To not understand end of year gifts for teachers?

[Threecactusplants]

That time is upon us.
My DS’s class WhatsApp ‘admin’ has asked if people want to contribute towards a voucher for the teacher - suggested donation £10 each.
AIBU but the teachers are being paid for this job, they’re not doing it voluntarily.
Okay I understand if the child is leaving/in last year or the teacher is leaving.

To be honest, I haven’t been hugely impressed this year, DS’s teacher has been quite slack and we have had very little communication. He’s been happy going to school which is the main thing but I probably would have got a small card or asked him to make one. It’s only a small class of 21 so if I don’t contribute it’ll be obvious.

Do you understand the point of gifts, per se?

Well, it’s like that!

Some parents want to show the teacher a wee bit of appreciation at the end of term.

I'm a teacher and I've never understood presents for teachers.

I was at primary school in the 70s and at secondary in the 80s. I never bought a present for any of my teachers and didn't receive one either. The same goes for my classmates.

I started teaching in the late 90s and was really surprised to find that teachers received a load of end of year presents and also some at Christmas. I was equally surprised to find that most teachers at my school also bought small Christmas and end of year gifts for the children in their classes.

I do appreciate handwritten letters or cards with personal messages but there's absolutely no need for presents when we're just doing our jobs.

If parents really feel that they ought to do something then a class collection makes sense - if the organiser suggests £1 per parent per staff member (eg £2 if the class has 1 teacher and 1 TA), that's a lot cheaper than individual parents having to buy individual presents but, in a typical class of 30, it would still be enough for a decent voucher.

Eh? When did I say you shouldn't contribute?

And why are you so convinced it's performative? My daughter's teacher got a £100 gift from us last year and she earned every penny of it. No one else knew.

Just sug a weird over thinking of such a small issue.

I’m not sure Dance Moms is comparable to a robust education system.

I coukd have written almost exactly the same list.

It’s optional. The staff won’t be expecting anything though should be appreciate of anything they get.
so your own thing, do nothing, do a partial contribution. Do whatever you are happiest with.

Books token are completely logical BECAUSE we create a positive reading culture. Children model what they see. I create a literacy rich environment and show a love of books. Kids then assume an appropriate gift would be a book.

We do get paid, you're right. However, we don't get paid for lunch duty - which I do twice a week for 30 minutes, so that's an extra hour every week for 39 weeks, at minimum wage it works out at nearly £500. But it's fine, for me to volunteer, and I don't expect parents to pitch in a £tenner just because I've kept their kid safe / been their trusted adult / picked up after them / even bought their food when they haven't got any money on their card / smoothed out friendship issues / etc. / etc.

I've given end of year gifts to most of my son's primary teachers and TAs happily because they've nurtured him with such kindness and positivity and I really value it. He has SEND and needs a lot of support.

Teachers are not just any old public worker to me, they spend 30 hours a week, 13 weeks a year supporting the most important person in my life.

I appreciate not everyone can afford to gift something, and nor should they feel they have to. (He had one teacher who was bloody awful all year and I never bothered getting her anything.) But it's a personal choice I make.

The one thing I do hate is the very performative parents who make a massive fuss about handing things over in front of an audience - I've seen one parent handing out gifts with one hand and taking photos for her socials with the other - which makes me cringe. (I generally drop them at the school office in the middle of the day, when there's no other families or kids about.)

Just seen your update about vouchers. I think they’ve become popular as it’s easier for parent reps, avoids wastage, can be spent wherever, avoids the issue of allergies etc.

That's really lovely. I really cannot fathom the ire over it.

I’m a teacher and I don’t expect gifts at all but I have no qualms whatsoever buying my children’s teachers a present at the end of the year. At primary they spend 6 hours a day everyday with them!
Also lots of people do give nhs staff gifts, I sent in chocolates after dd was born to the midwifery team. I always paid double for the cleaner at Xmas when I had one.

Aye right, MIL, FIL, BIL, two SIL’s and two of DH’s cousins are teachers are none of them work 80 or 90 hour weeks or put their jobs before their own families and children. Yes they work hard but this type of hyperbole doesn’t help one bit.

