At Britain's most expensive private schools, parents use WhatsApp groups to orchestrate end-of-term gifts for teachers, turning the tradition into an annual competition where presents escalate from designer accessories to luxury spa weekends and high-end driving experiences. The ritual has become a status display, with staff at different levels receiving gifts calibrated to reflect their school hierarchy.

The gifting culture exposes sharp class divisions within school communities. Established wealthy families signal their status through seemingly modest handmade items and invitations to use private estates, positioning restraint as a mark of sophistication, whilst families with newer wealth purchase expensive commercial goods—creating an impossible social calculus where excess spending risks appearing vulgar whilst modest gestures suggest inadequate appreciation. The WhatsApp groups have become toxic spaces where these tensions play out openly.