11 Plus Exams Forum

Dear parents Anyone thinking of preparing for leavers presents to headmaster and most of teachers in school. There are about 10 I have in mind who offered great help. Any gift ideas please? Thanks in advance

For that number, I would suggest getting your son or daughter to do nice handmade cards to each one and then why not make a lovely cake or homemade biscuits for them to have with their cup of tea in the staffroom? Or plant some little sunflower seeds in small inexpensive pots and decorate with a ribbon. I think teachers generally are very appreciative of a thoughtful gift, rather than a particularly expensive one.

Or focus in on the the particular teacher that means the most to your son or daughter - for example the form teacher and give them a gift.

+1

Homemade food is best of all - shows some effort has gone into it not just money. Cakes, jam, cheesy biscuits... (eggs here if ever we need a present - chickens come in handy!); or if you really don't do cooking, maybe some nice olive oil, but ten bottles of that are going to set you back a few quid!

I think that a small gift of home-made biscuits or a home-made card for all the teachers you are thinking of would be hugely appreciated, rather than singling out the class teacher for a huge present. At my schools at the end of the academic year I often see class teachers overloaded with hundreds and hundreds of pounds worth of expensive stuff they don't want or need (a friend was once given a very posh cut glass decanter - and she doesn't drink). By contrast many support staff and part-time/specialist teachers (such as those taking children out across many classes for extra English or Maths) often don't get given anything so a small gesture would mean a lot.

If your DC is leaving after 5/7 years and you wanted to mark the occasion is there something you could buy for the school? As to what rather depends on budget of course but PTA probably have a wish list across all price ranges if you aren't aware of anything.
Another vote for thank you cards with personalised message - I think they mean the most to teachers.

I agree about the home made biscuits / eggs etc - always appreciated.

I can honestly say that the best thing I've ever been given was last week when one of our year 11's going on study leave gave me a card with a really nice, heart felt message in it - I may be an old softy but it pretty much brought me to tears - it was a student id never worked directly with in lessons but had spent time over the years helping them develop various coping strategies. As people have said very often support / specialist staff can be the ones who make a huge difference to a child's school experience.

that's great help. many thanks for your reply

https://www.storycubes.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We bought 12 assorted boxes of these as a gift to benefit future pupils, and then just a token box chocs for the teacher. We felt it was more important to give them something that pupils could use in an educational capacity but they wouldn't buy themselves.