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Christmas

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Original poster

Presents for teachers - what do you give?

23 replies

PinkyDink · 30/10/2009 09:52

So what do you give for presents for your dc's teachers/TA's?

My ds is at primary school and has 2 teachers and 2 TA's, my dd is at nursery and has 3 carers.

Last year gave chocs & wine but have since found out that one teacher doesn't drink and I am sure that they must get fed up with all the chocs. Also am on a tighter budget this year as dh work is drying up

Do teachers really like homemade stuff?

Help please!!

OP posts:
JulesJules · 30/10/2009 10:10

Well in the past I have given bags of Lush bathbombs, although I have seen teachers on here being a bit sniffy [arf] about them. I thought it was a lovely gift .

I have also done a gift bag full of little things for them to share - mini marsbars, pretty notebooks etc plus a handmade card from DD.

This year I am considering making scented candles a la Laurie Fairycake's most inspiring thread here

but I might leave pressies until the end of the school year and just do homemade christmas cards - a lot of people at dd's school didn't do Christmas pressies last year.

Original poster
PinkyDink · 30/10/2009 10:23

Really like the idea of a pretty notebook, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that as I am always buying them for myself (am a list maker) sure they would get some use from that - thank you

OP posts:
crokky · 30/10/2009 10:50

My DS's class has a class rep (a super organised mum) who collects up cash from the rest of us and goes and gets some M&S vouchers and divides them up between the staff so it's from all of us.

I love that class rep

OhYouBadBadKitten · 30/10/2009 10:57

dds teacher (and various other people) get homemade gifts from dd. This year she is giving them a jar of mincemeat each lol! I don't particularly care if the teacher likes it or not, dd put lots of effort into it and it was a nice half term activity to do together.

sarah293 · 30/10/2009 11:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Bucharest · 30/10/2009 11:05

I get handmade plaques and things from ebay (the stuff made with fimo)
At the end of the summer I had a plate made with children, the teachers, the nun and the schoolbus painted on it...they loved it. (but am in Italy where that kind of cheesey tat is not widely available!)

HappyMummyOfOne · 30/10/2009 13:54

You can get some really pretty pens and notebooks and they always come in handy.

I love Lush and think the christmas bath bombs make great presents and can be wrapped very prettily as well.

I avoid anything that says teacher on, ornaments, candles etc (although the home made candles in tea cups sound nice and much better than shop bought ones). The body shop have some nice gifts and there is always a good discount code floating around for them. Thorntons have their christmas chocolate box on offer so have my chocs to go with whatever else I choose.

M&S have good sales throughout the year and pretty necklaces and bracelets can be picked up for great prices and can be stored easily until needed for presents.

daisy5678 · 30/10/2009 14:11

I do spend a lot on J's 'people' - mainly TAs and teachers, but also the autism outreach person and the CAMHS psych this year, because they all do so much for him, way above and beyond their jobs.

Last year, the teacher and TA got some nice bath stuff and a spa voucher and some wine at the end of the year. J's dad and I just felt we owed so much to them and presents don't compensate but it's a way of saying thanks. I mean, his nursery cost something like £850 a month and school is free! So I see it as being able to afford the extras now I haven't paid for crippling nursery fees for 4 years.

I do get, though, that J has exceptional needs and that the presents I give are related to the extras that people do for him. As a teacher myself, I have found that people don't give major presents as a rule unless there's been something particular that I've done for their child. And I don't expect presents - don't think most people do - and I don't think that bigger/ expensive is necessarily better. I just wanted to give them a nice treat and spa vouchers are expensive, but that wasn't the point iykwim!

eyetunes · 30/10/2009 14:17

nothing.

MadameDuBain · 30/10/2009 14:24

For nursery keyworkers when DS moves on a stage, I give them Boots vouchers as they're mainly young and like their hair dye, make-up etc. For older ones vouchers seem less appropriate so I've given posh toiletries, or on occasion DS has wanted to give a bunch of flowers and homemade card.

