to think there is NO NEED for 2 inset days after a week off?

[Charliefarlie1192]

Only realised by asking on fb this morning that ds doesnt return to school till wednesday as today and tomorrow are inset days, aibu to think this is beyond ridiculous?!

In my dept gained time is also timetabled for departmental tasks like rewriting schemes of work, writing tests etc. No wonder Hamione doesn't need to work in the summer holiday if she gets to do it all in gained time!

Four new assessments and markschemes written last week in gained time and evenings, before the great filing enterprise began this week. I'm the one with the most gained time because with a colleague on maternity leave I'm the only one that can teach the A2 course, and my little darlings did their exam today.

Surely not all teachers NEED to have 5 training days - how did someone arrive at that figure then?
Some teachers require more and do get extra time in school hours to train that get covered by supply.
I think the arbitrary plonking of INSET days is very disruptive to children and parents. Much better to put all 5 in a week and add it to a half term. However that is way to much organisation of training providers for most schools so you get these stupid days tagged on will nilly. We certainly don't get a years notice of INSET dates either. Lucky if it's more than a term in advance.

Even in secondary I never really got any gain time once Y11 and Y13 left. In noth my schools we were allocated other lessons/areas to work on, not given additional free lessons.

Obviously in primarily that doesn't happen anyway.

5 days was selected many years ago and were take out of teacher's holidays. Children's holiday time has never altered. They still do the same number of days/hours in school.

Having all 5 days in one week just wouldn't work all the time. Many involve outside agencies, speakers, etc. These external groups need to visit more than one school in a year - so they need to be spread out over the year to enable this.

Also, much training is linked to key aspects of the year. For example - in September INSET may be linked to the new year, new children joinging, new policies, new routines, etc. However later in the year it may be linked to a new prgoramme being introduced, or linked to a government intervention/assessment being launched,. In our case this week it was linked to a new phonics programme that we are getting in school. By having INSET now we can implemetn it straight away. We couldn't do that if we hadn't had the training though. In secondary it may be linked to moderation or exam stuff - again, needs to be at the right time of the year.

This year our INSETs have been:
First day back - meetings in depts/year teams/whole school in morning. Training in depts in afternoon - we had chief examiner for A level in.
Second day back - data given out about classes/forms. Individual meetings to discuss exam analysis that had to be done in the holidays. Classroom sorting.

6 twilights: three on new OFSTED criteria, three on SISRA and use of data.

One performance management day.

Hulababy - my point exactly. Someone has decided an arbitrary number of training days. Schools will have different training needs hence some members of staff doing training with cover during term time.

I mention there are outside speakers which is why schools can't do a week off - however I don't see why schools should make this the parents problem. Classroom sorting and admin are done whether there is an INSET or not.

Teachers and TA's can have 5 training days a year and take them at agreed times in term time if they need them (as they do now). Children can have their 5 days holiday (with agreement from head) so their parents can take them on holiday without paying through the nose. Schools stay open apart from 13 weeks holiday.

INSET is about the whole school training. Going on a course (twice in 9 years!) is about personal CPD.

but what about whole school training nothing? For instance, every member of staff at my school have to do their child protection training (compulsory, every 3 years) this term.....we have LA trainers in to do that, should they come in every other day to train 3 staff members (forget about all the other schools in the same LA)

Aye these INSET days are a pain in the arse for working mums indeed. I'm a working mum. And a teacher. Oh.

Oh aye, I knew there was something else I wanted to say. I get 7 weeks in the summer holidays this year. Boost!

not that I'm going against anything that's been said on here but I know a teacher who has a weekend job and does overtime in that job every holiday. DH knew a teacher who is now retired and she went on holiday every school holiday and didn't work during the holidays. I think this is what makes people not believe so many hours are worked.

I also have to use gain time for departmental tasks such as writing schemes of work, planning etc, but that is exactly the kind of thing people are talking about doing over the summer holiday. Over the summer there is nothing to mark, no reports to write etc , all you can really do is plan. That would all be done in my gain time.

I guess a big advantage of secondary is that there are a few of us teaching the same lessons so we can share the planning meaning that all teachers have to do is tweak.

