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.

To be fair, £10 could mean putting food on the table for some families, so I am not that keen on money collection. My kids make crafts for teachers they liked. Having said that, I still contribute if someone made an effort to start a collection!

Well I’m nearly 50 and I took in gifts for teachers when I was at school. I remember middle school when the class all brought in some money and a couple of the children got the gifts. Think 12-13 year olds. We had this teacher as our form teacher and she was so lovely, she was a science teacher and she had to do all our sex ed. So she ended up with some cute little gifts relating to the humorous sex ed classes. But other than that I took in my own gifts.

It’s not expected. I’m a teacher. Yes we get paid. But so does the hairdresser that I leave a tip for and the cafes and restaurants that I sometimes leave a tip at. We have living wage these days so unlike the USA people aren’t expected to make up their earnings by tips. But if people want to tip they can. An end of year gift is just like a tip. Some give some don’t. I quite enjoyed the year someone offered to do a collection and buy the teacher the gift from the class as I just didn’t have time to think about it that year. Not everyone puts in and that’s fine.

Edited to add that my school leaving teen decided herself to buy cards and gifts for her teachers. She wrote a little poem to put in each card and bought them all a little pin badge linked to their personality or subject. She was very thoughtful about her choices. But there was no pressure to buy anything.

With honey? Doesn't that get a bit messy? 🤔😉😂🍯

It's a thank you gift - what is there to not understand? If you're not keen, don't contribute. It's as simple as that!

Is the postman Winnie the Pooh? 😂

I have asked several times for a voluntary donation page to be put on the school website. The class teacher is excellent but it takes more to rum a school than just teachers. There are cleaners, administrators, receptionists, lunchtime supervisors, TAs, caretakers, leadership team etc. I want acknowledge them all. If I give the TAs and Teachers in my 2 DC classes £10 it would cost me £60. What with job shares.

I've been a teacher. I promise you that no (decent) teacher ever expects anything. The loveliest things in my opinion are handwritten cards and I actually always appreciated the £1 mini chocolate bar etc as clearly the child had thought about it, which is sweet.

Although I do contribute to the end of year class collection, I imagine teachers probably feel slightly awkward about such a huge sum, but tbh that option is easiest for me.

I like to get something as, like working in the NHS, it's not just a job. Every day teachers deal with children's home lives, emotions, friendship issues and they don't just leave those things at the door when they leave the school at 5pm.

So donate if you like, or don't. The most special gift really is a little note or one of my students made me a beautiful paper bookmark one year. I still have it over a decade later.

Dd teacher and T.A absolutely deserve a little gift they are absolutely amazing with my sen daughter, yes they get paid but not enough for all for all they have todo!!!

So what exactly is your argument for only Y6 teachers getting gifts? If you're saying kids can only buy gifts if they're in the last year, that means only 1 teacher will ever get gifts?

Either do or don't, it's not a biggie.

To be honest I couldn't get worked up about being asked to donate £10. Yes, teachers get paid, but they also do a hell of a lot of unpaid work, and build personal relationships with your child. After you, their teacher is the biggest influence in their life.

When I was at primary school in the 90s everyone gave an end of term gift, totally normal.
My mum was a teacher and would come home loaded with chocolate, flowers, mugs, etc.
It's been a thing for a long time!
Our class does a collection, which I love as it saves me another task and the teacher gets a nice sized voucher they'll actually use instead of 30 little gifts.
ETA the total gets split between the teacher and the class TAs.

It's not really a thing in secondary, the presents but I know that I prefer a card or email written by the student thanking me to any gift. Chocolate gets eaten but their words stay with you - I've kept all the cards I've been given over the years.

When my children were at Primary School I could not always afford to buy presents for their teachers x 3. So one year I made a chocolate cake a couple of days before the end of the year which I gave to the office staff to put in the staff room. The following day the head teacher thanked me for the cake and asked me to make one for them every year! So I ended up making a cake for the next 6 years!

If you can afford it, then I definitely would. I can’t imagine being so mean-spirited that I let the end of the teaching year go by unnoticed.

That’s lovely ☺️

It stops the teacher getting 10 crappy mugs, key rings / tat. Booze they don’t drink.

They can then go and buy something they’d actually like.

Dear god, the world has gone utterly batshit!

What kind of ‘bribery and corruption’ is going on in your school, for a ‘World’s Greatest Teacher’ fridge magnet and a box of maltesers to be considered a safeguarding risk ffs! 🤦‍♀️

Gawd, it’s just a nice gensture isn’t it? Are you against tipping as well? I used to work as a nanny and was always given bonuses and gifts for Christmas/ birthdays, very generous ones and I got paid more than a teaching salary.

Teachers work more hours than they are paid for.

The job is personal and they have a deeper relationship with your child than you would in any other role.

The teacher will appreciate it.

We do £15 each. £10 for the teacher. £5 for the teaching assistant. Personally, I think it’s quite reasonable and I think teaching is a tough job.
No-one is made to contribute but my DC like to be involved in the gift handover and so, to me, it’s a small price to pay.

I'm on both sides of the fence with this one.

DC's primary school, there is a policy of no gift giving, and messages are sent about this every Christmas and school year end. This has changed since my eldest started there. My children write cards to their teachers, and I make a point of emailing the Head, with any 'above and beyond' things that the staff have done. They can use this as evidence for their yearly appraisal.

I teach secondary and 6th form, we don't tend to get gifts - sometimes a parent will give some biscuits or chocolates, which go directly into the staff room.

The one exception is GCSE leavers. I've had a handful of cards, a few nominations for best teacher, and a tote bag linked to my subject, so I can carry my things between classrooms! The thing that meant the most was a card from a challenging student, apologising for how tricky he had made lessons, and thanking me for trying so hard to help him over the last 3 years.

That card has gone into my safekeeping box.

Well obviously lots of other people do understand and are happy to do it so I can’t see what there is to not understand . Giving an end of year gift to a teacher is no different to giving a box of biscuits to a nurse when you’ve been in hospital it’s a token of appreciation for services rendered . If you don’t want to join in then don’t , nobody is forcing you to but for most parents who would otherwise go out and buy a gift £10 is very reasonable and a lot less hassle .

I was a teacher for a while and none of us were monitoring which parents were giving what. Giving nothing is an option and it was not monitored in any way. It all just ended up in a pile in the staff room. Shearing was the thing and I was the one that liked the little Bounty Coconut bars. One thing I will say..... there is only so much cake and chocolate that teachers can eat in one week and some years it was just too much. Thinking outside of the chocolate box might be helpful here. Posh tea bags and jars of coffee would also have been welcomed. likewise a pot of honey lasts forever.

I remember being given a gift by the Mother to take to the local PreSchool ?when I collected the little girl I was a nanny for in 1980 ish.
Parsons Green ( Fulham ) London.

Very sure the father had a present with him when he drove the older sister to Garden House School in Chelsea ?

So present giving has been ' a thing ' for 40 years plus.

Our WhatsApp Queen has been sorting this out since half term. Messages at least twice a week and often many many more times than that. Lots of people praising her for her organisations skills. I don’t mind “here’s the details for the pot” but it’s the lists of names, the plans to meet in the playground, the signing of cards, the regular chasing, its doing my head in.

theyre rearranging the classes next year and I’m so pleased her child isn’t in my sons group next year.

I put a fiver in most years - they can actually get something nice for 20 or 30 x £5 rather than just a crappy thing I could buy for a fiver. We usually give some flowers and a voucher so nothing going to landfill or regifting.