Gifts for teachers and restrictions

[thelegohooverer]

Normally in our school we contribute to a voucher for the teachers, and I would send flowers or chocolates to the learning resource teacher. The whip around is easily managed now via PayPal and an online voucher, but I’m not sure what to do about the LR teacher. I’m trying not to mention the unmentionable here but at the moment the dc are only allowed bring their lunchboxes to and from school so I don’t think a tangible gift will be acceptable.

It’s just a token, and I wouldn’t usually spend more than €5 and an online voucher, for that amount, seems a bit mean, and more hassle than it would be worth.

Anyone else with this dilemma?

Ds is home at the moment, as recommended by his Dr, doing remote learning. He would normally take something in on the last day (there are 10 staff altogether...so just a small thing) but this year, I thought I'd have some biscuits delivered from a local business, a couple of weeks before, so they can be shared by the staff. (Maybe with a bumper bottle of antibacterial hand gel thrown in....)

I gave DDs teacher (secondary) £5 Tesco vouchers in a card as a thank you for support over lockdown. They knew from LEA guidelines that they were meant to wait 72 hours before opening but whether they did or not was up to them!! Told them in card it was for a treat as I would have bought them a bottle of wine but couldn't in these times!

@HazeyJaneII

Ds is home at the moment, as recommended by his Dr, doing remote learning. He would normally take something in on the last day (there are 10 staff altogether...so just a small thing) but this year, I thought I'd have some biscuits delivered from a local business, a couple of weeks before, so they can be shared by the staff. (Maybe with a bumper bottle of antibacterial hand gel thrown in....)

Maybe hand cream or something as hand gel is provided to schools so spend your money on something else!! Lovely thought though!

I work in a faith school (my DC also attend) and we have strong ties to our local food bank. I know my colleagues would appreciate but absolutely not expect any gifts, so my DC will be making a donation to the food bank to the value of what we would normally spend on teacher/ta gifts. The DC can then write a letter to go into the teachers' cards thanking them for all their hard work and support etc. and explaining what we've done.

I think this is the best of both worlds as the staff will know how much we appreciate them, but it doesn't break any covid regulations and the gift is supporting those in need.

Both DC we have cash gathered and then split between teachers and TAs. I’ve initiated this in DS2’s reception class. About 15 of us so we’ll get a decent pot (good thing as we have to split it four ways!). I’m getting people to photo what their DC write and will put it all together in the cards.

Just to point out, my son is a teacher and what he most enjoys receiving is cards and letters written by the children (with no interference from the parents).