What do you buy the person who has helped to mould the mind, life and future prospects of your beloved child every school day for the past year? No pressure.
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We spoke to 17 teachers from around the country to find out what they would really like as end-of-year gifts. Many of them receive alcohol and chocolates on repeat, but from plants and tote bags to flying lessons (yes, really), here’s what they might actually like to receive.
The best gifts for teachers
Handwritten cards
Many teachers we spoke to said cards were the most memorable thing they’ve received over the years (and it’s worth taking the time to get your kids involved to make something homemade). Sam, a senior school English teacher in Essex, says: “They’re the things I keep and look back at. I have a photo album I keep them all in, but some are also up on my board at work.”
“I work in a deprived area and some of the most meaningful gifts I’ve received are the handwritten cards from my pupils,” agrees Steph, a primary school teacher in Yorkshire. “I keep every single one in a scrapbook. There’s no need to spend money when a thoughtful note means so much more.”
Traditional photo album
£30 at John Lewis
Linen effect pin board
£15 at Dunelm
Paperchase notecard and envelope set
£10 at Tesco
Letter-writing set
£7.19 at Temptation Gifts
£12.49 at Amazon
Arts and crafts
Logic may suggest teachers are ready for a break from kids’ craft projects, but this isn’t what we heard.
“One of the best presents I’ve received was a tote bag, where the children wrote messages, drew pictures or signed their names,” says Jill, a retired primary school teacher from south London.
Meanwhile, Claire*, an Oxford-based biology teacher, told us: “A student painted a mug with a drawing of me and all the things I had told them I loved, which was very sweet.” Others, including Dawn, a retired primary school teacher from Hertfordshire, prize their pupils’ art. “One of the nicest gifts I received was a framed drawing that a child had done,” she says.
Large fabric tote bag to decorate
£6.95 for three at Baker Ross
DIY mug
£7 at Flying Tiger
Clip frame
£3 at Hobbycraft
From £4.39 at Frames
Personalised presents
From handbags to bookmarks, personalised gifts were favourites among the teachers we spoke with. “I once received a bookmark with my name on it – I love it,” says Lisa, a primary school teacher from Cardiff. “For me, the more personal the better,” says Karen, a teacher from Manchester. “Favourites have included a gorgeous copy of my favourite book, and framed prints related to our class texts.”
Primary school teacher Rob* was once given a Lego Superman keyring with his name engraved on the cape: “The best gift I ever received,” he says.
Personalised antiqued leather bookmark
£14 at Not on the High Street
£14 at Etsy
Personalised Ashley tote bag
£39.99 at Katie Loxton
Personalised Lego figures
From £13 at Byron Bricks
Personalised stationery
From £21 at Papier
Joint presents
A whole-class gift can seem like a cop-out, but they’re universally well-received, says Rob. “The best present – the one I think every teacher actually wants to receive – is the clubbed-together gift. So, instead of 20 mugs and some chocolates, you get a single gift worth a lot more. For me, that was vouchers, but friends have received coffee machines and even an iPad.”
Jill agrees: “Vouchers from the whole class have been fantastic because they’ve enabled me to buy things I wouldn’t normally get for myself, such as pieces of jewellery or perfume.”
Look out for bargains. “At my daughter’s primary school, we bought a Champneys voucher for her teacher when they were offering an extra 30% credit,” says Essex senior school teacher Louise.
But they don’t have to be big-ticket items. Several teachers were thrilled with coffee-shop vouchers. Beverley, a primary school teacher from Liverpool, told us: “I would say my favourite gift has been a book token for Waterstones.”
Photograph: Louise Paige
Champneys voucher
From £25 at Champneys
John Lewis gift cards
From £10 at John Lewis
Photograph: Mik Egerton/PA
Costa Coffee voucher
From £10 at Costa
Waterstones gift card
From £10 at Waterstones
De’Longhi Stilosa EC230
£89 at De’Longhi
Stationery
A planner might seem a bit humdrum, but they’re popular gifts. “Flowers can be wasted, especially if you’re going away on holiday the next day, but these teacher planners, designed by teachers, are great,” says Beverley. And, for a more elevated stationery-cupboard offering, try a pen. “Two families teamed up and bought me a beautiful Montblanc pen, which I still use daily,” says Louise.
