Every term, the same conversation crops up in the class WhatsApp group: what should we get the teacher? Useful teacher gifts are harder to find than they sound, because the classic choice is yet another mug with a cute slogan that ends up forgotten in a staff room cupboard. Here are twelve ideas that really do get used and, before that, three decisions worth making as a group before anyone starts collecting money.
Three decisions before you buy anything
- One class gift beats twenty-five separate ones. With every family chipping in, you can get something decent, and the teacher doesn’t go home with twenty-five near-identical presents.
- Keep it symbolic. At school, a modest token is the sensible option. An expensive gift puts the teacher in an awkward position and, at many schools, they simply aren’t allowed to accept it.
- Ask before you decide. Class reps usually know whether the teacher is trying to get hold of something for the classroom, whether they drink coffee or whether they have any allergies. A couple of messages can save you a gift that misses the mark.
Useful teacher gifts: 12 practical ideas
- Good-quality coffee or loose-leaf tea. It gets used up, takes up no space and the difference in quality shows. Check first that they drink coffee.
- A stainless steel flask or insulated bottle. It isn’t ‘another mug’: it keeps coffee hot between lessons and comes along on school trips.
- A wool scarf, gloves or socks. Much appreciated by anyone on playground duty in winter.
- A book token or an audiobook subscription. The recipient chooses, which is exactly where most other gifts fall down.
- Two cinema or theatre tickets. Two, so they can take someone along. It’s an outing, not one more object.
- A hardy plant for the classroom. A pothos, snake plant or ZZ plant will survive the holidays without anyone watering it.
- A set of good pens or a fountain pen. Teachers mark hundreds of pages by hand every term; this gets used every single day.
- A hamper of local produce. Honey, jams, a good olive oil. It gets eaten and nobody has to find a place to display it at home.
- A gift card for a stationery or art supplies shop. Lots of teachers pay for classroom materials out of their own pocket; this goes straight towards that.
- A soy candle or a subtly scented diffuser. Woody or citrus notes rather than heavy florals, which are much harder to get right.
- A lumbar cushion or wrist rest. Not glamorous, but very handy for someone who spends hours sitting and marking.
- Something they’ve requested for the classroom. A speaker, a decent lamp, desk organisers. If they’ve mentioned it at a parents’ evening, it’s the safest bet.
How much to chip in and how to run the collection
The problem is rarely the budget; it’s the organisation. A simple approach works well. One person announces the amount per family, sets a deadline and says from the outset what will be bought, so nobody has to ask three times. If a family can’t contribute, the collection goes ahead anyway and no list of who has paid is ever shared. The amount should be low enough not to put anyone on the spot and specific enough to wrap everything up in two days.
Remember the staff who tend to get left out, too: the learning support teacher, the music teacher who comes in for two hours a week, the school librarian. A small gesture there, or even just the card signed by the class, often makes more of an impression than the class teacher’s present.
What to avoid
- Mugs and T-shirts with slogans. They’ve already got one. Every teacher has one.
- Perfume and toiletries. Choosing a scent for someone else is a lottery, and sensitive skin makes it even trickier.
- Pricey electronics, jewellery or cash in an envelope. It stops being a token gesture and becomes a problem for the teacher.
- Ornaments and decorative pictures. They force someone to display something chosen by others at home; they nearly always end up in a drawer.
The card matters more than you think
Ask any teacher what they’ve kept from their years in the classroom and they won’t mention the flask: they’ll mention the notes their pupils wrote. A card with a line from each child, written in their own hand and signed with their name, is worth more than raising the gift budget. And if the group can’t agree on anything, that card on its own is already a gift to be proud of.
You’ll find more ideas for useful bits for the home and for gifting in our shop.