Gifts from the supply teacher?

Do you? Or don’t you? Supply teachers are in a funny predicament as we near the end of the academic year. Do they give the school they worked in a gift or not? And if so, then what to give? Do you gift your supply teacher recruitment agency? Your recruitment consultant? The children in the class? Where does it end?!

Of course, it’s entirely up to you. But I thought we could take a look at your options together:

Schools
You may want to work there again, and so take in a huge hamper of speciality tea bags, coffees, and chocolates for the staff room.
You may want to work there again, so wish everyone a happy holiday as you leave… steering well clear of what could be taken for desperate bribery.
You may not want to work there again, and simply snaffle as much stationery into your bag before you leave as you can!

Recruitment Agency
Gift, school, recruitment consultant, supply teaching agencySome are simply too large a company to buy for. Your gift / thoughtfulness will be lost to red tape. A simple Thank You card can go a long way however, as they can pop it on a board in reception. Either that, or an email to say the same. It may not sound much, but it gives them an opportunity to use social media for something other than advertising the latest job vacancies, and they can add your message to the testimonial page of their website.
For smaller Agencies, either of the above work equally as well, but you may want to go the extra mile come the school holidays, give yourself some stickability! Think communal: pot plant? You could offer to feed it that once a week when you hand deliver your timesheet ;o) Big box of biscuits. Selection of cereal bars. Fruit hamper. Flowers. Lovely!

Recruitment Consultant
You will no doubt have built up a relationship with your dedicated consultant over the academic year. Hopefully they will have shown their appreciation of you throughout, and especially during National Supply Teacher Week. But it works both ways. Consultants work – very – long hours. Some supply teachers may complain about early morning calls, but think on, the consultant is already at work, and has found work for you, before you’re out of your pyjamas! They will usually finish work well after you have left school too, taking calls for future bookings for you from School Business Managers, interviewing, and delivering CPD courses for their supply teachers.
Take time to say thank you. Write a testimonial. Have a local good food delivered – my favourite thing to give at the moment is Cartmel Sticky Toffee Chocolates, quite local, quite delicious!

Whole Class Gifts
An entirely plausible idea if, for example, you have covered a maternity leave. The obvious route is to grab a bag of Haribo from the local shop, and split the pack on your last afternoon. You may want to put more thought into it however. Think whole class: Book for the library? Set of paints? Large display calculator? Educational poster?
Don’t go for two hamsters and a cage, as a departing family did with my class once! Eek!

 

This entry was posted in Featured Articles by Sharon Wood. Bookmark the permalink.

About Sharon Wood

Sharon Wood, aka NuttySupplier, launched the forum at SupplyBag.co.uk in 2005 whilst on supply. Having worked as a primary teacher for too many years, I chose supply teaching as a career, in order to achieve a good work / life balance.