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 😬

For those days when you just don’t have time to fit in a hair wash, it’s almost the weekend and you need to get your hair looking ‘good enough’. Doing a PGCE is like holding down a full time job, signing up for overtime on top and doing a full time uni course all at the same time when you’re on your school placements.

We got a friend an ink stamp that said “Miss Jones says Great Work!” Or something similar when she went to do a PGCE. It was a few pounds from eBay, lots of designs/personlisations to chose from.

Osprey leather? Aren't they a protected species?

Yes this

Some academies won't allow this kind of
personalisation unfortunately, it all has to be corporate and written in the right colour pen. I used to make my own stickers with comments and pictures suited to each piece of work. Then an academy took over (and I retired).

If you bought me some god forsaken travel mug thing which is not stoneware or bone china for my tea, I might have to kill you.

Admittedly, this might just be me.

I'd also appreciate a secret stash of biscuits/chocolate bars.

You can"t take a bone China tea cup full of hot liquid into a classroom.

I drink at break! I feel like I can manage an hour without liquid, to be honest.

However, I am here to confess I do have a mug in my classroom from time to time...and a kettle and a fridge!

Stand up pencil case (if secondary she might be changing room a lot) Amazon link

Filled with some nice pens.

I would skip her first name as she might not want or be allowed to have that on show in the classroom.

• excellent lidded thermos
• nice coffee cup, a student got me one with an initial on it
• underrated but a good pencil cup/holder, we never get these
• academic / teacher diary if she's not got one, spiral bound
• a good water bottle, I have a nice metal one that keeps hot or cold drinks insulated
• some nice highlighters eg pastel ones (she may often be asked to highlight and yet never provided with them)

A pricier one, about £20 last I bought one, is one of those USB presenting tools to move the board along while circulating. My current school luckily provides them.

Actually, just a USB stick is brilliant for a trainee!

Oh a great one is one of those keyrings that is made of stretchy spiral - when you unlock classroom doors, there's a lot of annoying bending down with your lanyard, especially if your hands are quite full.

I just made a teacher survival gift bag for DC's key worker who was leaving, it had:

• cough sweets (or boiled sweets that won't go off)
• some long life snacks eg dried fruit or cereal bars
• biros
• stickers for the kids, you can get some personalised ones if you know what her teacher name will be
• nice herbal tea or her drink of choice

That's so sad! I work in an academy now - my second school. Far less corporation and draconian than my last one and even the first one would have allowed personalised stickers!

Cough sweets is a good idea!

USBs aren't allowed in some schools.

I miss the days when we used to be able to sit in staff rooms (probably drinking out of those green tea cups) when teachers used to not have to carry their own drinks everywhere or be like camels storing fluid, or buy their own pritt sticks .

Sigh.

No USBs in my school.

A good selection of medication for the inevitable germy hideousness.

Decent stapler, hole punch, board pens, bumper box spare pens and pencils.for kids, stickers with her name pre printed. YPO great for all stationery. This is what I buy my trainees when they get their first jobs!

I would look a million times worse with dry shampoo 😂

My Mum loved Italic pens or shadow writer pens, they take a little practice to use. A pretty pencil case. A cushion, Mum always complained how uncomfortable teacher chairs are.

Not sure if this would be allowed, but maybe one of those USB plug-in heated coffee cup warmers, that just keep the mug at the right temp all the time - you couldn't use an insulated mug with it, but a lidded mug that wasn't insulated (like a keep cup or something) would work, and might keep it hotter than the insulated ones (which are great for a while, but eventually go cold!).

I have a Yeti Rambler bottle which still has the ice cubes I filled it with at 6.30 clunking around at 3.30. My Yeti mugs keep my coffee warm until at least lunchtime.

If she has a nice coffee machine at home then a yeti leakproof 12oz flask. If she will be only using the coffee at work then a regular yeti cup (non leak proof)

I’ve gone for a Pirongi planner on the basis that even if she can’t use this particular one, it says ‘this is your profession’. Many thanks, I would not have heard of them otherwise!

A subscription to the rest is history

Most schools already provide these

I was going to say this
stationery is great
academic diary
reward stickers for the kids
a “miss xxxx” stamp to mark her own books and resources
sachets of fancy coffee and tea/ hot chocs or capuchinos
insulated cup
decent flask so she isn’t que’ing up at the staff room microwave
and pens - lots of pens and pencils! They do personalised pencil sets that are nice teacher gifts

I wouldn't buy a planner. It could end up being a waste of money as the school university might have a particular format they use.