Present for primary school teachers

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redbhoy

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Is it customary to give a gift to your childs primary school teacher at end of year? If so, any ideas as to what is the norm for a present.
 
Not sure to be honest - would've thought it was more a Christmas thing. No kids though so don't have a clue. I would think that a bottle of wine or chocolates or something. If its a female teacher, she will be bombarded with "smellies" and the like, thats if its customary to give something.
 
My mother was a primary school teacher and every summer she got loads of presents (Christmas too) she preferred bottles of wine or candles - as had mountains of baskets of body lotions etc.
I always give a bottle of wine and a thank you card.
 
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.
 
..yeah but it is nice to show a level of appreciation also - especially if the teacher is quite good.

ninsaga
 
I certainly don't agree with children bringing in bottles of wine to their teacher no matter how good she is at her job, however a homemade gift made by the child or perhaps a book voucher would be far more appropriate in my opinion!
 
Yes, a nice chat with your childs teacher telling her how much you appreciate all her hard work during the year would be sufficient and I agree with gauloise that the child could make some sort of card or gift themselves. This is something that all the children would then be able to do and no one would be left out. There would be no competition to see who brought teacher the most expensive present.
 
When did all this presents for teacher start? I certainly don't remember it. I think that us just disappearing out of their sight for a few months was present enough for most of our teachers. And vice versa.
 
I've only just become aware of people buying kids "graduation" presents when they finish in primary school. When did that start?
 
ClubMan said:
When did all this presents for teacher start? I certainly don't remember it. I think that us just disappearing out of their sight for a few months was present enough for most of our teachers. And vice versa.
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I can remember (all of 26 years ago) wanting to buy a present for my primary school teacher at the end of the year and even knitting her new baby a hat when she was on Maternity leave..both of which were returned to me by a mutual aquaintance more than 16years later on the birth of my first child!
 
gauloise said:
I can remember (all of 26 years ago) wanting to buy a present for my primary school teacher at the end of the year and even knitting her new baby a hat when she was on Maternity leave..
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Precocious child? Or bad phrasing? :D
 
redbhoy said:
Is it customary to give a gift to your childs primary school teacher at end of year? If so, any ideas as to what is the norm for a present.
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I'm a primary school teacher. In our school, approximately half of the children give a present to the teacher at Christmas and in June. If you asked me to name them, I wouldn't have a clue. My point is that those who don't give a present don't need to feel left out as I wouldn't have a notion who they were. The day of the holidays is usually chaotic so you neither have the time nor the inclination to keep tabs.

As I'm female, I usually get lots of soaps, bathroom sets, candles, cheap perfume, ornaments, chocolates and wine. I don't open the gifts in class to avoid causing embarrassment to those who didn't give a gift. While I most definitely appreciate the thought behind each gift, to be truthful, some of them are an absolute waste of money on the child's (parent's) part as the first five on the above list usually end up in the bin (at home - out of sight of children).

Chocolates and wine will always be appreciated/ used (even though we get lots of both).

If I'm really lucky, I'll get a voucher or lotto ticket.

There you go, that's an honest view from "the other side" on the gifts we receive. It's not for me to go into the rights and wrongs of giving teachers a present.
 
I always send a little present with my daughter to school for her teacher but I give a slightly better present to the special needs assistant in the class ... she gets all the ****ty jobs .... always has to go up on the roof to retrieve the balls, clean up the yard when cattle have been in, mind sick children etc. I appreciate her efforts which are above and beyond the call of duty far more than the teacher who skives off at 2.45!
 
ClubMan said:
Whyever not?
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The OP wasn't asking if it was right or wrong. He/ she just wanted to know if it was customary and if so, what should he/ she buy?

But more importantly, I can't be bothered! It's not a topic that evokes such passionate feelings either way that I feel the need to argue about it!
 
Purple said:
It's turning into a catch phrase so sorts... but it's a good one. :D
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Perhaps its a fetish (An abnormally obsessive preoccupation or attachment; a fixation) or sometimes when people spend a lot of time working at something they talk about it a lot. :D For all we know his ironing board might have a screen and keyboard included :confused:
 
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