You might be smack bang in the middle of the holidays, but opening your presents on Christmas morning made it clear that there really is no escaping school, not even at this most joyful time of the year.

Here are six school-related gifts every teacher is bound to find in their stocking one Christmas or another.

1. Stationery presents

There’s something strangely pleasing about a set of virgin highlighters, or new pencils so sharp they could take someone’s eye out. Bonus points to the gift-giver if they come in a pretty pencil case, too.

2. A new lunchbox

The truth is that teachers need an awful lot of the same stuff as the children they teach. So a stylish accessory to transport your sandwiches in is very welcome. The best examples will score you kudos with your pupils with a nod to something as culturally interesting and relevant to them as it is to you: anything from Peppa Pig to The Kardashians, depending on the age you teach.

3. Personal work memorabilia

No matter how much you love your job, we all hit that wall on drizzly Tuesday mornings. Tess is tantruming in the corner; your teaching assistant is off with a stomach bug and the 60 unmarked books on your desk end up sliding to the floor in a dramatic heap. These are the days when you need to look at a photograph of your loved ones, or that framed inspirational quote you like so much. The people who know you best will understand the importance of a work talisman and will buy you a brilliant one to help you make it through 2017.

4. A staffroom mug

Every teacher knows the pleasure of drinking out of your very own mug during break time. Somehow, the tea just seems to taste better. A mug might not seem like the most exciting gift ever, but you’ll realise its power when the supply teacher borrows it and you find yourself burning with white hot rage.

5. A book about teaching

Books about teaching tend to come in two distinct flavours. There are the serious ones, designed to improve your practice. You will almost certainly begin reading these on Boxing Day, only to give up after an hour in favour of re-reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the fiftieth time.

The second type is the “joke” book, full of witticisms about what it means to be a teacher. As with all good comedy, though, the best jokes might turn out to be rather too close for comfort.

6. Wine/spa vouchers/box-sets

While the connection to teaching might not be obvious here to the untrained eye, these things will be given to you by the people who truly appreciate the stresses and strains that the coming term will bring. Anyone who gives you a gift like this is a keeper. Hang on to them!

Kate Townshend has been teaching in schools in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire for more than 10 years. She tweets as @_KateTownshend

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow TES on Twitter and like TES on Facebook