To not want to contribute to this madness? Christmas teacher gifting experiences

[lostintherhythagain]

DD is only 4! And not yet reception age

Her little nursery has about 15 in total who are her age.

Parents in the WhatsApp group have been discussing some people not paying up for experience day for teachers AND the staff take away

They want £15 each per family from us so the teacher and support staff can have a spa day. And then money for a take away (they’ll just give them cash in a card) for the end of Christmas school time, before they break up, to have a take away delivered as the staff don’t go home same time as the children obviously

AIBU not to contribute? I never said I’d do it. Not sure if there’s anyone else not contributing

One parent has got the teacher and her child’s TA a personalised bauble. With her DC’s face in it?!?! Utter madness

I have gifted a box of chocolates and didn’t plan to spend anymore.

We’ve always spent more than that with class collections so I don’t really think that’s a big deal.

they won’t want a box of roses anymore than a bauble- it’s tricky. We just do JL vouchers. A spa day is sweet though.

i don’t think it’s particularly excessive

😂😂😂 the bauble 😂😂😂

This is so true. No one wants a bauble with someone else's child on it. The delusion is shocking.

Just reply youve already sorted your present so wont be participating. They're actually CF's to be demanding money from people for a gift they never agreed to.

I've never given the teachers presents. I honestly dont know why it started in the first place. I know teachers who bin most of what they're given.

I was very disappointed as a child of teachers when parents started giving vouchers and money. We loved starting the holiday with a mound of chocolate and arguing who deserved the ferrero rocher!

It is totally wrong that a state school teacher should get a xmas gift from a class of patents that ends up being worth more than some families will have to spend on their children.

I have felt similar discomfort in the past...seeing hundreds of pounds totalled in vouchers ...and some parents will never have a gift like this themselves if they are on a low income

I give £20 per child to the class collection but we do vouchers.

I'm sorry but as a teacher I'd much rather a box of maltesers or wine or nothing then glue sticks or anything that should be coming out of the school budget! Just on the basic principle of the matter! School supplies shouldn't be gifts!

I organised the collection for DS's class. I didn't set an amount and it was completely up to people if they gave or not. All anonymous so you couldn't see what others had given or who had. Contributions were from 10-30 quid and we now have about 350 quid to split into vouchers for the teacher and TAs (4 in all). We are in an affluent area and most people can afford it and want to do it.

Madness. I always gave my own chocolate / biscuits.
Now DS is in school, it’s a fiver each with no obligation.

It’s not really related though is it? 60 parents aren’t going to throw in £20 to fund classmates Xmas. It’s their own present to the teachers who they appreciate

that bauble sounds scary!!!

Don't get involved. I was shocked when DC started school that it was the norm to buy teachers gifts. I just didn't get involved. Sometimes my DC have made cards for them to say thank you.

I think the whole thing is ridiculous. I've been told by teachers on another forum most of it goes in the bin or is regifted, and I don't think a personal gift like a spa day is appropriate. The worst one was a bottle of wine with the child's face on it, with a message about how the teacher needs it after teaching their child all year!!

"Our child has already hand-woven a personal gift from the finest cashmere yarn and one of our contractors is sourcing a blood diamond in the colonies as a additional token of appreciation."

When my DC were in primary, one of the parents I know used to gift personalised mugs with her kids pictures on them. I later happened to see the mugs in the staff room but I reckon no-one wanted to use them even there!

Wine is what they need. Bloomin spa days and £20 donations is bollox 😱

That deluded mother with the bauble needs some friends to put her right . Wonder if she discussed with anyone like her DH before she did that . The only person who might be OK with that is possibly a grandparent.

I met a teacher at a party once who was talking about the shelf of shit in the staff room that had all the gifts from the kids you wouldn’t want to take home. Pretty sure that bauble would be going there! It’s not like that bauble could be donated to a charity shop!

The bauble with the kids face on is breathtakingly cringe. I always wonder if these kind of parents look back years later mortified when they've realised that nobody wants a random kids face on decor/mugs/stationery etc.
The spa/takeaway stuff is really OTT. It's also not necessarily something everyone (or even most) would want. I like a spa, but wouldn't necessarily want to go with my colleagues, which I assume is the intention.

I would hate a spa day. Nothing worse than having to lounge around in a swimsuit in my precious spare time with my colleagues because the bossiest parent likes that sort of thing.

This is how I feel about it. A gift should be given anyway, not demanded by the queen bee of parenting.

When I worked for a local authority, policy was £10 I think. Where I teach now, it's £35 top limit.
There's no way I would have been allowed to accept a spa day gift from a parent/parents.

The first year I was teaching, I was in a very deprived area. I opened the playground door on the last morning before Christmas and every single child had a gift and card for me. Things like chocolates, flowers, 'happy Christmas teacher' stuff. All inexpensive. The thing that stuck with me? The pride in those children's faces as they handed over their gifts. You don't get that with a voucher!

The bauble with the child's face in is one of the most self absorbed things I have heard in a long time! Absolutely ridiculous. Suitable maybe to give the child's grandparent or other close relative, but not a teacher. They are just one in a very long line of children they will teach over their career. The parents need to realise that their precious little darling is really not that special at all.

Don’t do it. Small box of chocolates or some biscuits for the staff room is plenty.

Parents in our school tried to do a similar thing to the bauble and it became a safeguarding issue because the teachers aren't allowed to take home photos of the children.

I thought it was all completely mental. The arrogance in thinking that a teacher could give one shit about your snotty child. I expect teachers to be professional but I don't expect them to actually like and want to be with my child at all.

There are no "laws". Some schools have policies on gift acceptance and, of course, this nonsense stops with a massive clang once your child gets to secondary school.

Unless you put a stop to it now and simply thank the staff for doing their jobs.

Im sorry i cant get over the bauble...why?? SO weird