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?!

By the way, where has the OP gone? Haven't heard from her for ages...

Maybe she's changed her mind on her viewpoint. That's good.

My children's private school had an inset day on the Friday before half term so yes they do have them.

They also have as others have said longer holidays.

Sometimes as a parent I don;t always know the teachers are doing INSET for example they do one at the start of the September term and in my brain I just thing oh its still holiday.

I wonder if private schools find it easier to tag them on to a term because their holiday time is when most schools are still in term for example my children's school break up on 10th July this year wheras state schools break up on 26th or 27th.

God these threads are ten a penny on Mumsnet and always end up the same with teachers or partners of teachers jumping in to list all the things that they do to justify their holidays.

I have been a teacher for 5 years. Before I was one I used to think that teachers were so moany. Then I entered into that world and realised that it is an incredibly difficult job. I went through a phase of getting really pissed off with all the '9 til 3' and 'long holiday' comments and tried to explain what I did and how hard I worked.

Then one day I just had an enlightening moment when I realised that no matter how much you go on about, people who have never worked in education will never understand the job, so moaning about it to people who are not other teachers is just futile. Now I just say 'yeah the holidays are great, you should defnitetly think about teaching. I feel liberated!

Nobody's mentioned (I think) teachers with children, who work in a different local authority to the school their children are in.

In my experience, when the teacher's children's schools are off, their children often have to come in and sit in their parent's class !!

I know some will say it is a perk of the job, being allowed to bring your children in to work, but - poor kids- everyone else has a day off school, but they have to still go, and in a school that isn't their own!!

Yes, teachers have problems with childcare, just like other working parents.

(NB. I am a TA, not a teacher)

Perhaps a solution would be to add a week to, say, the October half term, and then have the training in the holidays (still spread through the year)? I think it would make it easier for parents to plan childcare as the weeks are roughly the same every year, whereas inset days are different every year. Also, there would be childcare provision, ie holiday clubs etc for all the time off the children have. I'm not against teacher training, it just could be made easier for parents. surely this would be easier for teachers who are parents too as it would be easy to find childcare for their children in the holidays when they have to do training?

No, a week added to the October half term would take away vital teaching time at an important part of the year, for sixth form who have to prepare for January modules. So long as we still have them

"Perhaps a solution would be to add a week to, say, the October half term, and then have the training in the holidays "

duh! Surely this is exactly what the OP's school has done. I think the logic in tacking them on to the summer half term is that there are loads of unauthorised holidays around half term. Tacking inset days onto half term allows parents to go away during term time for a week and their children only lose 3 days instead of 5.

Who wants an extra week off in October anyway?! Bloody awful weather.

Some of the tasks that happen at Inset days refer to the term they are in. Eg. At DCs school in October the departments go through and reassess setting for their subject. There is one in February when they go through options etc.
Also as the Government are always changing things, it is good to have some flexibility.

I guarantee that people would moan just as much about an extra week off in October.

Fair enough. Just thought if it was part of the actual holidays, there would be childcare provision available, and you would get used to whichever holiday it was being one week longer every year. You could still do your teacher training whenever throughout the year - I never said it all had to be in October. Do two weeks in May half term then

Our "out of school" club staff are part of the school's staff and need to attend training too!

My mum was a teacher in my primary school. When she had INSET days, my siblings and I would spend the day in her classroom making things at her art trolley. Then, at lunch time, we'd get all of the teachers' orders and go round to the chippy.

I really enjoyed being in school on INSET days!

our school bunches them all up together and we get an extra week of summer holiday.

personally i'd prefer the extra week at Easter or something, but hey ho!

I had forgotten that INSET days were actually taken from our holidays all those years ago!

As a parent they are bloody annoying as they seem to spring up any old time.

Juniper, my DC used to come in with me and get spoiled by all the lovely staff - they looked forward to them