How much is standard on a gift card for a teacher

[neverenoughchelseaboots]

I know there’s dozens of threads about teachers’ gift ideas but I couldn’t find one specifically about this.

How much do you put on a gift card for teachers?

I’ve already decided on M&S as there’s one locally and can be spent on a range of things but not sure how much.

I’d get the same for both the teacher and the TA and budget isn’t an issue. It’s for reception and DD has had a wonderful experience in her first year.

My instinct is £25 but wanted to see if people thought this is in the right ballpark for being useful / showing appreciation without making the teachers uncomfortable.

I should add there will also be a handmade card and message of appreciation.

These teachers have had such an impact on DD’s life, setting her up with a love of learning and brilliant experience of school, I can’t quite reconcile a gift card vs the £70 a day nursery costs.

I know they’re different things, but still.

😱 ime, where I am it is way OTT. Cheap bottle of plonk, pens, BISCUITS and thoughtful words in a card.

It is more about teaching your dc saying thank you with a token gift.

Teacher here. TBH, I would feel a bit embarrassed if a parent gave me a gift card. I’d much prefer a lovely bunch of flowers or a box of chocs!

What's embarrassing about receiving a gift card?

Mine got biscuits and/or wine. I'd never do as much as £25.

Many teachers / TAs would be uncomfortable knowing a parent has spent £50 on gifts for 2 staff members.

If it was a class collection that would be different, but from one parent it's very over the top.

That’s an absolutely lovely gift

Every school my children have attended a parent rep has done a collection for the teacher and ta and they they use the money to buy a joint present from the whole class's. Usually a bottle of champagne and a gift voucher.

I'd say £5.

Might depend how affluent your area/school is but I usually do £10 and a Costa or local coffee shop gift card. Feels more like buying the teacher a thank you coffee!

£10 is more than enough! £25 is very generous.

If the teacher has been incredible then send what you can afford.

In my DD's primary we usually gave £10 each to split between any class staff. Not all contributed so I think they usually ended up with maybe £60 each in vouchers and some flowers / wine.

£25 from one person is alot.....

My friends a teacher and she prefers gifts cards.
They get tons of chocolates and she said half of them aren’t even ones she will eat.

She likes a coffee shop gift card…. So she can relax with a coffee.

£25 seems high though.

I normally have 9 teachers / TAs to buy for so I put £5 on each gift card!

I usually do £10 each for teacher and teaching assistant. My theory is that I would spend £10 on chocolates or biscuits etc and wine. But you never know what they actually like so I would prefer to get them a voucher for M&S so that they can get a treat themselves that they actually want.

I would personally feel a bit embarrassed to receive £25 from one parent. I have in the past had a £10 Mand S card and a similar value book token which felt better if that makes sense. The only time I've received something more valuable was when a whole group of parents put in about a fiver each and I received a more substantial gift. Honestly a nice card/note is always appreciated and anything else is a bonus.

£25 would be considered very generous in my school and would be very much appreciated.

Having worked in a school I would say no more than£5 or £10

When DD left year six, as well as the class collection (usually about £300 for the teacher - private school!), DD chose a gorgeous throw blanket from txmaxx and wrapped a book token up inside and then wrapped the whole thing.

Came to £30 but teacher was delighted, she is a big reader.

Could you think of something more specific than the gift token?

We all used to get together and give one voucher for JL or M&S. Used to get around £200 in total.

To put it in context at my DCs school the CLASS collection has raised enough for £50 voucher each for the teacher and TA. It’s not a massively deprived area either- class is a mixture of affluence.

£5-10 seems more than fine for an individual gift, remember the teacher might (won’t but you get the idea) get 30 gifts.

Usually I would go with £10 or £20 maximum, but it's fine to spend a bit more when the teacher has went above and beyond all year. We always do gift cards as I don't think anyone wants 25 boxes of chocolates at the same time ( well I would give them a go)

Depends on the school and relative affluence.

Class collection of up to £180/£200 not unusual in my school for between 18-25 kids in an independent school. So an average is be between £10-£20 per head.

I get that it feels like a small amount given the presence in your daughters life. I did two bottles of nice wine Circe £15 each for the TA and the teacher when I missed the boat one year. It was appreciated and by mixing types I figured they could swap if they had a preference.

My sister is a primary teacher and taught briefly in a very affluent school in Dublin when she was training. In two extremes she was gifted a large basket of Clarins goodies and a best teacher mug. She's been teaching for 20 yrs now and says the best presents are the handmade cards. She keeps those in a big box, the rest is mostly given away.

Thanks everyone for the opinions, they weren’t what I expected really so it’s useful to get the feedback.

I think you hit the nail on the head @TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams its such a small amount for the impact they’ve made. They’ve spent hundreds of hours nurturing DD over the course of a year - £25 seems far too little.

I’m generally in awe of teachers. I’m not a heartfelt person but when I think of the work teachers do, it makes me a bit emotional. I need to make sure I tone down the card or it might be a little intense 😂.

I think I’ll probably go with £15 each then. I want them to be able to get something with it, rather than have to buy something they perhaps wouldn’t have, just to be able to use the voucher towards it.

Class rep suggested £10 per child in our WhatsApp group, which I thought was quite a lot, really. That would be £300 between teachers (job share) and one TA. They did stress that it was voluntary.

We always had class collections, and I'd give £40 for the ts and teacher £10 each, twins)