Present for primary school teachers

Well if he ever decides to jack in the IT job at least there is a back-up profession that he would love; contract ironing...:D
 
As to whether it is customary, you should probably make discreet enquiries at your own school gate- practices vary.

Otherwise, be guided by your own feelings as to whether the teacher deserves extra recognition- as with other areas of life, if you feel you have received particularly good service, you may wish to offer some special recognition. (If you give a tip to the waitress when you have a meal, does the teacher who is so involved in the formation of your child's character and skills not deserve a little extra thanks too?)

It is customary where we are and, because our teachers do not get paid during the summer holidays I opt for a voucher (Boots, M+S etc).

I take the point others have made though- there should be no pressure. I noticed that some people gave Easter eggs this year (as well as a bottle of wine at Christmas) Now, the teachers are very good and I want to show my appreciation but for me this was too much. I do always make sure that my kids say thank you to the teachers at the end of the day and "have a nice holiday" at the end of the term- sometimes this has to be enough!
 
There are a lot of customs in this country which should be outlawed because they only benefit some sections of society. It is never acceptable in my opinion for children to go home and ask the parent to go out and buy a present for the teacher. As the primary school teacher "filthy Rich" admitted, "some of the presents end up in the bin". Half of the children in her school bring in a present, so that could be quite a lot depending on the size of the school. I dont know why this practise is not stamped out. The teachers are paid a salary to do the job, they work a short day, our local school opens at 9-30 and closes at 3pm. They have long holidays and several other days throughout the year. On top of this they also want presents from the children, come on teachers, cop yourselves on this is 2006.
 
the parents are the ones buying into this and although the presents are small they do cost - even the stuff going into the bin. The PTA in my nieces school banned it - or at least cut it down to cards, some parents and teachers were miffed but got over it, or had to. Its foolish (i think anyway) to say that the children don't notice who does and does not give it, and those whose Mammy's don't subscribe to the notion probably do notice it as well and feel a bit embarrased that their parents are "stingy".
One teacher i know has kept all letters ever written to her from her children and i suspect the bath bombs and bottles of plonk are long since forgotten.
 
I'm also a primary school teacher. Once again, I make no reference to presents other than privately thanking the children who bring them in. I don't open them in front of the class and rarely have any idea of who gives them to me. Instead of binning the presents I don't want, I give them to charity shops. They are delighted to receive unopened boxes of aftershave/ornaments etc. and use them to fill Christmas boxes. As someone said above, I place far more value on a card (handmade or otherwise) from the child and a few words of appreciation from the parents. Knowing that a child enjoyed his/her year with you means far more than a box of Roses. Finally, unless there is a school policy in place, it is very difficult for a teacher to refuse presents. I have tried saying at the start of the year that I didn't want presents but I find that this doesn't go down too well with parents/children - it tends to look a bit arrogant.
 
At my son's school giving teachers gifts is banned outright. It was a decision taken by the Parents Association and is supported by all the teachers. The school sends round a quarterly news letter and everyone is reminded of this rule, it's generally suggested if the parents want to show appreciation then to donate money to the school funds. Any gifts are politely returned. Like many here, I think a letter from the child and/or parent is much more meaningful to the teacher.
 
My wife gets pressies for my 6 yr olds teacher every year, both for christmas and end of year. To be honest I dont approve of it, but we reached a compromise after the first year, where at christmas we give the teacher a gift which is an education voucher from Unicef donated in her name!!

Regards,
Wexfordman
 
I don't think that teachers should get presents; what if you have 3 children it can get very expensive along with all the birthday presents for other children. Much better use to give a donation to the school fund........though I'm inclidned to think this excuses the govenment from investing properly and fairly across the board to ALL schools.
 
I see I hold the minority view here and I can certainly see the point of those who object to it on principle. We don't give gifts to our local police officer or library worker so why should teachers be different? In my case I suppose I have a fairly close relationship with my kids' teachers and I want to give them a personal thank you for going the extra mile for the children, but I can imagine that if I wasn't too impressed with the staff and was in a school where I "had to" give a gift I'd be doubly annoyed.

I know of one school where the parents organised a "staff appreciation day" where the kids made cards and the parents made bikkies/buns for the teachers' tea break. I thought that was nice, and not costly, but it sounds to me that quite a few posters feel that the teachers don't deserve anything at all!

I do agree that the underfunding of education is a much more pressing issue, but surely separate from this one? Similarly the cost of kids' birthday gifts......
 
oh come on!, here in london a half decent bottle of plonk costs £3.50/£4.00. every xmas and summer, my two kids give each of their teachers and their TA's a bottle of wine each - that's £32 a year. my god, i have spent more on a trip to mcdonald's at lunchtime! Show a little good spirit and appreciation. may i point out that the teachers also give each child a goody bag at xmas and end of year too - out of their own money. the kindness and caring attention my kids receive at school is fantastic and it is down to the hard work of the staff there. so wrap a bottle up - they have more than earned it.
 
