Teachers! What small thing might be nice for a new PGCE starter?

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Ds’s girlfriend is about to train as an English teacher. Maybe a book voucher?? Or something hefty on caffeine and sugar 😬

She might have one already but a really good academic diary with a week to a page?

A laminator and/or pouches, there’s always a queue. Some of those little post it things to mark pages in books, decent highlighters, a bunch of cheap pens for when pupils haven’t got one.

Bic 4 colour pen, a coffee cup so she can take it into the classroom

It depends on what your relationship with DS’s girlfriend is like. If you have a good relationship, then I would suggest putting together a really nice goodie basket for her - a really nice keep cup with secure lid for hot drinks, some individual coffee bags, a nice lunch bag or lunch container, a brightly coloured lanyard and some dry hair shampoo. Any or all of the things mentioned above are practical but also nice to have as a student teacher. I also recommend a book called ‘How to get the Buggers to Behave’ by Sue Crowley. It is a light but useful read.

You sound like a really thoughtful, lovely MIL in waiting

I would suggest a decent hot drink cup with lid. Perfect for teaching and studying.

Wine.

Pirongs do really nice, special teacher training planners and you can get matching notebooks too. You can choose designs that fit the subject, and personalise them with names, course and year. They have loads of sections in them for notes etc. I got one for my daughter!

A pack of chisel tip board pens

I was gping to suggest an insulated, lidded cup with her name on.

My daughter always liked highlighter pens, glue sticks, Bic biros and Sharpie pens. (She still does now years later and she's the boss! 😄)

School may provide a planner and that can be quite personal so I wouldn't get. Good pens / biros in various colours (i rate bic crystal), post it notes, coffee bags, dry shampoo, ready meals, rescue remedy (but not the alcoholic one), waterproof mascara.

Why dry hair shampoo? I'm confused, especially now that 2 of you have suggested it.

Ready meals good quality ones like Cook.

Glue sticks. Especially if it is a primary PGCE. A decent lunch bag/box. A Mighty Mug - really hard to tip them over!

if she is in primary, a subscription to The Good Morning Club and a copy of “behaviour: the lost modules” by Jen Foster.

Electric pencil sharpener

Notebook with post it notes.

Pack of lovely coloured pens (pens not felt tips)

a decent coffee mug that actually keeps it hot so when you make a coffee at 7.30am and don’t drink it until 3.30pm it’s still drinkable (voice of experience 😂)

lip balm and hand cream. (I have both on my desk as seem to need them lots during the day!)

water bottle

it’s a lovely idea and I’m sure she’ll be grateful whatever you get. And good luck to her.

A voucher for a treat on those dark November days, like Cinema or coffee shop.

Some vouchers she can use for a takeaway or decent ready meals on the days when she's too tired to think, let alone cook.

They're lovely but most trainers require trainers to plan in a specific format using a specific proforma.

Oh yes, the Pirongs ones are great! Can I also recommend a lavender cushion for her sore back and neck
A nice literary book mark. A special mug. An unkillable plant. We are easily pleased!

True but I just use a planner to keep track of what lesson I'm up to and what homework needs to be set/when it's due etc - I've never used them for actually planning the whole lesson! So I would vote for this (I also like Pirongs) or a good insulated mug like Contigo that is leak proof (as long as you screw the lid on properly - I have learnt this the hard way 😅)

Oh and a lovely pencil case .

A really nice gift I got was an osprey leather pencil case and I still have it today 20 years laters. Maybe a nice notebook or an academic diary. I got a little one to keep with me for key dates rather than lots of details and I came with a pen in the spine - both can be got from TK MAXX

Practically- A contigo bryon travel cup, some bic four colour pens with the rubber grip (this is far superior) a set of Pental Maxiflo pens in the magnetic rubber case.

Dry shampoos is great in you work back for a pre parents evening perk up!.

A colleague recently told me that she'd FINALLY taken the advice I gave on her first training day over a decade ago and got a cleaner. Apparently I had been right all along.

That might cost a bit more than a nice flask though.