{"id":182570,"date":"2025-12-09T08:14:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T08:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182570\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T08:14:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T08:14:07","slug":"christmas-presents-for-teachers-in-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182570\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas presents for teachers in Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end of term is almost upon us<\/a>. We\u2019re creeping towards those final Nativities, Christmas concerts, carol performances and Christmas exams. <\/p>\n

The WhatsApp groups are alight with discussion and talk at the school gates has turned to, \u201cwhat will we buy the teacher for Christmas?\u201d <\/p>\n

But should it? <\/p>\n

How do parents and teachers really feel about Christmas gifts for teachers<\/a>? And if parents are going to send a gift, what do teachers really like to receive?<\/p>\n

We spoke to some parents and teachers <\/a>to ask all.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepending on affordability, to pay a tenner twice a year to get a gift for someone who plays such an important part in your child\u2019s life is a small way of showing appreciation\u201d, says one of the parents, James. \u201cAnd, in fairness, most of the teachers thoroughly deserve it<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sentiment echoed by Freya. \u201cI think it\u2019s a nice token of appreciation. We do class gifts for those who would like to donate any amount of euro,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Michael also feels a gift at Christmas is well earned. \u201cAny teacher who has to put up with my kids for that amount of time deserves wine!\u201d<\/p>\n

Catherine, meanwhile, even goes so far as to organise the collection herself. \u201cI organise the parents\u2019 gift for the fabulous Montessori teachers.\u201d There are six teachers, she says. \u201cFamilies give \u20ac20 each. That covers them all and we buy them a big voucher for somewhere nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while some parents are completely on board with the idea of Christmas gifts for the teachers, others, for various reasons, feel quite differently. Susan, a parent of three, feels things have \u201cgotten out of hand\u201d when it comes to Christmas gifts for teachers. Especially because many parents have multiple teachers to buy for. \u201cIt used to be you sent in something small. Then it got to the stage where people were buying \u20ac20 coffee vouchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine if you\u2019ve got one teacher<\/a>, she says, but her primary schoolchildren each have a main teacher and a support teacher. \u201cYou\u2019re already at \u20ac80 there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her youngest child attends Montessori <\/a>where there are three teachers. \u201cLast year it was \u20ac150 by the time I got everyone something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan\u2019s sibling is a teacher and says presents are often regifted. \u201cI don\u2019t think teachers for the most part actually want it,\u201d she says, describing the multiple boxes of chocolate and mugs that are given. She says it\u2019s easy for other people to say, \u201cwell then just don\u2019t do it. You can\u2019t just not do it, because them your kid will be the kid that goes in empty handed. My eldest would feel that kind of difference. He would know he was the only one who didn\u2019t have something and then he\u2019d feel conscious of it and worry that someone might comment on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan can\u2019t understand why the school doesn\u2019t enforce a no-presents policy. \u201cThere\u2019s a very strict policy from the school on things like healthy lunches. There\u2019s a very strict no birthday party invites policy, where you\u2019re not allowed send in birthday invites for fear that somebody might be excluded, which is great. So they can enforce this sort of thing when they want to \u2026 but there\u2019s never anything about teacher gifts. It just puts unnecessary pressure on families,\u201d And, she says, \u201cit\u2019s twice a year, as you\u2019ve got to do it again at summer\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sarah has two children. She worries she\u2019ll sound \u201clike such a Scrooge\u201d, but feels for those teachers who have permanent, pensionable jobs<\/a>, that should be enough. \u201cYou\u2019ve got great work benefits, great life balance, super holidays. That in itself is the reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

She questions how Christmas gifts for teachers became the norm, but adds, \u201ca class present is so much better than individual presents. I don\u2019t get presents in my job at Christmas. And I\u2019ve never had a bonus in my entire life in my working career … My husband doesn\u2019t get a bonus in his job either.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s strange because we exclude loads of different people, but then there\u2019s this pressure to add in more people \u2013 it\u2019s the teacher, it\u2019s the SNA [special needs assistant], it\u2019s the lollipop man or woman, it\u2019s the caretaker, it\u2019s the secretary. And then you\u2019re paranoid that you\u2019re going to miss out on somebody.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always give the money. At the moment it\u2019s a tenner per child,\u201d she says. But, she says, there are teacher collections twice a year, raffles, sponsored walks, school fairs, Christmas jumper days. \u201cIt\u2019s just constant money, money, money and I just feel that this is something that\u2019s not necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very sorry for parents, particularly in this very real cost of living crisis, who have several children in primary school … it does all add up at Christmas and summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah says, however, she would \u201cnever not pay it\u201d. <\/p>\n