At christmas they just get a bix box of posho biscuits for the staffroom.

MadameDuBain · 30/10/2009 14:24

"bix box" hmm sounds nice but i meant a big box

ViktoriaMac · 30/10/2009 14:34

As a teacher I always find it most touching when parents send in something for the staffroom, a tin of Roses or a box of crackers and a lump of cheese. One parent once sent us in a box of homemade Indian sweets for Diwali, never seen anything go so quickly in the staffroom. A home made cake for the staffroom is good too (or a bought cheap one). In the middle of the day when passing through the staffroom it is lovely for there to be something to grab a sneaky nibble of!
I rarely get individual gifts from kids, but I am secondary, and would never expect anything. Cards - homemade or otherwise are a nice thing and kids like seeing them displayed around the board, pointing out which is theirs. At the end of the day teaching is a job and there is no expectation that we should get a present for doing what we have chosen as our careers!

LostGirl · 30/10/2009 14:44

I let dd choose a christmas tree decoration to give to her dd. I have friends who are teachers and they often give away most of the chocolates/biscuits etc that they are given.

grin · 30/10/2009 14:52

I'm a teacher and yes we really do get a tear and have a choked up moment with a nice card, homemade or otherwise, especially if it has nice words in it! If you felt that you wanted to get a gift (and please don't feel you have to), I have seen many a teacher go 'oooooh' over stationery of many kinds. We really don't expect anything, you have to love teaching to do it so that's our reward!

meltedmarsbars · 30/10/2009 14:56

We do jam

And jelly, marmalade, cordial...

BlurredBoundaries · 30/10/2009 16:22

We do joint class collection here too and buy John Lewis vouchers. People give varying amounts and it gets divided between Class Teacher and Assistant.

Some of the collection is also used for a joint card (although we give an individual one too) and a large bouquet of flowers from everyone.

scarysarahandco · 30/10/2009 17:20

last year for Ds's nursery teachers at preschool we made pots of gold-

a pie dish filled with ferrerro Rocher, werthers(sp) original, a gold wrapped truffel from thorntons, and a poem attached to say:

Heres a little Pot of Gold,
and a Festive Nibble too,
to wish you a merry chrsitmas
from all of u sto you,

i wrapped them in cellophane and ribbon and i have to say they were all chuffed to pieces with them!, needless to say i will be doing the same for his new teachers this yr!

ja9 · 30/10/2009 21:19

cannot beat a card with a nice, personal msg. otherwise can't go wrong with wine imo - 3 for a tenner from tesco. even if they don't drink they'll use it to host over xmas...

tassisssss · 30/10/2009 21:29

I do jewellery from Next/Marks/Sainsbos. If they don't like it they can change it or give it away. I often let ds choose which he really enjoys.

tassisssss · 30/10/2009 21:30

When he was in nursery and there were too many to know who to buy for I did the Oxfam thing - something schooly like textbooks, school dinners or a desk.

mummyofevilprincesses · 30/10/2009 21:43

I am a teacher and would be overjoyed to receive Lush bathbombs! I don't expect anything though. As a parent I always send in chocolates or biscuits a week or so before the end of term (to give the staff time to enjoy them). My DDs then give individual cards.

henryhuggins · 30/10/2009 21:46

our class reps do a whip round (no they don't tick anyone's name off or tell us what to donate ) and divide it between the TAs and teaching staff for that year. Is usually vouchers from M&S so can use for food or clothes.

aoifesmama · 31/10/2009 12:42

Hi, I'm also a teacher (secondary)and agree that homemade stuff is always the most tear-jerky! Having said that I never expect to get presents and think most teachers are the same. When I went on maternity leave my favourite gift (Head of Year so got lots ) was a folder that one class had done where each person had written a note for my DD to be!!

Having said that if you would like to get something I would agree with either staff room gifts to share and would be delighted with Lush stuff!

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