I am sure you should not be given other lessons to teach, I have picked a few up voluntarily but woud not expect people to assume I will pick up lessons.

For me the point of gain time is to get ready for the next academic year.

I work with teachers who go on holiday each holiday, I would do so if I could afford to and my dp was not working. I don't really see it as a problem . If you are on top of your workload it is good to be rested. Who wants tired teachers with no life outside of a classroom?

Re ; child protection training (compulsory, every 3 years).

Seriously though do you all actually need to go in to listen to someone from the Local authority tell you the latest government spin on child protection. No of course not. You are all degree educated intelligent people. A memo would do the job.

This is the sort of thing that hacks parents off. Ticking boxes for the sake of it at massive cost to everyone else. Not really teachers fault but not worth arguing for.

In primary, we have to reinvent our plans every single year, and personalise them to the children in our classes. We have to name the children, and specify how they are going to access the curriculum, explaining where our TA is going to be at every moment within the lesson. We also have to quote the children's levels and the APP steps on our plans.

Not to mention, we've just taken on the IPC so a brand new curriculum which needs to be tweaked and sorted so it fits with us... lots and lots of additional work.

On top of that, we are using four different schemes to level work. APP for the 'day to day' assessment of all our class (31 in my class) for maths, reading and writing, then a different scheme to mark writing for the assessments, then a different scheme to assess reading for assessments. It's exhausting.

On top of THAT, I have to write 31 reports which are all about 3,000 words, with no word banks.

AND I still have to teach all day. And mark books with formative comments- two positive comments and a wish for every child every week for maths and writing.

I need a

I never use other people's planning. I'm a perfectionist and rarely use my own two years running. I have to personalise the learning for each child with SN, A, G &T, FSM etc.

Anyway, we all work differently and that is fine. Off to work now.

I guess a big advantage of secondary is that there are a few of us teaching the same lessons so we can share the planning

I teach secondary and I don't recognise this at all. None of my department teach the same lessons - for a start we are all teaching different sets.

What subject do you teach, NiceHamione?

Seriously though do you all actually need to go in to listen to someone from the Local authority tell you the latest government spin on child protection. No of course not. You are all degree educated intelligent people. A memo would do the job.

I can just imagine the thread on AIBU now.. AIBU to think that this child protection issue at my child's school would never have occured if the whole staff had full cp training rather than just a memo sent round.

You can't win.

I do voluntary work. I am giving up an evening tonight to do safeguarding training, I for a separate voluntary role gave up a morning last year for safeguarding training.
There is always something new to learn, personnel do change, there maybe new legislation. A memo can easily get lost in the pile (inbox) of other memos. Safeguarding is too important to be lost, and the memo is unlikely to land just when you need the info.
However from my experience of school INSETs, it is not just routine training that takes place. The five days just touch the tip of the ice-berg of all the planning, training and liaising that needs to happen in a school.

''Seriously though do you all actually need to go in to listen to someone from the Local authority tell you the latest government spin on child protection. No of course not. You are all degree educated intelligent people. A memo would do the job.''

What a joke - something as important as safeguarding sent round in a memo ! - when they had this training last in our school - all staff went from Head teacher, teachers , TA's and care taker !

The idea that children can be adequately safeguarded with a bloody memo makes me feel sick.

It's even worse that the ridiculous OP.

A memo for safeguarding?!

"Seriously though do you all actually need to go in to listen to someone from the Local authority tell you the latest government spin on child protection. No of course not. You are all degree educated intelligent people. A memo would do the job."

When I did child protection training involved a senior social worker telling us how to spot the signs of child abuse and what to do if a child makes a disclosure. It is the sort of training that could save lives. If handling child protection issues was so easy then Victoria Climbe and Peter Connely would still be alive today. Everyone employed in a school does child protection training.

Feel free to report me. Anyone who thinks that child protection training should be scrapped so that teachers can provide free childcare has really lost the plot. I might be tempted to ask why you had kids in the first place.

Well Said Really Tired.

I always find my CP training refreshes all those signs and updates me on what procedures then take place. Same with first aid, should we just get a memo for that?