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School bans expensive gifts after parents gift teachers designer handbags and dinners at Michelin-star restaurants

The school said the policy had been in place for quite some time but that a letter was sent out to clarify the rules once again to parents who kept buying teachers extravagant gifts

An independent girls' day school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has been forced to enforce a limit on the gifts being brought in for the teachers after it emerged that parents were spending exorbitant amounts on them. The administration at the St. Helen and St. Katharine school has imposed a £50 ($64) spending limit on teacher presents because they were being gifted Mulberry handbags and gift vouchers for meals at Michelin-starred restaurants.

According to the Mirror, the limit was brought in because the school felt that these generous gifts were putting their staff in an "awkward position."  The school, which charges parents £5,490 ($7,016) a term and boasts businesswoman Samantha Cameron amongst its alumni, also announced it would ban parents from giving gift vouchers with a value above £100 ($127).