What to gift a teacher: personalised thank yous they'll use every single day

The best thing to gift a teacher is something they will use every day with their name on it, and a mug or a notebook is the safest bet. Start with our personalised teacher gifts and you will see the idea: practical things for the staffroom and the desk, made just for them.

The mug. The Personalised Shine Teacher Mug (£9.49) carries the fixed words 'Thank you for helping me shine'. You add a name of up to 15 characters on the front and four lines of up to 15 characters each on the back. It is ceramic and measures 9.2 x 11 x 8 cm. The text is case sensitive and prints as you type it, so avoid block capitals on the front line.

The notebook. The Personalised Best Teacher Ever A5 Notebook (£7.49) has 'Best Teacher Ever' as fixed text, plus one line of up to 20 characters in fixed upper case. Inside are about 40 double sided lined pages for lesson notes, lists and reminders. It measures 15.3 x 21.1 x 1 cm.

Both are light, flat and simple to wrap. Want more ideas under a tenner? Keep reading.

Good teacher gifts under £10 include a named pencil box, a wooden star sign and a trophy mug. You will find more in our personalised gifts under £10.

• For the classroom. The Personalised Teacher Pencil Box and 12 Pencils (£9.49) holds 12 HB pencils with erasers, in pink or blue. A name of up to 15 characters goes on the box and the pencils, with 'Best Teacher Ever' fixed. On pink, the box prints as you type and the pencils print in capitals. On blue, it is all capitals.
• For the wall. The Personalised You Are A Star Teacher Wooden Sign (£9.49) is a 20 x 10 cm wooden decoration with ribbon included. 'You are a star teacher' is fixed, and you add a name and a message of up to 20 characters each.
• For the coffee break. The Personalised World's Best Teacher Trophy Mug (£9.99) is 11 oz, black inside with a black handle. On the front, line 1 takes up to 5 characters (just right for MRS, MISS or MR) and line 2 up to 15. The back takes two lines of up to 25. Everything prints in upper case.

Prefer a different design? Browse all our personalised mugs. Ready to spend a little more? Here is what £10 to £20 gets you.

Between £10 and £20 you can give a hardback notebook, a plant pot, a water bottle or a travel mug, each one built for a busy school day. See the full range in personalised gifts under £20.

For the list maker. The Personalised Worlds Best Teacher Trophy Notebook (£11.99) is a black A5 hardback with lined pages, 14.5 x 21 x 1.5 cm. 'Worlds Best Teacher' is fixed. Line 1 takes up to 5 characters and line 2 up to 15, both in upper case.

For the green fingers. The Personalised Thank You Teacher Plant Pot (£13.99) is ceramic, 9 x 10 x 9 cm, with 'Thank you' fixed. You get five lines of up to 20 characters. Lines 2, 4 and 5 print as you type them; lines 1 and 3 print in capitals.

For the playground duty. The Personalised Teacher Water Bottle (£13.99) holds 750 ml, is BPA free and has a flip-top spout with straw and a white twist-on lid with carry loop. Add a name of up to 20 characters and a message of up to 30 underneath, both in upper case.

For the early start. The Personalised Teacher Travel Mug (£13.99) is stainless steel with an insulated plastic inner, holds 400 ml and has a sliding sip cover and screw top lid. The teacher wording is fixed; you add a name of up to 12 characters in upper case.

Saying goodbye, or thanking a teaching assistant? There is a bigger gesture next.

For a teacher who is leaving, or a teaching assistant who has gone the extra mile, give something that feels like a keepsake: a desk planner, a teddy bear or a pen and box set. More ideas sit in our personalised thank you gifts.

The organiser. The Personalised Teacher A4 Desk Planner (£15.99) is an undated A4 pad, 21.3 x 30 x 1 cm, so it works from any week of the year, including a new job. Their name, up to 20 characters, prints on every page in upper case under the fixed 'DESK PLANNER' text.

