Come on then, own up .....

[candycane]

How many of you people buy christmas gifts for your kids' teachers? All I've been hearing on QVC for weeks is what lovely teacher's presents XYZ would make.

Now, I have no kids so I can't talk and I don't know if people do this but please enlighten me. Would you pay £12 or so for a teacher's present??? What if they have more than one teacher? What about the ballet teacher, brown owl, piano teacher, judo teacher etc etc etc. This could get costly.

 

[NIKKID]

I have no experience of the giving side of teachers gifts but my mum is a retired primary teacher. She got loads of gifts at christmas but usually only a few ££££s chocolates, calendars, diaries, soaps & smellies and the odd tat ornament were the most popular. I think it stops after primary school???

 

[LE lover]

I used to be a teacher and got lots of gifts at the end of every term. Smellies , chocolates, pens, flowers etc. They were all gratefully received but what we appreciated the most were the thank you letters, I still have every one.

 

[petpixie]

I always got my kids teachers christmas presents when they were in primary school. There were a couple of special teachers that I loved and I'd spend more on them, but generally it was around The £10 mark.

 

[Toril]

I used to be a teacher and got lots of gifts at the end of every term. Smellies , chocolates, pens, flowers etc. They were all gratefully received but what we appreciated the most were the thank you letters, I still have every one.

Likewise, although I am still teaching. I've kept all the thank you cards and letters that I've had from parents and children over the years. I get gifts at the end of each term but, to be honest, a verbal thank you means just as much (if not more) and is cheaper. If I ever received a gift bought from QVC I'd be mortified because no one in their right mind would spend that amount on a teacher. Mind you, I suppose a £12 plus gift for a teacher might be the norm in the private boarding school sector, but in an 'ordinary' state school I'd have thought it was anything BUT the norm, particularly in the current economic climate.

 

[candycane]

Shows what I know! I never gave any of my teachers a gift - I didn't like any of them that much I did go to school in the 70's though so maybe it is a new idea.

CC

 

[Judith]

I was a primary school teacher and I received presents at Christmas and at the end of summer term. They were mainly chocolates or smellies but I also got lots of ornaments over the years! Some years they had collections and gave me vouchers for M&S as a class present which was lovely. I appreciated what I was given as I knew money was tight in a lot of families and was just as pleased to receive a "thank you" card.

 

[rainbowdottie]

As a fellow teacher,I too have kept every card etc that I have ever received.I have keyrings and bits and bobs all in a box too.I even have a bauble from a pupil that goes on my Christmas tree every year.As a teacher,I'd hate anyone to be under pressure to buy gifts for their child's teacher.....however I'd be totally mortified by some of the suggestions on QVC due to the cost.

I bought small gifts for a fiver etc from my children to their teacher,when my children were in primary school.When they first started in Nursery and Reception,I bought the teaching assistants one too.Actually I do remember once buying some L'Occitane soaps and giving them as presents one year,as there did seem quite a few to buy for.I can remember thinking when they were wrapped what a small and almost thoughtless gift,if the recipient didn't know what L'Occitane was....but at the time,I thought they were quite nice gifts to give out!! Lots of people have never heard of L'Occitane though.....

I never bought gifts for teachers when my children got to High School.I don't know why really...it just wasn't done.....I suppose because they don't have *one* teacher at that age...although mine both had a tutor group with a dedicated teacher...it just wasn't the done thing.

 

[Flying Pigs]

I am a retired teacher and used to get 'piggy' gifts. What surprised me and was most appreciated was that as Head Teacher I got gifts from parents and children - that always touched me greatly.

 

[Latchi]

My son has had two teachers job sharing over the past few years so he handwrites them a Christmas card and I put a £5 M&S voucher in each with a small box of Thortons to go along with them. However when my older son was at primary school another parent used to organise a group collection which we all happily gave to (around £3 per parent) and ususlly bought M&S or Debenhams Vouchers which the teachers always loved.

 

[LE lover]

Firstly well done to all of you still teaching, my stress levels were through the roof before i left.Not because of the children but the paperwork and ten thousand new initiatives a term.
Anyway i forgot to tell you one of the presents i declined. One of the parents offered me a holiday at his second home in Egypt. He promised wonderful hospitality from his family etc. and asked me if i could take some gifts over for them. I obviously declined but the alarm bells were ringing. 3 months later he was charged with smuggling drugs into Egypt.

 

[Flying Pigs]

Good job you maintained your professionalism LE !

 

[mariecat]

For god's sake LE Lover... that's crazy! Thank goodness you weren't gullible!

 

[Bauble]

I have a feeling a lot of the Q presenters kids go to or went to fee paying schools. I expect a tin of talc or a jumbo Toblerone would not be seen as de rigeur!

 

[LE lover]

Scary isn't it. Good job i'm a suspicious cynic

 

[Bookworm]

Can't believe how many of us are or were primary teachers. I have been teaching for years and get chocs, toiletries etc at Christmas and summer. Never had anything from qvc though!

 

[LE lover]

Maybe we've all met on all those endless courses, courtesy of the latest bright idea from the government.

 

[Weathergirl]

What this thread tells me is just how many teachers or ex teachers we have as fellow forumites!!

I am wondering what to do about my children's nursery. There are at least 3 per class. Do I just get one for the keyworker, or just a christmas card and a huge box of chocs for them all to enjoy? Oh the dilhemma!

 

[LE lover]

Weathergirl i would get a card and a tin of chocolates for them all to share. They will appreciate it.

 

[loujareth]

I once gave a teacher some L'Occitane soap - was that any of you ladies Also some OPI nail varnish, new, from a kit. I was well off then.