Please stop with the teacher and TA gifts!

[pinkksugarmouse]

Just that really. As someone who has worked in schools and knows many people who do presents are such an unnecessary pain. It’s just stuff bought for the sheer heck of buying and needs to stop. Protecting the environment is very high on the list of pupils concerns. Inundating people with unwanted things in their name isn’t respectful.
Please no more mugs, teddies, chocolates, bizarre decorations…how many teachers, TA’s, nursery staff do you think really want it?
You are just gifting them a trip to the charity shop and/or the need for more bin bags.

I like getting personalised things for our teacher/TA but our class WhatsApp group want vouchers. They get almost 500 between the 2. I was talking to another friend whose child is in a posher place and they get 2k between the 2.

I wouldn’t want someone teaching my children that is so closed to the possibility that people are different.

our dc schools have banned individual gifts and are asking for donations to the school's hardship fund instead.

@RAFHercules

My adult DS still sends one of his old high school teachers a bouquet to the school every Christmas. He thinks the world of her.

That's weird

@purplesequins

our dc schools have banned individual gifts and are asking for donations to the school's hardship fund instead.

Can they ban gifts? I don't think it's really up to your school to decide how parents spend their money although I do see their point.

This takes me back 20 years to my first year of secondary. The form teacher always wore really bright socks. She must have recieved over 20 pairs from us that 1st Christmas to add to her collection poor women. She seemed touched though

I’m still wondering if Mr Clark - a student teacher we had when I was about 9 - still has the used plastic tail comb (think it was orange) I gave him with a ball of sheep wool I’d found caught on a fence attached…

I always give Costa vouchers. I figure the teachers need a coffee or two at the end of term. I also don't drink so feel a bit weird giving wine in case the teacher doesn't either.

I agree with you op.

But people won't stop, I think it is ingrained that a tatty gift = appreciation.

We send a card and make sure to thank teachers for lots of things through the year.

My husband is a teacher, chocolates and wine are vv welcome. We do a class collection for my children's teachers and give them vouchers, no unwelcome tat.

It's really odd imo. Never did this for my kid's teachers just wasn't the norm.

My daughters class there is 27 children and there's 1 teacher and 1 TA
We've all given £5 so they'll get a voucher each and a poinsettia I think the lady organising said.
Seems much better than tonnes of stuff they don't want

We used to do an optional collection among parents and use the money to buy JL vouchers.

it surprises me the way on MN there are so many teachers who demand, or at least strongly encourage this kind of gift giving

Demand?!

As a teacher I’m happy to get a ‘thank you so much for teaching my child this year!’, I love handwritten letters, wine or biscuits, and have had some lovely candles, scarves and plants. Getting large hampers of Scentsy or Body Shop presents from the self assigned class rep (who just happens to be a an MLM rep) is on the up though-I would rather parents didn’t give to that and I just got a verbal ‘thanks for everything you do’.

I do chocolates for Christmas and a bottle of wine at the end of the year.

DS has ASD and is not always the easiest so whichever pp it was who said that gifts were trying to buy favour - well some children need all the goodwill they can get!

I never feel obligated to buy gifts because others do. I like to get something for my DCs teachers and TAs because I know how hard they

We buy books for the school instead.

@Spudlet

I do chocolates for Christmas and a bottle of wine at the end of the year.

DS has ASD and is not always the easiest so whichever pp it was who said that gifts were trying to buy favour - well some children need all the goodwill they can get!

Ha, my son has asd. I remember this well lol

I imagine the teachers and TAs would be gutted if we stopped - our school has a very wealthy, generous parent body and they normal get between £30 (for the PT TA) to £150-200 (for the teacher) in John Lewis vouchers!

We always do a nice bottle of wine. If I were a teacher, that’s what I’d want. If they aren’t drinkers themselves, it’s a good thing to re-gift which surely saves them a bit of money!

I do think people don't appreciate how hard it is for low income families to feel 'pressurised' into buying a gift, personally I would never buy teacher gifts (did send a handwritten card or letter) but I am confident with high self esteem and those sort of 'being with the in crowd' things to do don't bother me. But some families feel they have to 'do the right thing', I volunteer at a Food Bank and the saddest thing I ever saw was a very low income mum who used the FB regularly carrying a huge bouquet to the school as an end of term thank you gift. I really wish schools would impose a 'no gift rule', most professions do not allow people to accept gifts so why should teachers be different?

If anyone 'deserves' thank you gifts it is all the volunteers - unpaid sports coaches, Brownie and Cub leaders etc.

And yes, I manage a charity shop and can assure you we get inundated with unwanted tat each New Year .

I write a wish list and email it to the PTA class reps..!

My Daughter has just finished her degree and now can apply for Primary School Teacher jobs.

Last Christmas I bought her a mug that said Best Teacher with an apple on it, she loved it as she said she would love it if a pupil bought her one but has this one if not.

There was a thread last year full of teachers and TAs saying for people not to bother.

I work in a school (I’m an early years practitioner)…a thank you is nice but written in a card is sufficient.

Keep your pennies…end the spending splurge madness!

Don’t worry, OP. I have never felt obliged to give teach a gift either as a child or an adult. They’re on a better wage than me and have more holidays.