Do teachers expect individual gifts?

[RCJJ]

Last day of school today for my twins. A few weeks ago one of the mums organised a whip round for end of term vouchers for all the teachers (two teachers, two TAs and the Head) - she got tonnes of contributions and they’ve all got a hefty M&S voucher and some chocs with a card signed from all the Mums etc. I sent over my £20 to be a part of that and thought ‘job done’!

This morning at drop off all the kids are walking in with gift bags! Crocheted flowers, key rings, chocolates just all sorts, loads of bouquets. I felt bloody awful.

Would teachers still have expected this individually even with the vouchers? Should I grab something before 3:30??

Omg definitely not! I teach secondary not primary but as a teacher and a parent, no way!

Very unlikely they would even notice and definitely not hold it against you

Oh crikey no! I don't expect ANY gifts at all and feel quite uncomfortable if it's something big that lots of people have had to contribute a chunk of money too. As cliched as it will sound - the things I still have (and still treasure) are the kids' pictures, drawings and hand-written notes or cards. I appreciate everything, but those are the best!

No! You've already contributed £20!

No. No . No.

We don't expect anything.
You've done more than enough contributing to the class gift.
No need to feel awful.

YES. But not at primary, secondary only. All the presents please. Particularly for maths teachers because we work the hardest.

😂😂😂

Nope.

No! The whole point of the whip round is so that they get a decent gift voucher and maybe wine/flowers from everyone, instead of 30 keyrings and mugs, not as well as!

My school actually sent an email to parents telling them that there was no expectation of gifts. I always bought but stopped doing it at senior school. I had some lovely cards and I appreciate them so much. Similarly with leaving staff, we do a collection so they have a nice gift card but then I felt bad I’d not bought separate gifts! Where do you draw the line? I absolutely know that there is no expectation at all though.

Nope, we contributed to the class gift and left it at that (well actually be bought some biscuits for the kitchen staff as well as we like them). Just got the kids to write a message in a card, something that they really liked about the last year.

People give individual little things to involve their children in saying thank you to their teachers. It’s not about what teachers expect, it’s just about doing a nice thing with your child and teaching them to appreciate their education.

No. By the way, you can tell the difference between a parent-bought gift and a kid-bought/made one.

I was really happy with my daughter's last primary school teacher, so I made her write a letter to him, hand delivered with a chocolate bar. In a way, I felt like we "cheated" a bit because nothing beats a hand-written letter praising their teaching. (Other than an equally effusive letter to the head about said teacher.)

I am teacher. I have kept all the letters and cards. Secondary science, so I don't get a lot 😂. I can't really remember the presents, sadly (although they were very gratefully received!)

Definitely not expected and the thoughtful cards and notes are always remembered most or something that’s really personal. My kids know I like coffee and reading and I got a gift set from one with a mug, coaster and bookmark all with my name on and it was the cutest thing. Another gave me a box of chocs and a handmade bookmark for reading in my garden with over summer. It was so lovely and clearly something the children had thought of!

Thank you everyone! They did take in a drawing each they’d done for their teachers. But no gifts or cards! But it seems like that’s enough with the vouchers too :) and I wasn’t shunned at pick up time!!

Absolutely not! I’ve worked in some deprived areas and always felt awful (but of course, grateful) when children turned up with gifts. A little picture or note is absolutely gorgeous to receive!

Not at all.

A picture or card is a lovely thing to receive, as is a complimentary comment to the headteacher!

They will be the people who didn’t contribute to the whip around, like me. I prefer to get something separately

No, the media would like you to think we expect expensive gifts for doing ‘nothing’ but in reality we’re just crawling towards a break. Gifts are a lovely bonus and much appreciated, but we don’t expect anything and wouldn’t want anyone to spend money they don’t have. A card, a picture, a verbal thank you are all just as appreciated.

Absolutely this! Thankfully, in secondary teaching, if I’ve received any presents at all they’ve almost all been bottles of wine or boxes of chocolates (which have been much appreciated and definitely not expected) but I’ve had the odd gift of something more specific and it just feels like more stuff to have to figure out what to do with/store/get rid off at some point. I imagine primary school teachers get a lot of lovely little trinkets, which is so kindly meant but could easily become a bit of a burden year after year. I always sent in a card for my kids’ primary school teachers with a genuine heartfelt message, particularly for the ones who had really gone above and beyond

Same here! I have kept every card with a thoughtful message but there aren’t that many! I did get two really lovely ones last week and it does give a nice lift at the end of a difficult year. I have occasionally read back through some of them and it reminds me that I can make a difference and that the effort I put in is appreciated!

No. I'm in primary and nobody 'expects' anything. Of course it is lovely when you are given a gift, but it's the little notes, the thank you letters and the drawings from the children that REALLY mean something. I keep every single one of those.

No. Please don't. We get more cute key rings and mugs than we know what to do with!

Absolutely not, but if the kids want to they can make handmade cards, this is very appreciated!

Personally as someone who works in a school I don’t like the idea of “class whip around” presents as it puts too much pressure on people to contribute.

Nobody in a school expects a gift, if someone wants to send one wonderful but there is no judgement either way. The two things I will treasure most from this year are a heartfelt card from the Mum of a child who is leaving thanking me for the support and a picture drawn by a reception child which I am informed is me and her!

I remember one mum turning up with a huge bouquet of flowers, must have been £100 or more, literally she could hardly carry it. I actually felt a bit embarrassed for the teacher what was she supposed to say to that? Particularly when most of the little kids were bringing home made cards and little gifts.