To think giving your DCs teacher alcohol or a brace of pheasants (!) is just plain weird?

[AgentZigzag]

They're hardly gifts that a child would choose.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers found that 93% of teachers received gifts from their pupils, which also included a Tiffany bracelet and a Mulberry handbag! Do you recon they kept them?

The ATL warns the gift giving may be getting a bit competative, although who the person who gave the brace of pheasants was trying to compete with is anybodys guess

It's nice to see the teachers still prefer handmade gifts and cards, and how lovely is the DC who ate half their choc bar and thought to share the rest with their teacher

My brother teaches Yr4 - he gets armfuls of little teddies and 'world's best teacher' mugs at the end of every year. He takes them to the local charity shop

He very much prefers bottles of wine. He's not a big drinker, so his gifts of wine last him most of the year!

Teachers deserve a nice glass of wine for having to put up with our little darlings (!) all year round.

There would probably be shrieks of horror/laughter if anyone brought a "brace of pheasants" into my children's school!

I posted on a thread many moons ago about how I felt it innappropriate to give teachers expensive thank you gifts. My argument at the time was largely based on 'they get paid for what they do' and I (rightly) got soundly flamed for it.

Since my ds actually started school I have realised what a huge part of their personal and social development their teachers are and while I still firmly believe that gifts such as spa day vouchers, clothes and jewellery are wholey inappropriate, small, preferably home-made gifts and cards are imo to be encouraged at year end.

To go back to your OP, YANBU on either count

I would prefer wine or pheasants to lots of nick nacks, but then I'm not a teacher

I wish someone would give me a brace of pheasant

I like wine as a present! I get so many boxes of chocolates it's unreal and I have to give some away. Wine always goes down well.

I definitely prefer personal notes and cards from the children and hate to think that parents are buying (and spending a lot of money) out of obligation. My school is in a quite a well-off area and I really feel for the parents who aren't so well-off as the class rep. approaches and they probably know they're expected to give a tenner towards vouchers. I got a few lovely letters a couple of years ago from parents telling me how much I had helped their child that year and how much happier I'd made them. That was worth more than any money spent.

Alcohol is a fabulous end of term gift for a teacher (and his long suffering wife agrees as well). (I would also quite enjoy pheasants, although a Mulberry bag wouldn't go amiss)

Why don't they send teachers wives presents too, I put in nearly as many hours as he does. Soaking chickpeas for 3D modelling and making home made play doh, I need a salary (spa day would do).

Best ever present was a chilli plant. One thing though, from the smallest home made lovely thing, to the posh stuff, every single one is unwrapped at home and exclaimed over and appreciated, looking at the handmade cards sometimes makes me a little tearful.

I don't think pheasanst are in season now ISNT, but they're only about a fiver a brace from the butchers and he might still have some in his freezer

Mmmmm all this talk of wine and pheasants has made me want a nice roast for tea!

I don't know how teachers manage to handle 30 odd of the monkeys little darlings day in day out so I'm defo not saying I don't appreciate how hard they work, but like you say caen, it's the expectation that's inappropriate.

Should teachers be declaring their gifts to the Revenue?!

Teacher friends of ours have had Fortnum and Mason hampers / £100 Monsoon vouchers / personalised whiskey bottles etc.

It does get out of hand, I think.

I have three DCs so that is three gifts, plus Matron at my DS's boarding school, plus various other tutors etc. £10 per present, times ten people, three times a year is getting ridiculous.

I've seen lots of threads about teacher gifts and lots of teachers seem to prefer wine, so that's what they get from us.

at your post BigBadMum. What would happen if you didn't shell out all that cash? Do you think there would be any comeback on your DCs? If not, what is it that makes you feel you've got to comply?

How do you decide what kind of wine you get them ByTheSea? Do they get a bottle of blue nun if they've been shit??

I plucked a brace of pheasants during a shortlived domestic goddess phase.

Took hours. Tiny feathers up my nose. More feathers all over the kitchen. Blisters on my thumb and forefinger.

When it's done you have to perform an episiotomy on its bum, work your fingers up and hook out its intestines and all they contain.

Then you have to search for its crop which is the bag where it stores all the grain it hasn't been able to digest and is saving for later while it ferments.

If you accidently stick a finger through the crop it bursts and you have a handful of wholegrain sick.

After all that the meat was crawling with maggots.

I'd rather have some Yardley's Lavender guest soaps TBH.

Always pluck underwater! Stops the nasty feathers getting in itchy places.

We always give teachers wine, mainly because I forget to look for a thoughtful present and grab whats in the fridge

I have never bought a present for any of Tiny Clanger's teachers. Am I sensible or evil? I don't think it was a big thing at her primary.

None of my (FE)students has ever bought me anything. They sometimes share their chocolate, but that's it. I'm cool with it.

Thanks for that tallulah I love our butcher for going through that for me to have a nice dinner lol

I would love the pheasant.

TBH I don't get this presents 3 times a year thing - Christmas fair enough and possibly the end of the summer term if you like them, an Easter egg if you're feeling really generous. Maybe I'm just envious that we don't have the whole 'present giving' culture here!

I've never bought DD1s teachers anything either Clanger, never even crossed my mind, even though she's had some fantastic teachers, so it must be that you're sensible

Booze and pheasants sound better than loads of crappy mugs and cheap choccy

DH did well last term with beer and wine. We were sorted for Christmas

OK, if anyone wants to get DH something I'm specifying a prepared brace of pheasants, at tallulah's pheasant TMI.

I would much prefer wine to chocolate or a hand made bit of whatever that you're just going to chuck (realistically- I mean bear in mind they're getting 30 of these twice a year).

When I went to school (normal state school) 75% of the presents given to teachers would be alcohol- bottle of wine or scotch.

No pheasants though. That is a bit random, mainly because I wouldnt want to be bothered plucking them. If they were plucked, happy days.

I think its a bit weird to give alcohol to them because how do you know if they don't drink?? Pheasant also extremely weird!

'how do you know if they don't drink??'

hahahahahaha Firawla, very funny. We're talking about people who have to teach a room full of children as their job

I always give a bottle of wine. Even if they are non-drinkers they can always give it to one of their friends. Realistically, a lot of the "best teacher in the world" mugs, teddy bears etc. must just end up in the bin.

The pheasants might have been a gift from a butcher/farmer's child>

at zigzag. It never seems to bother parents that teachers might be allergic to overscented toileteries or on a diet.

I have worked in 3 large secondaries and two small ones and I could count on my fingers the number of teachers I have met who don't drink.

Heck on the last day of term we were often in the pub before all the kids were out of the school in once place I worked.

We almost always give wine.