Every year I am asked about what gifts I get for teachers, to pass on my gratitude to the poor souls who have had to wrangle my children through the education system for the past year. Having been a teaching assistant myself for several years, I was fortunate enough to receive many gifts and cards, some of which I still have today (my ‘best teaching assistant’ mug hosts a steaming brew as I type). I also have now been the parent of primary school children across every year group so I thought I’d share my 5 top gifts with links and a discount code to help you out!
My Top 5 Teacher Gifts
1. A hand-written, heartfelt card
Yep. I promise you the best gift is kind, genuine words written by a child or their parents/grandparents/carers. Teaching staff are OFTEN told when things don’t go right. Teachers get judged by their senior leaders, by governors, by Ofsted and by parents on the daily, so hearing that you had a positive impact on a child and their family really does mean a lot. This is one of the BEST cards you can buy - hand-crafted by my friend Abbie who runs a small business. She also sells forget-me-not embroidered key rings which are adorable.
2. Stationary and Planners
This is something that teachers need a lot of due to the excessive administration demands of the job and also because this stuff is like gold and goes walkabouts on the regular. Decent pens, a set of glue sticks, or even better anything from this GORGEOUS selection from The Positive Teacher Company. I love the To Do list pads. Or you could even get a gift card from their website so the teacher can pick their own stationary or planner from their incredible collection. A really brilliant small business to know about. Plus they have kindly given me a discount code for you in all! Just put 5MinMum in at checkout to get 15% off!
3. A Funny Book
Most teachers will have heard about the 2 Mr P’s - Lee and Adam Parkinson. They do a podcast about teaching and it is absolutely brilliant. It’s very funny and always up to date on the latest issues in education, and as teachers themselves they give brilliant insight. They also have 3 books, which are just as hilarious as their podcasts and I’ve linked below. I’ve also been to their live shows, which I cried laughing through with a teacher friend of mine. So if you want to give the teacher a bit of light relief this is the gift for them!
4. A Beautiful Print
These gorgeous classroom illustration prints from Sketchy Mama make a lovely gift. Anna Lewis is a wonderful artist who creates meaningful and relatable art. I have bought her prints many times before. They are a lovely gift - below are a few examples but there are loads more on her website.
5. An Amazon Voucher
I know you might feel this isn’t very personal and it isn’t. But I can bet it will be met with a lot of gratitude. You can buy anything off of Amazon that you might need for a classroom and so the teacher and the school and the children may well all benefit. Or they might just get themselves something they want. It’s their choice and sometimes this is a breath of fresh air if you’ve been given 12 Thank You Bears and 10 sets of hand cream! Amazon Vouchers are HERE.
Now, don’t forget you are NOT required to buy anything. Teachers don’t expect gifts. Like I said, a card or heart-felt note is just as lovely. What you can also do is club together with other parents and all chip in for something bigger or to give them a voucher for a larger amount. You could also ask the teacher what they like, enjoy, or need!
Don’t forget it’s also nice to thank the support staff like the office, maintenance or welfare team, headteachers and deputies or SENCO’s. An end of year ‘thank you’ email is a great way to show your gratitude, or perhaps a staff room box of biscuits or choccies as an idea if you did want to get something.
As fabulous as my mug is I’m pretty sure if you’ve been teaching for more than 3 years you will already have a huge collection of these, and I know that wine and bubble baths were in vast abundance when I was in teaching. So I hope these links provide you with some useful ideas and thanks for supporting small businesses (including mine, as Amazon link’s are from my affiliate shop!)
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