Large end of year teacher/Head teacher gifts

[Vigjilenca]

The end of academic year is upon us and PTA mums have started collecting money for end of year gifts. My son is doing Y1 and it's my second year of being shocked on the amount of money people raise for teachers at this CoE primary school. Usually, they raise the following sums converted in gift vouchers:

• Around £500 for a teacher
• £250 for TAs
• £2000 for Head teacher and assistant

This year mum are also collecting for a teacher who is leaving. I mean, I work at uni and whenever I change jobs, I get a vouchers from colleagues. I can't imagine asking students to contribute. This just feels wrong to me...

Wow, these amounts are insane. Aren’t here some kind of guidelines being broken here? I think all of this has got out of hand a bit.

i would have thought teachers and school staff aren’t permitted to accept such large cash gifts as it could be seen as bribery? At least I couldn’t when I worked in education

That is insane. In our school parents chip in £5 a child which gets split between the class teacher and the TA. The head gets nothing. 30 kids in a class so maybe get £150-200. Some parents will give more than £5. So they get £75-100 ish each. Which let’s face it is far more than people in most jobs get

Surely vouchers come under similar rules when it comes to standards of integrity as applied to cash? Seems at least a conflict of interest and to be blurring the lines of professional judgement. Is this a state school? If so this is something that the governors should be made aware of - unless they are a crap board of governors and can't see why this could potentially be an issue.

That seems excessive. At our school we do £10 per child so £300 per class. That money then gets divided between all school staff. 70% divided between class teacher and TA and 30% to head teacher, school admin, pe teacher etc. In the end they all end up with more or less the same amount (as all classes give 30% to the other school staff). Works well for us!

Fucking hell those figures are bananas! Where on earth do you live that families can afford such amounts. Presuming your child's class have one teacher and one TA that's £750 for just one class! That's A minimum of £25 per child if there are 30 in the class plus extra for the head. 😮

And there was me thinking there was a cost of living crisis.

Crikey!
we didn’t have any collections when my dcs were at school except when Ds was in school in Austria- 5 euros per child, 20 in class, 100 euro voucher for teacher.

That is insane! headteachers get paid enough to then accept a 2k gift!!
we generally do a class collection and anyone who wants to puts in the amount they choose and it gets split between teachers / TA’s. Generally between £200 - £300.

Wow! I work in a school and before I worked there I organised the class collection (choice no expectation at all) and the most we raised was £300 when one year everyone basically put in £10! That was split between the teacher and TAs. The amounts you’re talking are obscene!

I'm a teacher and think that's a crazy amount.

I would be so embarrassed if I received such a high amount of vouchers (and it would be more frustrating if it was for somewhere I don't shop than it is when I get a voucher for a tenner that I won't use).

That is mad. I organise a collection for our year group (2 teachers and about 4 TAs) and I’d say most parents put in £10-15. I don’t specify an amount as I know some parents have resented being asked for £20 or whatever. Gifts range from £5 to £50! We end up being able to give over £100 per person usually (and obviously I don’t reveal who gave what!)

As a teacher I much preferred this to 30 best teacher mugs or bottles of wine/chocolates.

Ive never known a headteacher specific collection nor the head getting more than class teachers. They are paid more already! Most heads would be embarrassed by this I think.

Good grief, why? Teachers get paid. Surely raising money for resources makes more sense and would make their jobs easier? Or perhaps raising money to pay them to go on school trips.

I thought there must be a gift policy but apparently there isn't any...The school run a survey a couple of months ago, and I complained about this practice...since then the PTA because less active in asking, they just pin the collection link in the chat and ask people to contribute. Before, they would be more insistent. I don't think teachers need 30 mugs and agree that a small gift voucher is more useful. So, I agree with this in principle, but these sums feel insane!

Private or state?

Yes, it is a state school but in an affluent area so parents talk a lot about raising huge amounts of money for the PTA. As long as it benefits school, it's great. The thing that surpises me is that the majority of families seem to agree with this practice.

You do all know that teachers get paid for doing their jobs? Why does anyone need to give anything? I don't tip my Doctor.

If I saw the same doctor every day for 39 weeks I probably would get them something to say thank you when they finished treating me…

but yes OP those amounts are insane

It's West London, Church of England school. I do contribute a modest sum as it seems fair to me. I'd rather give a small voucher that useless gift. However, the whole thing makes me feel quite uncomfortable.

Exactly my thought on the headteacher's collection. Generally, teachers (especially at the beginning if their careers), don't get huge salaries, so having a small voucher sounds like a nice reward, but headteachers surely get paid really well, especially in London.

After Christmas and end of year, teachers usually send a message to everyone thanking them for their generosity. Surely no one feels embarrassed.

Completely agree on the mugs. I agree with collecting in principle for exactly the same reason. If I were a teacher, I would appreciate a small voucher that I can spend at M&S, for example. I don't understand why the headteacher does not stop this practice...I would also be very happy to complain to governors but there's no way to do in anonymously...and the headteacher is part of the board.

You won't believe, but we already do quite a lot of fundraising for the trips and other extras. Very happy to participate in those activities and help to raise money for as long as it benefits school.

This is crazy. I wasn't aware PTA's did this. My Mum used to be a teacher and was more than happy with biscuits or chocolates that children usually gave her at the end of year. She was very uncomfortable receiving other more obviously expensive gifts. She once told me about receiving a silk scarf and she wasn't the only teacher to get one. She said the worst was a necklace that was exactly the same as one I had bought her only in a different colour, they must have seen her wearing the one i had bought her and thought it a good idea to get her another.

I would stop the collections for staff and ask everyone to donate the money for activities. Seems very strange to tip the teachers like this, they are professionals not underpaid bar staff.