I am always amazed at this time of year, but not by the unpredictable weather or the strange summer fashion trends but the generosity of others. I never used to see it when I was growing up or at school but since working with children I have realised just how generous other people are.
I am of course referring to the mad rush of gift buying and giving for teachers, teaching assistants, nursery nurses and all other manner of job roles in childcare. I have been working with children for over three years now and I can still remember my first 'real job' after leaving school, working as a nursery nurse. I was really unprepared for just how seriously parents and children take events such as Christmas, Easter, the last day of term, transitions to other classes, etc. I remember being in school and moving quite happily onto other classes with new teachers without feeling the need to shower staff in gifts. In fact I can only ever remember my Mum buying one member of staff a present and that was the deputy headteacher who had supported me through a lot during my time at the school.
So you can imagine my shock when I was given piles of chocolates, jewellery and vouchers from parents and children all because it was Christmas and they wouldn't see us for two weeks while the nursery was shut. I was horrified, yet other members of staff loved it and acted as though it was a perfectly natural state of events. If anything they encouraged it, displaying their gifts in the classroom to guilt trip and panic other parents into buying more, desperate to out do the other yummy mummy's.
The same could be said when I left my job at the nursery after over a years service there, I was showered with gifts that required three trips back to the classroom from the car just to take it all home. I felt completely overwhelmed by the parents generosity- after all, I was just 'doing my job'.
I almost wondered whether this was just one off treatment- it was a private nursery afterall, maybe this was just exclusive to the staff there and the obviously well off parents?
I have been working at a primary school for over two years now and I can certainly confirm that this is not the case. After three months at the school I received a whole host of Christmas presents, and by the end of my first year I took home bags worth of leavers gifts home.
Yesterday I completed my second year and I was overwhelmed by the number of children finding me throughout the day to give me gifts and cards. Even children from other parts of the school who I met on occasions, wanted me to sign their leavers shirts and one child even gave me a cupcake and card thanking me for looking out for him while on my lunch duty. It really does show that the silly nicknames, the smiles, jokes and just asking if they are okay and to have a good weekend really does have an impact. In no way am I denying that my actions don't mean a lot to other people because I am sure they do. Nor am I saying that I don't think I am good at what I do, if I wasn't I wouldn't work with children. However I am keen to ask why parents and children feel this increasing pressure to buy into the consumerism of gift giving for every event that falls in the school calendar. As little as five years ago you wouldn't have found cards for teachers and teaching assistants in supermarkets, nor gifts for them yet now that is all you see at this time of year. Why do parents find themselves emotionally attached to teachers and classes despite not actually attending themselves?
Of course I couldn't discuss gifts without showing you yesterday's haul in order for you to understand just how much people buy into this new found tradition...
These gifts were possibly the nicest I have ever received from one child. I was given the most beautiful red gladioli and personalised biscuits as well as a card thanking me for my one to one work with their child. I would also like to state that three other members of staff were given flowers and personalised gifts from the same family- it begs the question of how much did that set them back in what is actually a fairly deprived area and is it acceptable to encourage this?
I also received lots of sweet treats from staff and children. This will keep me going for a while, especially if Christmas is anything to go by where I was still eating my gifts in February...
I also was given other gifts that weren't edible including the most amazing smelling candle, a Russian doll notebook and a hand crafted clip.
I also received presents from staff thanking me for my hard work over the past year...
These gifts were from my team leader who treated me to a candle, shower gel, nail varnish and some yummy chocolate. My head of year invited us all to a quaint little English tea party complete with full china, luxurious home made cakes and jam along with tea and coffee. the room was decorated in bunting and classical music played whilst we tucked in. We really were spoilt.
What is even more shocking is that this is just what I am receiving as a teaching assistant- imagine what the teachers are getting? I know that at least three members of staff received £20 gift vouchers for Next... each! That is £60 for just one child's teacher and who is to say that there aren't other children within that family unit who expect their teachers to get the same gifts. What is also apparent is that the teachers and staff have grown to expect these presents, tracking who hasn't given them anything and associating this with their income and lifestyle not necessarily personal choice.
All that is left to ask is, what will I be receiving for Christmas?
No comments:
Post a Comment