Gordanus said:
I don't think that teachers should get presents; what if you have 3 children it can get very expensive along with all the birthday presents for other children.
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If you want to give a present and have several children in the school, why not just send a box of biscuits/chocolates to the staffroom via the principal - always goes down very well at coffee break time!
 
Yes, and include a note at the bottom of the box that some of the biscuits had "special treats" added by your children.
 
lorna said:
oh come on!, here in london a half decent bottle of plonk costs £3.50/£4.00. every xmas and summer, my two kids give each of their teachers and their TA's a bottle of wine each - that's £32 a year. my god, i have spent more on a trip to mcdonald's at lunchtime! Show a little good spirit and appreciation. may i point out that the teachers also give each child a goody bag at xmas and end of year too - out of their own money. the kindness and caring attention my kids receive at school is fantastic and it is down to the hard work of the staff there. so wrap a bottle up - they have more than earned it.
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Nothing wrong with showing good spirit but I object to children giving gifts of wine or any other alcoholic beverage despite being partial to same myself! The gift is supposed to be from the children..when did you last hear of a 6 year old discussing the merits of a Merlot over a Cabernet..if it's not from the children then the present should be left with the school secretary for distribution.
 
Lorna, I think that the teachers in London work a whole lot harder than they do here. Primary school teachers are in school at 8.30 and some earlier. You will find them still there at 4.30. Over there you have breakfast clubs from 8am, and the school is open before that. Out here where I live there is no caretaker and it is the teacher who opens (on the dot of 9.30.) the school and is gone (on the dot.) by 3pm. They have all religious holidays off in addition to the normal holidays.
I think it wrong to give bottles of wine to teachers regardless of how much it costs. Not all children will be able to bring a present and this just singles out and discriminates against them. It is up to the teacher to refuse the present. I can't see what is wrong with saying to the children that you dont accept presents. Why would a teacher need presents anyway, that's what I dont understand. Do they see it as perks of the job or what. Teaching is just a job like any other job and it pays a salary. Those days of long ago when people had to bow and scrape to the teacher, priest, are long gone.
 
Swallows said:
Why? The teacher is paid to do his / her job and should not expect small children to bring presents that the parent has to buy. In my opinion this should be strongly discouraged by the school. It is not something I would be in favour of. Children who do not bring a present for teacher feel left out and this is not right. All children should be in the same situation at school and not be singled out for any reason.
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I too have a huge issue with this and I agree with you Swallows when you say that children who do not bring presents feel left out - I know I did and I can still remember this feeling clearly.

However I have heard through a primary teacher friend of one colleague who told her kids before Christmas that she did not want any presents. First thing next morning she had an angry parent on the phone to her wondering why she had the audacity to be expecting presents anyway. It seems that you can't win either way....
 
for fecks sake! who gives a **** if one kid can afford a present and one kid can't. It's not going to scar them for life. If they ask you why they didn't give a present just tell them the truth or whatever you think will keep them happy. Tell them you forgot!

I know plenty of teachers. While the hours are shorter than an office job etc etc it can be a stressful job at times. Plus they are completely under funded. Somebody very close to me cannot do anything creative with them without spending a considerable amount of time preparing material outside of schools hours and with her own money.

Having your child make/buy a present is all about teaching them to think of others and show appreciation.
 
Swallows said:
. Out here where I live there is no caretaker and it is the teacher who opens (on the dot of 9.30.) the school and is gone (on the dot.) by 3pm. They have all religious holidays off in addition to the normal holidays.
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Swallows said:
So what? She obviously gets all of her work done in the hours allocated to her? She might be taking work home with her (There are often security concerns attached to staying late in school on your own - e.g. aggressive 'cold-callers' etc.) She's contracted to be there until 3 p.m. What she does after that is entirely her own business.
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I gave in yesterday. I was not going to give a present after reading your posts, especially the one about the presents being put in the bin. My 6 yr old made a thank you card on Tuesday night. Then yesterday, I saw a lovely potted plant and bought that for the teacher (gave it to her after school). My little girl said to me that when she went to give the card to the teacher, she felt really bad because some of the other girls gave her presents. But to her surprise the teacher loved her card.

I agree that there should be a school rule for presents. One rule, either way, therefore no child feels left out.
 
Well I thought this argument had run it's course until my daughter came back from shopping yesterday. One of the shops have special 'teacher presents' from €5 upwards.
 
PGD1 said:
for fecks sake! who gives a **** if one kid can afford a present and one kid can't. It's not going to scar them for life. If they ask you why they didn't give a present just tell them the truth or whatever you think will keep them happy.
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errrrr.....the kids care. And it's really hard to keep them happy with an excuse, especially if all the other kids are giving presents.
 
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