End of term gifts

I agree with you Gonegirl, I wanted my children to give a small gift to their teachers because I wanted to encourage the showing of gratitude, and our respect for their teachers.

My children are in the 40’s but I can’t recall me buying presents for their teachers. I think it was a home made card. It seems as though it’s a sort of competition who buys the most expensive gift. I don’t think teachers should be allowed to accept gifts, nurses aren’t apart from the odd box of chocolates and even then they had to be entered onto a special list.

Easybee, a lovely post, I was a teacher for many years. I often spent my own money on things I needed for my classroom, trying to get the woman in the office to reimburse me was more trouble than it was worth, despite the headteacher emphasising that we shouldn’t spend our own money.

I always sent Christmas and end of summer term presents to my own children’s teachers. I wanted to express my gratitude. I also graciously received the little bunches of flowers, the many boxes of Maltesers, the little soft toys with ‘Best Teacher’ written on them, and the boxes of biscuits and bottles of hand cream. Nowadays my AC make a contribution to a ‘class fund’ from which the teacher receives one communal gift. It seems a good idea to me, no one is obliged to contribute, but takes away any element of competition.

Typo error
NEVER not NY!!

Perhaps we should be defending the giving of small gifts because it encourages the showing of gratitude when that gratitude has been merited. I think it's usually the kids themselves who decide whether to give a gift or not. (Talking seconday school now)

And a card with a whole group's signatures is actually more appreciated than a gift.

Gabriella, what a nasty post. You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about.

An awful lot of posters are defending teachers accepting gifts by telling us how hard they work. I don’t dispute that at all but this is about the fact they accept stuff that costs money from people who can ill afford it.

Teaching unions go on about children living in poverty, struggling to buy school dinners/uniforms/trips in Britain and then they do that....beggars belief in my mind that these educated people don’t get it (or want to).

Gabriella! You're spouting the usual nonsense that certain groups love to spread about teachers. If you've never been a teacher, you really do not know what it's like!

Ha ha - depends where you teach. I taught for 20 years I’m deprived London schools - we were lucky to get a thank you let alone a gift.
My kids school has a well oiled PTA who collect donations - recommended amount £5 and it is split 80/20 with teacher/TA.
This year I have LOVED my youngest boys teacher so I’ve got him a £30 Waterstones voucher from us, but unless the teacher is exceptional I just bing £5 in the collection. Only once I didn’t as the teacher was awful.

No no no. They've just been awarded a 2.7% pay rise. They're just greedy beggars

Don't you DARE say that Gabriella! You have no idea of the workload, or the stress, they have to put up with these days.

Oh, just give the teachers their bit of choccie! They work bloody hard for the dratted kids.

Not a teacher but I worked in a women's refuge for some years and fairly often was given gifts by women who had nothing. It was extremely humbling.
Anything estimated to be worth more than £5 had to go in the once-a-year raffle for all staff, or, if it would perish, it went to a local charity.

I still have a musical resin carol singers model that I was given one Christmas. It is really not very nice and sounds tinny, but it reminds me each year of the woman who bought it and how fortunate I am to have a place to call home.

Places I have worked do not allow employees to accept gifts.

Why do teachers think they any different - a home-made card is plenty

I think gifts for teachers is another import from our American cousins, like baby showers! I think banning gifts is a bit mean as I know how hard teachers work throughout the school year.

DD was stunned to get quite a few Christmas gifts last year after her first term as a TA. She often makes gifts for DGCs teachers as she's good at that sort of thing

No child or parent is under pressure to give a gift or spend lots of money, a bar of favourite chocolate or a hand made gift is appreciated. There are a lot of people getting in a faff about something that is really of no concern to them, as to those demanding banning presents, for goodness sake, lighten up. Children, especially primary, like to give teacher a gift, some do, some don't. DD, a primary teacher with a class of 24 received about a dozen gifts ranging from a handmade picture frame to a triple pack of smarties, do any of you really have a problem with this?

As a retired primary headteacher I would NY dream of banning gifts for staff...
But it is an invideous practise causing comparisons both in class and staff rooms..
Personally I have kept all my retirement cards and paintings but eaten the gifts years ago..

Jaylucy don't rise to GG54's bait. She loves to be controversial and 'edgy'.

My foster daughter has three daughters at school .Because of her ill health she has a very limited income .
Because we don’t want the girls to feel left out , inadequate, too poor to do what other children in their class do etc we are buying presents for their teachers but I resent them are her being under this pressure to conform .

I think it has gone too far gifts for teachers even promoted heavily in stores now it is getting ridiculous in my opinion and competitive amongst parents - I work in NHS and us hard working nurses and midwives we hardly ever get a thank you said to us let alone anything more

I guess my user name gives away my former career! But as a Secondary teacher I rarely received gifts - not cool! However, I'm not going to defend teachers and add up how many hours I worked other than to say that I spent the first few days of each holiday sleeping! Like many teachers I used my own money to buy things for my pupils, I taught less able children in the lower sets and they thrived on little rewards, incentives and prizes - all bought by me.

I was not aware that teachers had been awarded a decent pay rise at last having retired two years ago, it's about time after too many years of below inflation rises.

Back to the topic of presents, every school I have worked in had a policy of teachers not being able to accept gifts over a certain value, £25 at my last one. This is in line with all gvt employees. We had to declare any gift over £10 to the admin manager so that the school knew if we were getting "bribed" by a particular parent. I have to say I never had to declare a gift! I never did understand how I could be bribed by a parent either!

Schools should just tell parents, "No gifts, please!" I always felt for the children who didn't bring gifts but watched others presenting them.

GabriellaG54 Teachers are 'greedy beggars'? Dear lord, woman, have you ever tried teaching? Ever spent time in a basic comprehensive school even? I'd give them a hell of a lot more than a piddling little 2.7 pay rise. Any presents they get, they thoroughly deserve!

I knew a primary school teacher who, every Christmas and summer end of term, binned every single present given by her class. Usually without opening them.

No gifts should be given by parents or children....it could be compromising! Cards only.

I assume GabriellaG54 doesn’t know many teachers. I retired as a primary teacher 6 years ago. I (and all my colleagues) were working 60 hour weeks on average. Much of it to do with ridiculous amounts of paperwork required by Government. In my ‘long holidays ‘ I spent the first week in school sorting the classroom clearing out the previous years work. I was always in school the last week setting up for the new term , sorting the books etc. In the other weeks doing the long term planning. Most half terms I would be in at least 1 day prepping the display boards. One year due to no money in the budget my colleague and I painted our classrooms. I spent evenings during the term times planning and marking, parents evenings and school reports with a class of 30 could take up to 30 at least hours all outside of ‘school hours’. We always attended PTA events at weekends as well. We did all this because we cared for the children in our care.