro Bank give out free pens- they're not great quality but if you've run out of them and you're about to buy your own. They also love to have children in on a school trip.

Try to resist the urge next year. Your own children take priority. Do other colleagues buy stuff? Is it expected? If you are being guilt-tripped into this, this is not right. Can you not claim anything back at all?

@pleasehelpwi3

If I ask if I can claim I'm told not to buy it and just do without!

Some colleagues do the same as me and some definitely don't. Their classes just don't do cutting and sticking and use pencils and paper instead of white boards.

I'm not bothered about the thought; obviously it's very kind of anyone to buy a gift, but it's the environmental impact I hate.

It's a joke that parents are thanking someone who's positively shaped their child's future, while simultaneously royally fucking up their child's future by dumping more toxic plastics into the world.

@OrwellianTimes wow - how extremely shortsighted.

The past couple of years I’ve started buying those individual slices of choc/ lemon/ Victoria etc cake that you can get at Morrison. These go down a treat with everyone and don’t break the bank. This way I can afford to get one for the t/a and the pe staff too )my dc love the pe teachers )

@Sherrystrull
That's miserable all round. Have the parents noticed or not? I feel sorry for the buyers and the none buyers of glue in your school.
In mine we're not supposed to tell parents how broke the school is.
As we're in the South East we might have a bit more money from PTA fundrasing but that always ends up on 'extras' when we don't have the basics.

We have to declare ever gift we are given.

That's exactly the same. We are supposed to keep a brave face on for parents.

That was my approach with my children too. And they loved choosing something for their teacher. I steered them away from mugs etc though, and they generally knew enough about their teachers interests to choose something appropriate.

A guitar badge chosen by my eldest for her class teacher who played in a band...a little cake recipe book chosen for my youngest's teacher who (according to DD, loves cake A LOT!) I carefully tucked the receipt into that one.

I bet you get paid expenses though, and don't have to buy your own office stationery (and 25 other people's)

For the record, I never expected presents. But I have kept every thank you note I ever got from parents or pupils.

The parents clubbed together to get me a voucher and I bought these !!! Will always think of the kids when i wear them . Fab !!

Funny you should say that. Since we've been wfh, our manager doesn't order any stationary, and we have to buy our own. We're not even provided with so much as a cup of tea for a meeting. If we're out of the office over lunch, we bring our own or go to a shop. The only expenses I get are travel. Plus I'm using my own gas and electricity and I don't get anything for that.

DC1 is a teacher. They don't buy stationary for any other teacher either.

We clubbed together. £140. Voucher lol

No they don’t.

You can earn up to £1000 without declaring and a gift voucher in this context wouldn’t count as earnings anyway.

DC1 is a teacher. They don't buy stationary for any other teacher either

I was aiming for an office equivalent to all the money I spent on stuff for my lessons to actually work.

My DD is a teacher and I was horrified to find that her average spend per month on things the school should provide, is about £150 a month. I strongly told her that even the £50 or so that I spent was too much, and that she needed to stop doing that. I doubt she has though