Teacher planners
£30 at the Positive Teacher Company
Pix ballpoint pen
£255 at Montblanc
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Classic rollerball pen
From £6 at Papier
To mug or not to mug
When it comes to mugs, teachers were split. As headteacher Sean put it: “I’ve been teaching for 20 years. If I’d have kept them all, I’d have a cup shop.”
But Billy, an IT teacher from Liverpool, said: “I’ve been given a few subject-specific joke mugs related to computer coding that only computer science geeks would get. They’re quite thoughtful.” Or try a flask, says Rob.
Coding coffee mug
£11.08 at Etsy
Periodic table mug
£12 at the Science Museum
Stanley leakproof travel mug
£31.99 at John Lewis
From £30.39 at Amazon
Experiences
Teachers have often taught hundreds of pupils over the years, so it’s useful to think about what you (and only you) could choose as a thoughtful gift.
“My best present was when a family invited me to their shop in east London and made me a suit,” says Dawn. Meanwhile, Sean tops the lot, saying: “A parent of a child in my class was training to be a pilot, so they presented me with a flying lesson. I ended up flying a four-seater plane alongside the dad with the child in the back.”
Flying lesson
£169 at Red Letter Days
£175.05 at Virgin Experience Days
Plants
Horticultural gifts are a rich area for ideas. Sue, a retired Hertfordshire teacher, was once given the aptly named school girl rose. And SEN lead Jackie says one of her favourite presents was a fern for her garden. “It reminds me of the boy and his family that I supported over the years. There was a gift tag saying: ‘Thank you for helping our son grow.’ I’ve had lots of vouchers and wine over the years, but the presents the children make or choose themselves mean the most.”
And teacher Angie Bonnel wrote to the Filter to tell us the best gift she ever received: a pilea (or Chinese money) plant. “Since then, I must have given away at least 30 of its offspring and still have at least 10 thriving plants in my house. It was such a thoughtful gift that has also given pleasure to many others,” she says.
Photograph: Peter Fleming/Getty Images
School girl rose
£17.95 at Gardening Express
Photograph: Sarah Ahrens/Alamy
Sensitive fern
From £5 at Crocus
From £5.99 at Waitrose
Pilea plant
From £9.99 at Thompson & Morgan
From £14.99 at Crocus
Personalised teacher plant pot
From £28 at Not on the High Street
£32 at Letterfest
Lean into the summer hols
While the summer holidays can be a challenging time for parents, for teachers it represents a well-earned rest – and a great source of gift ideas. Along with “a whole-class rendition of High School Musical”, Christie, a Yorkshire primary teacher, fondly remembers being given a money box to save up for future holidays and treats. If you know your teacher is taking a big trip over the summer, you could consider something like a travel journal or even some nice travel-size cosmetics.
Personalised adventure fund money jar
From £4.43 at Etsy
Travel journal
£29 at Papier
Cowshed travel set
£20 at Look Fantastic
£25 at Cowshed
Food and drink
“A bottle of Jack Daniel’s was just what I needed after a long, hard term,” says Alex, a sixth-form teacher from Lancashire. It might be unimaginative, but alcohol will be gratefully received by many, if the teachers we spoke with are anything to go by. “I’m always happy with beer,” echoes maths teacher Dave* from Chester.
But keeping it personal is always best – especially if they’re not drinkers. “One of the best gifts I’ve received was a letter from a student explaining how inspiring my lessons had been and that she’d grown in confidence from them,” says Louise. “It was paired with a Diet Coke, because I wasn’t drinking due to IVF treatment, which was really touching.”
Have fun with it, too, Beverly adds: “One little boy just got me some teabags and a packet of custard creams and said: ‘You love these, don’t you, Miss?’”
Jack Daniel’s 70cl
£25 at Tesco
£19.47 at Amazon
Eight top lagers and pilsners
£26.99 at Beer 52
Clipper teabags
£2.75 at Ocado
£3.95 at Waitrose
Custard creams
60p at Tesco
Rhiannon Evans is a journalist and editor who’s covered everything from news and entertainment to lifestyle and parenting for some of the UK’s best titles (and some others too). She’s rarely out of leopard print, and can usually be found attempting to wrangle her kids, garden or copy into some kind of order
*Some names have been changed