Teachers buying own resources

[MrsHathaway]

Sorry for the thread title.

I'm sure that around this time last year there was a loooooooooong thread in Primary Education asking teachers what resources they buy for their classes out of their own money (i.e. when the budget runs out or they can't face justifying the cost), off the back of which some parents bought resources and sent them in to school for the new academic year.

Only I can't for the life of me find it. I've used every search term I can think of in Advanced Search and nothing. Can anyone else remember?

For what it's worth, this is the list I exported of all the materials teachers said they had bought for their classes. They also mentioned that by about June they're running out of photocopier paper, handwriting pens and pencils.

antibacterial gel and wipes
board rubbers
books
blu-tack
card blanks
coloured paper
colouring pens
costume material
cotton wool
counters
cushions and blankets, old curtains
dice
drawing pins
glue sticks
hair bobbles and clips
laminating pouches
marking stamps
mounting paper
paper clips
pencil crayons
san pro
sellotape
spare PE kit / uniform
stickers
sticky labels
tissue paper
tissues
underwear
washing lines and pegs

I think "sticky labels" means Post-Its for observations etc (especially the speech bubble shaped ones) rather than printer labels which would be covered by "stickers".

What's your point op? Would you like people to send stuff in to schools?

Us secondary / FE teachers also buy resources. I'd be thrilled if patents made sure their kids had a pen tbh.

POINT

Yes, I'm sure I had one. Mostly I want to find that thread as I found it so interesting and inspiring - teachers work so bloody hard it's kind of obscene that they feel they have to provide their own stuff.

FWIW I saw recently a teacher saying she had had a bunch of cheap pens with a vile colour barrel printed with the equivalent of STOLEN FROM MRS PIRATE. Another remarked that she hired out stationery with the child's mobile phone as collateral.

Thank you for the work you do. The only reason I am posting in Primary is because I'm certain it was here.

Yes, I remember it and think I contributed.

This week I have bought some vinyl tablecloth, taken some wall paper samples, begged for an unusual box, bought some cake decorating equipment, some breakfast cereal, some small drinks cartons and apples. I have made some cakes too for the SATs party.
I'm always on the look out for books and been known to get up early on a Sunday to go to the car bot sale to buy books and games. Good quality second hand ones. I love it if it is a child selling their own for holiday money.

Sounds like a busy week!

Reminds me, though: are you allowed to take egg boxes? They very often turn up in crafty suggestions on e.g. Pinterest so I would have assumed would be useful for junk modelling. But is there an issue with possible lingering raw egg for allergy or salmonella reasons? I've got a big tray that recently had thirty eggs in it and I am dithering about whether it can be useful.

I spent $500 last term on supplies for cooking.

It may be worth mentioning that GLUE is always the most requested item on these threads.

I buy a lot of resources: books, pens, colouring pencils that can actually be sharpened mainly. Oh and glue sticks. I bought twenty before Easter and I had to buy 24 more on Saturday. I'm subject leader for a few subjects and I always have to pop out and buy batteries for science or new dice for maths. The prize box needs topping up regularly and I need a whole rainbow of pens to adhere to the marking policy - but the school only ever has black ones It's infuriating that we have to buy this stuff, but it makes my life so much easier.

I think Primary teachers buy a ridiculous amount of resources. I've tried to cut back this year, but I still spend far too much.

We buy our own whiteboard pens, flipchart markers, soap for the loo,.....along with all the everyday stuff like glue, craft stuff,

I work in a primary school in lreland. School supplies all that. If l spend my own money l receipt to office with immediate payment. I despair of your system.
Cakes l pay for myself as its my treat.

@MrsHathaway egg boxes are fine. We recently double checked this. www.hse.gov.uk/myth/august.htm

june - my Irish friends are asked for money at the beginning of the school year to cover consumables (I remember thinking it was a lot to find all in one go, maybe €150 per child or similar) which I guess would go a long way.