The hug. The Personalised Best Teacher Teddy Bear (£18.99) is a plush bear, 18 x 18 x 15 cm, with 'Best Teacher' fixed. Their name, up to 20 characters, prints as you type it. A message line, also up to 20, prints in capitals.

The grown-up one. The Personalised Teacher Trophy Pen and Box Set (£18.99) pairs a chrome plated ball point pen, 14 x 1 cm, with a lined box engraved with a name of up to 20 characters. 'Worlds Best Teacher' and a trophy motif come as standard. Boxed, it measures 15.5 x 5.3 x 2.5 cm.

Got the gift? Now for the words that make it theirs.

Write their name the way the class says it, plus a short thank you that fits the character limit. We print plain letters and numbers only, so leave out emoji, accents and fancy symbols.

Quick limits to check:

• Shine mug: 15 on the front, four lines of 15 on the back, case sensitive.
• Trophy mug and trophy notebook: 5 then 15 on the front, upper case. The mug back takes two lines of 25.
• Travel mug: a name of up to 12, upper case.
• Pencil box: a name of up to 15.
• A5 notebook, star sign, desk planner, teddy and pen: up to 20 per line.
• Plant pot: five lines of 20. Water bottle: 20 for the name, 30 for the message.

Ideas that fit:

• MRS on line 1 and the surname on line 2 of a trophy design.
• 'Love from Class 4' (17 characters) on the star sign, teddy or plant pot.
• 'THANKS FOR A GREAT YEAR' (23 characters) on the back of the trophy mug.
• 'Stay hydrated love Year 2' (25 characters) on the water bottle.
• A four-line note from one child on the shine mug: 'Thank you for', 'every story', 'and every smile', 'Love Ella'.

From a whole class? Use the class name, like '3B', rather than trying to squeeze in 30 names. Next up: getting the timing right.

At Christmas, gift a teacher something cosy and useful for the spring term; at the end of the school year, gift something to keep. A travel mug, a trophy mug or a desk planner suits December. A plant pot, a star sign or a teddy feels right for the end of the summer term, when the thank you is bigger.

Plan the timing. Every gift here is made in 1–3 working days, then sent by Royal Mail Tracked 24, usually 1–2 working days. In a hurry? Look for the "Next day available" badge on a product page: on those gifts, paid Express delivery is offered at checkout. For December, check our Christmas last order dates before you order.

Send it straight there. Add the recipient's name and address at checkout and we send the gift direct. A free e-card is emailed to them at 8am on the first day the gift could arrive.

Shopping for family too? See our personalised Christmas gift ideas and the best personalised gifts. Next, how to pull off a class gift.

To gift a teacher from the whole class, agree on one gift, pick one person to order it and put the class name in the personalisation. It saves the teacher from a pile of mugs and gives them one thing that really stands out.

How to run it:

• Choose a gift with room for words, like the plant pot with five lines or the trophy mug with two lines of 25 on the back.
• Collect the money first, then order once, so nobody types a different spelling.
• Sign it from the class: 'Love from Class 6' fits a 20-character line.
• Add a matching gift for the teaching assistant, such as the pen set or the teddy.

Ordering for a few? Spend over £60 on gifts and we pay the first £6 of delivery, handy when one parent orders for a teacher and two assistants.

Last step: how the printing works.

You type your words into the boxes on the product page, and we print exactly what you type, then make it in 1–3 working days. After that it goes by Royal Mail Tracked 24, usually 1–2 working days.

What we can print. Plain letters and numbers. We can't print accents, emoji or most symbols. Some fields print in fixed upper case whatever you type; others are case sensitive and appear exactly as entered. Each product above tells you which.

Check before you pay. Read every line out loud. Is it Miss or Mrs? Is the surname spelt right? Because each gift is made to your words, it can't be returned for a change of mind. If it arrives misprinted, faulty or damaged, we remake it or refund it.

Ready to make their day? Pick their gift from our personalised teacher gifts and get it ordered today.