Easter is a time for giving...

Next Monday, people with no hobbies or outside interests will attend the annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers where they will debate weighty matters such as whether the practice of giving your teacher a present has become too competitive.

Myself and Mrs C regard competition as a thing to be encouraged. She even goes so far as to send parents a list of suitable presents.

I once received a book on Great British Scientists from a pupil who, to put it mildly was not one I would have expected a present from. I was genuinely grateful and mentioned it whenever our paths crossed, until I discovered that it had in fact been stolen from the local library. On another occasion, I was presented with a sturdy wooden book case. As I carried it across the school car park, I heard the footsteps and cries of a small, well behaved child who accosted me, claiming that it was his woodwork project. I expressed my doubts at this claim until he pointed out his name on the back of it.