Presents for teachers? What to buy?

[AngryFeet]

Never sure what to get them to be honest. Got some nice biscuits in a tin at xmas time. Want to get something nice with a card as she has been such a wonderful teacher and DD has really blossomed this year :)

wine or m&s vouchers. Home made chocolate cake also goes down well ime

I've got our teachers some pretty Cath Kidston mugs and the children have filled them with chocolates and wrapped them in cellophane. They're good size mugs so good for filling up before lessons and very pretty. Children will make some cards and pop them into the cellophane too.

A nice letter (teachers get so much crap they dont need any more) saying WHY she is such a good teacher

And cc it to The Head

Ooh I must mark my place as I am having the same dilemna.
Do you buy for teaching assistant too (I definitely will because she is lovely). What about playgroup?Just key worker? All of them? Chocs to share?
I like the mug idea.....

Gather mums together, all stick £5-£10 in. Buy a sizable voucher for teachers fav store. Get the TA's a bunch of flowers or chocs.

Get own child to make a thank you card. Write letter to teacher saying they are fabby.

And everyone is happy(ish).

Agree with pancakeflipper, joint collection and vouchers are the way to go. If you have a big shopping mall near you (my closest one is Westfield) then you can buy vouchers for the shopping mall, which means the vouchers can be spent in any of the shops at the mall. This is great for the teacher as they get so much more choice where to spend it. Failing that, M&S vouchers are always a good bet I think, clothes, or if not to their taste there is always the food hall for wine, choc, etc. Who doesn't love M&S food?!

I am organising the collection for my son's teacher this year. I put a note in the kids bookbags (secretly helped by another mum who is a helper in the class) asking for donations if they wanted to join in. I also put a plain white sticker with the note and asked the parent to get their child to write their own special message to the teacher. All the stickers are then stuck in the big joint thank you card along with vouchers. Most parents gladly participated as it saved them the hassle!
It can be a pain to organise, but the teachers always really appreciate it. My friend is a teacher and, not to sound ungrateful, she has a box full of 'thank you teacher' pens, mugs, pot plants, chocolates, etc! Vouchers are so much more useful.

My daugher is leaving pre-school so we have bought her keyworker a peace-lily and a lovely pot for it. I will get the rest of the staff some biscuits for the staffroom.

With regard to classroom assistants, I would buy if you feel they have made a difference to your child. I have a super TA and although I know it's a lot if parents buy for them too, but I always feel a bit for my TA as she works very hard for the children too.

I always buy for Ta's too.

wine?

Flowers!

what about a male teacher?? what can i get him?

still think wine or m&s vouchers or a home made chocolate cake.

Avoid mugs - so many 'world's best teacher' mugs in the staff room of my ds's small primary school. No-one remembers who they are from who who they were given too...
In one year (of a class of 20 leavers) the teacher got 6 mugs...

I got DS1's teacher some hair-slides (she wears her hair in a bun with slides in most days), some earrings for DS2's nursery worker and some soap for the TA from this website www.notonthehighstreet.com/women/womens-jewellery/earrings. There's some nice, reasonably priced stuff on there.

Should add, when ds made the chocolate cakes for his teacher and TAs I bought a couple of really nice plates in Whittards to serve them on. He signed the bottom of the plates with acrylic paint pens so it wouldn't wash off and the teacher and TAs kept it as a keepsake.

This was a suggestion on another thread, but (planning ahead) I think I will get my dd's teacher next year a voucher at the local beauty salon for a manicure. Seems like a really good idea and who doesn't love a bit of pampering.

Bloody hell...some fantastical gifts there!

Must admit I do sent a little gift like a box of chocs or small bunch of flowers because it seems to be the done thing, but in my day we never gave teachers anything!

get your child to make a nice home made card and write a thoughtful letter yourself. Contribute to a class gift or individual depending on what your PTA organise. Lovely gifts always appreciated such as nice bath products, wine, vouchers but cards and letters with kind words are the best.
Teachers usually have lots of mugs and christmas decorations already!