She says there is a \u201chierarchy\u201d to the collection distribution. \u201cThe teacher gets the most, then the SNA, then the resource teacher. It\u2019s often the SNA and the resource teacher who are the lowest paid and maybe it would be nice to give an equal share of the gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claire says: \u201cIt\u2019s really expensive if you have children in an autism class\u201d, where there are \u201cat least three staff, plus a bus driver and escort\u201d to factor in. \u201cThe teachers and SNAs <\/a>do incredible work. And working with our incredible children can be challenging sometimes. So you want to mark that and give them a gift to show your appreciation and gratitude. But it adds up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claire has a child in a mainstream class, too. \u201cWe give \u20ac10 twice a year. The teacher gets a lovely gift and it doesn\u2019t break the bank. Just a comparison. I would describe this as another hidden cost to parents with children with a disability.\u201d <\/p>\n

Teachers, too, have varying views on receiving Christmas gifts. While some admitted to appreciating receiving a gift \u2013 and if you\u2019re wondering what they like best, home-made cards and pictures, vouchers, and wine topped the list [but more on the wine one later] \u2013 others were \u201cmortified\u201d by the practice. <\/p>\n

Aoife is a post-primary teacher. \u201cIn 27 years, I\u2019ve never received a Christmas present. Nor should I,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is absolutely no need for parents to gift teachers at Christmas, especially post-primary. It\u2019s an added pressure that no family should have to shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand a gift to a primary teacher who has been involved in a school show or carol service. A thank you gift. But at post-primary, where do you draw the line? Tutor? Year heads? Classroom teacher?\u201d <\/p>\n

Carol, as a teacher and parent of three children<\/a>, has seen it from both sides. She believes teachers\u2019 present collections can be \u201ca popularity contest. Who\u2019s the most popular teacher? Who wants to be the most popular parent?\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a particular vibe she\u2019s witnessed with certain classes. \u201cTo me, the way I would look at it is cynically it\u2019s almost to be buying indulgence with the teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has even witnessed it come down to a vote as to who gets to do the collection.<\/p>\n

Buying presents for the teacher has \u201calmost become a social norm\u201d, she says. \u201cI don\u2019t encourage it, but anytime I have received a gift, I have received it in the gesture in which it was offered … but there is certainly no expectation. If you were to ask me for a recommendation for a gift, I would say arts and crafts supplies \u2026 because we rely on self-funding it. Absolutely, the capitation isn\u2019t there for it.<\/p>\n

Deirdre is a teacher. Her own child recently started preschool. \u201cYou always know the families in the school that wouldn\u2019t have as much money as other parents. You\u2019d always feel bad that they might feel under pressure. Some families won\u2019t care; they just won\u2019t give you anything. And then other families, you can see that they\u2019re trying to get something, but really it\u2019s just a token to be seen, to give something. Because some kids get really upset when they see other children handing you a present and they don\u2019t have anything for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s realising the pressure herself now. \u201cThis year my son is in preschool and some of the other parents were saying, \u2018oh what are you getting the teachers?\u2019 And I never even thought to get his preschool teacher a present. It just didn\u2019t cross my mind. He has three teachers. I\u2019m job-sharing this year and I\u2019m not permanent. We\u2019re really feeling the pinch.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s really making me think of how families must feel. I\u2019m going, \u2018Oh my God do I buy three presents? Do I get them something to share? Can we even afford this? How much do we spend?\u201d<\/p>\n

Deirdre doesn\u2019t want parents buying things for her for the sake of it. \u201cThe other side is you don\u2019t want to be ungrateful, but you don\u2019t need 10 more notebooks at home, or more mugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to be doing this and we\u2019re nearly contributing to the financial pressure that everyone\u2019s [feeling] and creating waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the age-old question of whether it\u2019s an appropriate gift for a child to give. Both parents and teachers seemed fairly split on this. <\/p>\n

Not knowing people\u2019s circumstances or relationship with alcohol, and the normalising and optics of a child gifting alcohol, were enough to convince some parents and teachers that it wasn\u2019t a good idea. While others admitted they\u2019d be delighted to receive such a gift.<\/p>\n

One parent suggested the compromise of a shop voucher, so if the teacher wants, they can \u201cbuy the wine themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The end of term is almost upon us. We\u2019re creeping towards those final Nativities, Christmas concerts, carol performances…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9484,72,64219,14998,61,60],"class_list":["post-182570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-christmas","tag-business","tag-christmas-gifts","tag-education-and-training-boards","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}