One in 10 teachers have admitted to feeling "awkward" when they are given Christmas presents by their pupils, a survey has found.
Staff who took part in the questionnaire revealed they felt especially "embarrassed" if their students were from low-income families.
The poll, conducted by Teacher Support Network and Teacher Support Cymru, discovered four out of five teachers receive gifts from their pupils at the end of term while almost two thirds said they were given presents two or three times across the school year.
"It is only in the last two or three years that I received quite so many presents", one teacher said. "A card with a nice message would be plenty."
Research conducted by retailer Debenhams last year claimed the average amount a child's parents spend on a present for their teacher is £50. But some families spend in excess of £100 and even as much as £300 if they have more than one child.