Christmas gifts for teachers

Our local primary school have sent out a message this year about gifts - it was wonderfully worded
“in years prior we have gratefully appreciated the gifts you have so thoughtfully given us at Christmas. Unfortunately due to the circumstances we
are all in this year we cannot accept anything and would hate for any our children’s families to worry about getting gifts this year. Our teachers have all had a chat and if your children would like to do something for their teacher to pass on Christmas greetings, a nice email would be greatly appreciated. We wish you all a happy and healthy festive season.”

We intend to send a voucher on Amazon via email to our Youngest sons teacher as he has been absolutely amazing throughout this pandemic, but I think the wording from the school makes all the difference to how I’m approaching it.

I'm sure presents have been given to teachers for 50 years or more. I remember my mother having a pile every year.

I also remember our stair carpet came from a carpet fitter parent who had leftovers from a posh London hotel and our first TV was procured by a parent in the business. Not presents as such, but favours which in those days were perfectly acceptable as gestures of thanks.

Nooo! Surely not!
As an ex teacher, the nicest gift was something homemade, whether it be card or gift, by the pupil . To put a value on it, devalues the sentiment.

I took presents for my teacher 60 years ago, usually flowers from the garden. .
My own children took them 40 years ago! It was the norm then. However, there was no pressure to do so.
As a teacher, I always received them.

When did presents for teachers start ? I have 6 children who obviously all went to school, and I never heard of teacher's presents, neither have my gc's or ggc's.

Lillie all of that is fine if a person can comfortably afford it and that’s what they want to do.

But it’s unacceptable for parents to be put on the spot by a PTA member and asked for a donation. There are parents who are struggling to make ends meet, feed their family, pay fuel bills, rent etc. £10 is a substantial amount of money to them and they shouldn’t be put in the embarrassing position of having to decline.

Or worse still paying up to avoid embarrassing their children.

Is there any difference between giving the teacher a gift and giving your gp a bottle of wine or whisky for Christmas? They are both being paid to do their job. Some people like to show their gratitude.
The £10 suggestion for a collective gift possibly sounds ok if the reason is to buy a John Lewis voucher or something.

It isn't the schools organising present giving; it is a few self-appointed parents, if this is really happening.
The point seems to have been missed that most children actually like giving a gift to their teacher, with whom they have an intimate relationship, particularly the younger ones.
Any one who has been in receipt of gifts from children knows that everything has to be admired: the paper (oh, my favourite colour ) the tag, (what beautiful handwriting) the gift (how did you know I wanted a packet of fruit gums, a gift I insisted on giving my teacher, aged 5) and a general heart-felt thanks delivered that even the surly boys seemed to appreciate.
Collecting money for a large present does not give any particular excitement to a young child, and it certainly is not instigated by the school.

Molly10

Shame on the school.

Probably some very hard up people will actually feel the pressure to give that too, as they will not want their children to feel different.

Shameful school!

You will need to use the plural. Shameful schoolS. They all seem to have jumped on this lucrative band wagon.

Tigerdove

The daughter of a friend of mine, who has two children in primary school, received a letter this week from the school. It stated that gifts for teachers would not be accepted but instead a donation of £10.00 per child would be accepted.

Yes, that seems to be the way these days. In the Primary School where my 2 youngest grand-daughters go one of the Mums takes it upon herself to collar parents at the classroom door and tell the parent she needs a 'donation' for the teacher AND classroom assistant's Christmas presents. This year it is £10 per child so with 2 of them that is £20. My daughter would buy a little something for them but I don't think it would be £20's worth. 30 children in a class x £10. You'd get a nice gift for that! What about the parents who cannot afford that? Surely a donation is what you can afford not being told what you must cough up. These Mums have a clipboard, naturally, to keep tabs on who has paid. Dreadful idea? From the US?

What happened to the handmade card or gift, this would be more appreciated. As for asking for a donation, definitely a no no! Even £10 could be a lot more than some can afford, especially if they have more than one child at the school. Teachers get paid for their job, if children want to give something then it should be just a very small token.

Fundraising for the school is acceptable imo, although asking for money for teachers is not.

This year schools have been unable to hold their usual fundraising events, organised by willing PTAs, such as summer fairs, selling refreshments at sports day and concerts, the Christmas fair etc all of which usually raise quite a lot of money for the school.
Not to mention the Harvest Festival where donated food goes to the local food bank.

I’m a primary school teacher and never expect anything from the children, although some parents choose to send in gifts. I think a lot of schools are asking for donations if 5hey can afford it. This isn’t a new thing. I have adult children now and I can remember being asked for an annual donation from their various schools. Schools are feeling the pinch at the moment. We have many extra costs for cleaning, sanitizer, paper towels, equipment as each child has their own etc etc but there is no extra money from the government since September, although they did cover these costs during the first lockdown. I think school leaders understand that not everyone can afford it so are thinking any less of any parents who do not contribute.

Today I found a card on the desk in my classroom with this message inside:
“Thank you very much for all you have done for me this year, I greatly appreciate it. You have been an incredible tutor to me, and I look forward to the next year I’ll have with you.”

No amount of money, and no possible expensive gift, could give me more joy than this handwritten message.

What are they going to do with the cash collected ? Divide it up amongst them? It' s about time all these" set price " presents stopped.

You should not name,be very mindful of what your intentions are.

That's truly is revolting and reminds me of a school I know. The headteacher is very money orientated and likes to make extra curriculum activities like giving to the raffles. Etc compulsory so no child feels they are supplying more. Personally it's revolting. Yet another school I know has sent letters this year advising that gifts wouldn't be allowed however hand drawn cards or pictures could be placed into a post box for teachers at the end of term. This is to allow them a few days quarantine to decrease the risk of germs.

Wow that’s very cheeky and a lot of you have more than one child at the school

My friend teaches at a top independent school and a £100 limit has been placed on gifts!!
Yes, Fizog, that's about consistent with the value of the gifts DH received last Christmas.

This is outrageous. A gift is a gift, not an order.

Shame on the school.

Probably some very hard up people will actually feel the pressure to give that too, as they will not want their children to feel different.

Shameful school!

My friend teaches at a top independent school and a £100 limit has been placed on gifts!! Things have clearly got out of hand.
The school is out of order asking for money... so many parents can’t afford to feed those kids at Xmas.... When I was a child a hand made card was the most a teacher would get.
Teachers are paid for their services, same as everybody else, I don’t tip the bus driver, shop asssistant, librarian why should a teacher get a tip.
I speak as someone who worked in education! A card with heartfelt thanks means so much more.

While I appreciate that I taught in a secondary school, not a primary, I've never heard of a teacher being given money by the parents via the school in this way.

I take my minded children to four different schools.
The most ostentatious gifts I see being carried in by the parents and children are at a local Catholic primary school.
Think armfuls of huge wrapped bouquets of flowers and ribbons, multiple enormous gift bags.
I find it quite distasteful to see and at odds with the true meaning of Christmas.

I'm another retired teacher and I can tell you that most teachers would prefer a simple thank you to a present any day of the week. As for class collections...no, no, no.