Oh been there done that..my DC now range from 43 to 21 ...the card sounds like a lovely idea..especially a hand made one. It's something she'll appreciate and more likely to keep. I never did buy into the all parents pool thing..it was never a thing until my last DC. I did gift some flowers & even plants, both indoor & outdoor plants. One of my DS favourite teachers (because that's who matters..whether I liked the teachers or not 😉 ..they have their own favourite teachers who they enjoy going to) was called Heather, so I got her a trio of small Heather plants, different ones..didn't cost very much. She loved them and planted them in her border beside her door, she enjoyed telling her friends & family that one of her pupils gave her them.

Yup me too - mine would also include furniture - chairs, tables, stools, cushions, beanbags, book cases, pop up tents, easel, uniform, pumps, PE kits, wipes, spare clothes, coat, footballs, numicon, rekenreks, kallax units, writing tablets...off the top of my head.

Isn't really a hyperbole. It is reality.

Thats a bit OTT 🤣

No obligation to contribute! Im
a teacher and don’t expect it at all. I do my job because I want all children to have the best because they deserve the best and not because I get presents off the parents twice a year!

That said, I’m eternally grateful for everything my son’s teachers have done for him. He has two (they job share) and also his 1:1 and the TA. They have made so much progress with my son and made my initial worries about his transition to mainstream school so much easier! There have been bumps along the way though! I will buy something for all of them, as a token of my appreciation because they are amazing

Yep! I have spent hundreds of pounds of my own money on resources for my classroom. Contributed to underprivileged families, supported applications for various services (and done lots of hours of work in my own time at the cost of spending time with my DS!) however it doesn’t mean I want a gift. I’m just agreeing that it’s not hyperbole

I agree, that's potentially a £210 voucher. It's all got a bit overboard. We don't have a class what's or collection but my grandson has 2 teachers, 2 TA's, 1 school bus support worker and the driver so I ordered from Etsy lovely little bags of flower jelly sweets with a sticker saying, thanks for helping me grow love Fred x

My son’s teacher this year was absolutely brilliant. She went above and beyond to help him on numerous occasions, and I’ve heard similar from other parents. I attended their school trip recently and again was struck by how much she genuinely seemed to know and care for each child.

I wanted to buy her something to say thank you from us, and wanted the opportunity to write in a card how appreciated her efforts were.

Thank you to all of the other excellent teachers out there and I hope you all have a wonderful summer holidays! You deserve it!

This is what my husband and I do, send £20 or £30 in a thank you card, asking them buy /put towards something for the classroom.

Thank you

My Mother was a primary school teacher 50 years ago and always got end of year presents. Most of them were hand made or small inexpensive items and she treasured each and everyone My Mother never expected presents.

I’m a teacher and I’ve never seen this. I’ve worked in primary and all age send. All the teachers in primary usually get something from some of the kids but never from all. I never forget the year I had taken ill towards the end of term and was off the last month. I had to go in and collect some things for the summer and move some bits to another classroom so I popped in and the supply teacher covering said to pop into see the kids. There was a table of thank you cards and gifts and she handed me a bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates from the table and said the rest were for her!!

Secondary teachers often miss out and don’t get much as kids can have more than a dozen teachers on their timetable sometimes. But after having the same teachers for GCSE subjects over 2 years - and some they’d even had before that as well - my teen opted to give all her teachers a leaving gift this year.

I work as a subject teacher in sen. I teach across a dozen classes over the week. Some years I get a Xmas and end of year gift off maybe 1-2 of my students and other years I don’t. Their class teacher who has them for 90% of the week gets gifts as do their TAs - classes in send schools can have many staff depending on the needs of the children and not uncommon in some of my classes where there are 6-8 kids that there can be 12-16 staff depending on 1:1 or 2:1 needs and then some work part time so there are 2 staff covering one lot of full time hours. Many of our parents don’t work because they have to be available 24/7 for their child’s needs as they can be quite complex and even if they make it into school they can be sent home/to hospital at any given moment. Due to this many of the families are classed as low income. Some will still send in a gift for the class - tub of sweets/biscuits as they are eternally grateful for any support they have with their child. And in a send school staff do go above and beyond. But there’s no expectation of gifts.