Looking up Pritt Stick at a wholesalers I note that the bulk prices of different sizes are almost identical eg £22 for a class set of 11g, £25 for a class set of 22g, and £28 for a class set of 44g ... no wonder school always has the massive ones.

gluesticks are the biggy here
we have 5 gluesticks to last us until july

Thanks piglet

Ah, glue sticks. Those fabled beasts. I don't have any and we restocked in January.

I buy breakfast for my form members because some of them don't get fed at home. I buy prizes for my classes. And craft items. You can beat B&Q backing paper.

I read on a thread recently, (possibly the big thread about the PTA), that one pister's school has an ongoing Amazon wishlist that parents can anonymously buy from. Those who didn't want to/couldn't help out at PTA events could still donate things to the school to make a difference. Lovely idea i thought. I help out at events but woukd also be more than delighted to add 24 glue sticks or 200 pencils to my cart.

That's a great idea, Quint.

I'm a parent, and I always give Amazon vouchers to teachers/TAs as presents, so they can use them on themselves or to top up class supplies if they wish.

The glue sticks... they're all in my old classroom. I inherited the room from a previous obsessive glue stick hoarder and there must have been about 100 sticks of Pritt (not the cheapo shiteo stuff that doesn't stick) in there!

Whiteboard pens at my kids' school - they've all vanished or are wrecked by now think most of the ink is on DD1's cardigans

Teachers should stop buying school supplies. Instead, they should get their class to each write a letter to their local MP asking why the school has no glue sticks, whiteboard pens, etc.

I'm secondary in a private school. We have very little budget for stationery and supplies after buying one exercise book per child and file paper for the sixth form students and for other year groups to use for essays or assessments (I teach English). We have some boxes of blue, black and red biros, but only the cheap ones that run out quickly and hurt your fingers if you mark a whole set of books with them. Occasionally we have post its (the basic ones), Sellotape (own brand) and staples. We get a box of whiteboard pens but they last the year as there are only a few whiteboards in the school that we can write on. Our HoD's stationery orders are basically all denied after the first one in August.

Children are expected to bring their own glue sticks. Since we stopped being allowed to print so there's not really anything to stick in (for my subject; I know in other departments they print off stuff at home for their students).

I have bought my own clipboard, stapler and hole punch, also a set of trays for my desk. I buy a planner each summer for that academic year. I also buy Post Its; pens, highlighters and pencils for marking; Sellotape and blu tack, also a few plastic wallets (I try not to use those too much). My colleague who is way more artistically inclined buys a roll of backing paper and borders each summer and very kindly does my display boards and I buy and do things in kind to repay her.

Most of the things I buy are "for me", albeit to mark students' work. The things students use are the hole punch and stapler. They also sometimes ask for Sellotape and post its, which I give out sparingly! And very frequently they don't have a pen. If they can't borrow from a friend I loan them one of the crap school Biros and they know better now than to hand it back to me chewed/twisted/dismantled.

Coloured pencils

I stocked up when I realised that Tesco's own were £1 for 24 which worked out way cheaper than the crappy class pack in the ESPO catalogue.

I can't believe they have a marking scheme in place and haven't bought the right pens! is £2.25 for a box of 50 'green for growth' pens!

( I cant believe it - I just think its a false economy)

I don't think it's the case at my ds's school. Yes, in ks1, school provides everything. But in ks2, children are asked to have everything in their pencil case, from pen/pencil to glue stick and scissors. They have regular days that parents are asked to donate old good quality books/ art supplies, and asking regular donations to top up school supply every year.

Parents at our school pay a fee at the start of the year for a book list of supplies, that the teachers then order and put together. Each student starts the year with their own pencil case, and there should be enough in the cupboard for each student for the year. But realistically, when Joey goes through ten pencils in a week, then the ten pencils his parents paid for at the start of the year disappear very quickly, and getting his parents to even communicate with you is futile, let alone getting them to send in more pencils. So I end up buying them, because it's either that, or Joey does no work for the rest of the year.