What to get a teacher for Christmas

[Mumblingmum]

Just that really, there's 3 of them at my daughter's preschool and they really are a life saver and I don't know how they do it! Would you get them something at Christmas and last term in summer or just one? I was wondering about making them a cake. Any teachers out there that can tell me what's the best gift theyve received? thanks😁

I've always liked plants. Ive had lovely ones and they always remind me of the child. A lovely card is good too.

I used to be TA, I'll be honest I never ate anything given to me that was homemade.

Same. I mean I couldn’t anyway because it was never vegan but I never let my friends eat it either. You just don’t know and the last thing you want is to be ill or worse pass on food that makes someone else ill especially over Christmas. Same with my Brownies. I always accepted it graciously through.

If love a box of pritt sticks 🤣🤣

Well said 👏

Agree with a beautiful card. I have kept all of mine (and I am not a sentimental sort).

Chocolates and homemade treats are always shared with neighbours. Wine shared at parties. I have a million mugs and candles, more than I know what to do with.

(I do love a bath bomb or bubble bath though).

Pens and stationary for the classroom are always appreciated.

But honestly, a nice card is really worth so much.

I really appreciate the gifts as it makes me feel like they consider me similar to extended family, which we kind of are for the year (primary teacher). However I'm not easy to buy for as I am diabetic and also terrible at keeping plants alive. I don't drink much either!

A lovely child once gave me some perfume which she had chosen herself due to its name being significant. Sadly I didn't get on with the smell but loved the sentiment and it will stay in my memory. A really lovely mum who worked hard with me to help her DC gave me a dressing gown which I use all the time so that was another memorable one.

In all honesty the gifts that have been the most appreciated have been vouchers (especially when I was a trainee), but I love getting a card with a personal message and I do keep those.

At my DC's school, every year group does a collection - usually around £5-£10 each - so the teaching team get a nice amount in vouchers. They always seem delighted!

I used to give £5 on a Costa gift voucher. I might up it to £10 this year given inflation. Who doesn't like a free coffee and cake?

DD writes a nice message in a card to go with it.

My teacher sister said that unfortunately anything edible that was homemade by the mum and child goes in the bin because of the child’s probable hygiene - picking nose then sticking it in the flour etc.

I’d do a personal message in a card signed by the child and a voucher, or if you don’t like vouchers then a Christmas bauble or glass signed by the child. Not wine/chocs imo, am trying to lose weight and drink less and hate it when gifts sabotage this…

Sometimes we have bought something we know a teacher likes

a big jar of marmite
lavender hand wash (can always leave it in school)
tea and coffee for staff room

I have teachers in the family who get a bit overwhelmed by wine and chocolate and have to gift it.

My friend is a teacher and the parents always put money in together and get one decent gift card/experience/voucher for the class teachers worth a convo with other parents?

Lots of people…would never go to Costa/Starbucks etc.

Generally -unless you know the teacher well:
No alcohol.
No homemade goodies.
No shop-bought products containing dairy products- as veganism is common these days.
No candles, mugs etc.
No vouchers for big-business coffee shops.

Just do a card or note.

We are not allowed to accept this! And many of us don't want to!

Please, a nice, personal message, inside a nice, home made card, really !

Biscuits for the staff room! Always very gratefully received!

@tarheelbaby - yes, best gift is email to the head copied to me saying how brilliant I am and how much child has progressed. No cost, massive benefit.

Another teacher here (EYFS/KS1). My favourite Christmas gift from a child was a decoration they'd made themself for the Christmas tree. They'd found a loggish stick, chopped it into rings and drilled a hole (with parent help), drawn a face on the flat surface and stuck pipe cleaners on top for antlers, then threaded it with festive string to hang on the tree. It comes out the box every year and hangs proudly on the tree and I think fondly of the child every time, I love the effort that went into it! ☺️
The best end of year gift I received was from the whole class clubbing together - I received a gift voucher for 2 for afternoon tea at a very nice posh local hotel. My two TAs received the same gift so we had enough vouchers between us to take the 1:1 INAs along with us and had a really lovely team outing in the holidays and all got dressed up for it.

No wine or chocolates in sight!

Card and chocolate 😊 could literally be a £1 chocolate orange.

I never eat homemade treats because you don’t know their levels of hygiene. A child once made me a very sweet cake with thick red buttercream on it. It was so thoughtful. Unfortunately they hadn’t covered it so a fly was on it when they gave it to me!

I used to work in a school and some teachers didn’t eat homemade things so it could just be a waste ☹️. I personally didn’t like getting alcohol as it felt weird having alcohol around children all day but that’s probably just me. A tub of chocolates for the staff to share always goes down well and won’t cost you a fortune, preferably earlier on in December as the staff room is always inundated with treats in the last week of term! Sometimes we saved some for those miserable January days when the diets have already fallen by the wayside 😂. If you do want to get something individual, a £5 Costa etc voucher is a great idea as there’ll be something they will like there.

Please…not Costa. Many people will live miles from a Costa and would have to make an inconvenient trip to even use the voucher. And the ethics of big-business coffee chains concern many people and they’d rather not spend money with them. My DD would never willingly go to a Costa.

I'd imagine if a costa was a long way from from the school then a parent wouldn't travel far to buy a gift card 🙄. But I take your point and a local independent coffee shop would be better.

I had a lovely mug one year ...white but on the bottom had a lovely quote which was revealed as I drank that last mouthful of coffee ...use it at home and reminds me of the 5 year old child that gave it to me ...who is now at University !!

Not distance for the parent, distance for the teacher. Most teachers I know don’t live anywhere near the schools they work in, so whereas a Costa may be handy for parents, they might not be for staff.

I never go to Costa but a lovely parent bought me a costa voucher last Christmas and oh how I enjoyed it!!! I can never afford to pay to go out for coffee/lunch etc so after I dropped dd off at work one lunchtime, I sat there with a DietCoke and an M&S toasty and read my kindle in peace It wouldn't have occurred to me to do that without the voucher so I really appreciated it and it made me stop and relax for an hour.

As others have said no gift is ever expected but for me anything like wine, chocolate or even bubble bath/shower gel etc is very much appreciated- dd usually nicks some of the toiletries to go back to uni with and the gifts save me from buying things like that!

Please don't waste your money on the best teacher presents. I only ever use the pens and the rest goes to charity. We have too many mugs, I don't need teddy bears or plastic best teacher trophies etc! If you want to tell me i'. The 'best teacher' get your dc to make a card or email the head!!

Agree, well said.

A handmade card with a genuine note of thanks is really appreciated.

I see so many children upset they can't bring things in.. I've seen children bring in flowers they have picked on their way to school from peoples gardens as they don't have a gift, half bottles of deodorant (thinking it is perfume) for a teacher.

A genuine note of thanks is all that is needed.

Hand creams, a nice bar of soap, scented candles, a notebook or one of those to do list books are always useful consumables.