[Primary school] The end-of-school-year present-for-teacher thread

r3nu4l

So, our daughter started Junior Infants this year and we noticed at Christmas that a lot of other parents bought a present for the teacher.

Now the end of the school year is coming and I'm guessing it will be more of the same. Having never bought a present for a teacher before I'm wondering what is appropriate in terms of type of gift (bottle of Jameson and 20 Major? :pac:) and value (something for €1.49 from Dealz or a €500 voucher for Brown Thomas).

I know that the traditional answer is 'Oh, if you are buying a gift, just do what you think is best and get what you feel like getting'. I get that.

I'm wondering what do others buy? Thanks in advance.

Tony Beetroot

Bottle of wine.

Roesy

As a teacher I would genuinely say a present isn't expected or necessary. I come from a school with a no gifts policy and most parents stick to it. If you do decide to then a token gift is perfect. Chocolates are quite a standard gift, so are candles. Over the years I've also received: wine, plants, homemade cakes/cards, scarves etc. I once got a lovely, framed drawing from a particularly artistic child. I still have that and a plant that always reminds me of the giver.

hoodwinked

i find a €20 multi center gift card is a good gift, they can put it towards something they want (who doesn't love €20 off something) or get something for it.

freshpopcorn

Box of Roses, Butlers or any chocolate. Maybe some flowers or if you felt the teacher did a lot for your child may be a voucher for something.

ThisRegard

Nothing?

lulu1

My kids are teenagers and I have never bought a xmas present or end of year present for the teacher.

Mountainsandh

Little notebooks or diaries (cheap !), soaps, candles ... this year my girl found a "best teacher" block of notes at the pound shop, she's going to make a card, and we have gorgeous little scented soaps we stocked up on in France to go with that.
I don't think the teachers expect anything, but they enjoy the thought.
At Christmas we give them a box of Aldi chocolates (it's a tiny school so we give to the SNAs, 2 teachers and principal !).

LegacyUser

As a child of a teacher, I can tell you that my mum definitely received a mad amount of gifts during the Tiger years, but it has really tailed off in recent years. She never ever expected anything though, it was the parents trying to outdo each other . She always liked cards from the kids though (everyone likes to be appreciated in their job let's face it ), and the selection of stuff she got/gets varies wildly. Bottles of wine, dinner vouchers, small boxes of chocolates, little gifts like fridge magnets (about teachers!), small teddy bears, quirky little notepads or notebooks, a light scarf, candles, scented things like incense or soaps, things like that. She also really loved getting flowers or plants, but that's the kind of thing she likes as a gift.
If you feel you must get the teacher something, it doesn't have to be anything big. Made it tough for us to find something unique for her Mother's Day though

January

Voucher for a coffee shop here and a nice card from the child.

byhookorbycrook

As other teachers have said, we don't expect or need anything. I shudder when I hear of some schools where some parent takes it upon themselves to hound other parents into giving to a class collection, like most teachers I'd be mortified.

The best present is a sincere note that you write, not something you feel you have to do or to try and outdo other parents. A card from a child that they have created themselves is always treasured. I keep all of mine and love to take them out and remember the children from time to time.

If you feel you REALLY want to do something, a cake or some biscuits for the staffroom always go down well, but send them in early in the week as the last few days of school are always manic and many teachers won't even get into the staffroom, much less have time to eat!

ShamoBuc

The best present I ever got was a letter from a child when she left 6th class. She wrote a specific letter for each teacher that taught her in primary school. It outlined how much fun etc she had, some of the more interesting lessons she had and some standout moments of the year. It was a seriously nice thoughtful letter.

Generally, a oneforall voucher , wine, chocolates, fridge magnets, scratch cards, candles etc are all perfectly normal and most teachers will have gotten a lot of these in the past.

I remember getting a receipt saying a contribution has been made on your behalf to a particular charity, which I thought was very nice indeed.

A boy once gave me a small bag of sweets from a sweet shop and said he spent most of his pocket money on it, much better than a bottle of Jameson and a packet of major!!

retro:electro

I think it's a much better idea for all the class to chip in a Euro or two and collectively get the teacher something from all of them. Some families can't afford the €20+ gifts that some teachers get, and sad to say I've noticed it can become a competition between parents too.

Mountainsandh

It only becomes a competition if you let it. I know I simply couldn't care less what others give, and neither do the teachers. I try to convey that to my children too.

I hate the "everybody chip in" option. It ruins the whole idea of each child individually getting a chance to let their teacher know how much they appreciated their work. I know my daughter would dislike that. She loves the idea her little gift is special, it is between her and her teacher.

Paradoxically, I think the collective method sends the wrong message to the kids that their modest present is not good enough, that it's much better to give a less personal but more expensive gift. It really irks me, even in a professional colleagues to colleague situation.

I think you just have to be grown up and comfortable with what you can or are willing to give. I find that little presents that are very targeted always make me a lot happier, for example a colleague once gave me a bunch of black currants sticks from her garden, with instructions to just... stick them in the ground. You should see the bushes now ! That was a much nicer present than official cut flowers I got other times.

r3nu4l

Some lovely personal ideas there and thanks to the teachers for their replies too

Yeah, I'm not a 'school-gate competition' parent, neither is my wife so we won't be trying to outdo anybody or even making a show of the fact that we gave a gift.

It's a tiny rural school and it was very important to us that our daughter settled in well because not only was she starting school for the first time but only months before, we moved home from England, the place she was born and the only place she had ever known as home. She was in a brand new country (for her) and had no friends to speak of. The school, teacher and assistant have been fantastic in making her feel at home so we wanted to do something.

Thanks all