A present for teacher

For goodness sake, as an ex-teacher myself I say forget the gifts. It's totally embarrassing to be given presents from students, however well meaning. A Christmas card is fine but we're professionals doing our job, we don't need presents.

I'm sure most teachers would appreciate that much more than an expensive gift that Mum bought paddyann

I made some 4" fruit cakes a few weeks ago and my 3 GD's spent all day last Saturday decorating them as teacher presents .I have to say the girls made a great job of them,marzipanned and iced and with a variety of sugar decorations and a small herd of plastic reindeer.I do hope their teachers appreciate the work they put in ...total cost for each...around£5

No there shouldn’t be a wish list unless it for a charity

I think that gifts should be chosen from a wish list. But sometimes you need to show imagination. Can there be any master class, conference or certificate?

Thank you Maggiemaybe.

I taught sixth formers, so parents didn’t buy presents, but I always brought in a tin of biscuits or something to hand round the class on the last day of term. I loved the handmade and thank you cards I got and the occasional plant or bouquet which the students clubbed together to buy. The nicest present I got was a teapot from a small class of 6th formers who knew I liked a cuppa and I sometimes would make one for them in a 2 hour class on a Wednesday afternoon which sometimes stretched into after school with discussions etc. I still use the teapot and have fond memories of that class.

I find some people do get offended if others take an opposite viewpoint, we can’t all agree and surely these threads are all about different opinions, or else what is the point
In the NHS we were not allowed to receive presents ( which yes, can be given and accepted as bribes, in a teachers case to like my child) i m sure other public services like police, fire etc probably have similar rules
I saw parents vying to bring in a ‘ better’ present than their friends when my grandkids were at primary school and I thought it was dreadful and I could never understand the concept of giving wine from a child. Thankfully they are all in high school now where this doesn’t seem to happen

Disagreeing is not being nasty. Calling people nasty is nasty.
I agree. And I see no rudeness or aggression on here from Jaycee5.

OK not nasty, just rude and aggressive. Many people are use to using Facebook and just put a like or keep quiet, you are obviously not use to putting your disagreement over in a way that does not upset someone. Going out to eat now so it’s my last word n the subject to you.

Barmeyoldbat Disagreeing is not being nasty. Calling people nasty is nasty.

Squiggly please, please don’t stop posting replies. J obviously did not read your post throughly and take into account that you are new to all this. You were not offensive or rude and nobody else was bothered. People will always disagree and I am sorry that you have had the experience so early of someone being nasty.

squiggy With respect, you criticised other posters that you disagreed with - Maybe the comments by those that think otherwise, say more about themselves than the teachers or parent. As you say, you said nothing about children would could not afford to buy anything which is why I commented.
I was not rude or patronising to you but responded in the same tone as your comment. You will not get 100% agreement here any more than you will anywhere else on social media.

Dear me. Who would have thought presents for teachers could be so divisive.
I always gave small gifts to my class teachers at primary school, sent presents for my own children's teachers, and received many nice presents over the forty years I taught, in poor and affluent areas. I never received large expensive presents, or any that would be regarded as a bribe, but I enjoyed receiving them and I think the children got pleasure from seeing them opened and enjoyed the exclamations of delight, (mine).
Incidentally, I always bought Christmas cards and a small gift for the entire class,usually edible, likewise Easter eggs and a leaving present, as do many teachers, TAs and Dinner Ladies. That is thirty presents at least, out of our own money.

Lizypopbottle, oh how much I agree, we live in N affluent small town, birthday parties, presents etc was always a nightmare when you are trying to instil into your children/gc that expensive is not always best and that there are a. Great many people living in and working in terrible conditions in this country and others. Sorry for any I gave my cheap spec saver reading glasses to granny in a rural village out here yesterday as she could see the pictures in the children’s books. Now I can’t see!

After reading this thread, I asked my DGD if she (or any of her classmates) gave her teacher a Christmas present and she told me that no-one does. They only give a present to the teacher if she is leaving.

My daughter has taken to making macarons for GS1's teachers. They are very much appreciated - and probably fought over!

I never got a lot of presents (some teachers' desks were piled high!) But those I did get were much appreciated, especially chocolates and wine! The best Christmas card I ever got from a child said 'Dear Mrs Cubagran, thank you for happying me. xx' (She had meant to say 'helping me', but I much prefer the original version!). I have always kept that card, and I see it every year when I get my box of cards out.

Hm999: Thank you for taking the trouble to say that. I wonder whether I gave the wrong impression about myself which is so easily done when writing.

Squiggy - ignore it.

Jaycee5: my post was not meant to be about my not understanding poverty or children's feelings but rather about my not understanding that people should think that I, as a teacher, could be bribed with a gift. This was only my second post (probably my last) as it didn't take long to be patronised and criticised. I hadn't expected that on GN.

A thank-you note is always appreciated, whether or not accompanied by a token gift - a tiny box of chocs, a bulb in a decorated pot, half a dozen flowers - but these organised class presents are ridiculous. No parent should be coerced into giving £10, £15, £22, no child should be made to feel inferior, and any headteacher worth their salt would be putting a stop to it. Most of the teachers I worked with were embarrassed by over generous presents and certainly didn't expect them.

Why didn't the son going home with " a boot full of chocolates and wine" which he didn't want, make his feelings known to the class beforehand?? What's he going to do with his spoils, give them to the poor & needy? I'd like to think so....This trend is absolutely disgusting, it's not as though teachers are on low wages although I dare say they'd argue the point. It's a chance for oneupmanship and giving for the sake of it. Can't heads of schools put a stop to it? Or must all parents be like sheep?

lizzypopbottle I agree. Poverty is increasing and people are talking as if £10 or £15 is pocket change. How were the children who wanted to give something to feel?
Squiggy It is sad but not surprising that it is a teacher that doesn't understand. Teachers have favourites and children are very much aware of that. Even if a teacher would not take it into account, as a child I would have been scared that they would if my mother didn't buy anything.
A letter or a card is one thing (although there is no rule that says that children have to like their teacher so it has to be done sensitively) but presents are unconscionable.

I was a teacher for more years than I care to remember but comments on this thread are an absolute puzzle to me. I never felt I was receiving a bribe. A bribe to do what exactly? It just doesn't make sense. Judging by the letters I received, gifts were given in appreciation. No more. These days, though, young adults are not used to writing a thank you note using pen and paper and certainly these letters are amongst my prized possessions. Even now, after being retired for 11 years, I cannot bring myself to throw them away. No, I was never bribed, just blessed. Maybe the comments made by those who think otherwise, say more about them than the teachers and parents.