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?!

If AIBU was a lesson plan:

WALT understand that INSET days already take place during the school holidays .

WILF: Posters to be able to calculate the difference between 190 teaching days for children and 195 days in school for teachers.

WILF: Posters to use this subtraction fact and use it to work out an addition fact involving 5 INSET days.

Aren't at least some of the days set by the LA? Those ones will be on the website although know the others are set by the school.

being a working mum it does frsutrate me also, however, what frustrates me the most is the lack of training on so called teacher training days....the teachers at my sons school admit they turn up in the morning to get a tick on the register as attended, then hang around abit, then go home.! BTW, my sons goes to a good state school and i am generally happy with things. Not saying all teachers and all schools do this, but if there are going to be training days i would at least like them to have some!

Inertia don't forget the success criteria, differentiation, traffic light self assessment, thinking time, talking time, partner work, group work, individual work and plenary. Piece of piss, this teaching lark isn't it?

Really wfhmumoftwo?

The most choice I've had at INSET days is "Ok we can have half hour lunch and get off half an hour early if you like".

I went to a whole training day on how to write purposeful learning objectives once. A. Whole. Day.

And does this lesson allow for different types of learners, Intertia?

It, like all lessons allows for all different types of 'learners'

It's those that refuse to bloody learn that are the problem.

YABU! 190+5 is standard, as has already been said repeatedly here. Why should the days not be taken now?

Visual learners: Use Facebook, school website, own calendar or school newsletter to verify dates of INSET days.

Auditory learners: Phone school or other parents to be told dates of INSET days.

Kinaesthetic Learners: Walk child to school - if you encounter teachers but no other children or parents, it's probably an INSET day. Though it could be just a normal holiday day and the teachers have gone to school to get their work done.

YABU- how else are we teachers to learn how to smoke fags, drink coffee and ruin children's lives at the taxpayer' expense? It doesn't come naturally, you know!

Tsk.

FolkGirl- we once had an INSET day based around Improving Pedagogy (or similar wording - essentially How To Teach). There was a session about how important it was to ensure that lessons were not just 1 person standing there writing stuff on a board and talking. In order to demonstrate better ways of teaching, the trainer stood at the front writing these methods on the board and talking.

I'd like to think that they were using it as proof that this isn't often the most helpful way for people to learn, but to be honest it would appear to be a case of 'do as I say not as I do'.

Inertia- could just have been a fonctionnaire exhibiting the usual deformation professionelle of hypocrisy, trying to promote child-centred progressivist whatever when s/he knew that direct, explicit instruction was best- even for 20+ year old professionals...

Statistically, 130% of academics are inconsistent.

My children have always been in the private sector and they have never had an INSET day half way through term - INSET days have always been put at the beginning or end of terms so they are more invisible IYSWIM eg the school calendar will say 4th Sept INSET day, 5th Sept start of term, or 14 December end of term, 15th December INSET day. This means that INSET days have never been a talking point IME. It may be that having the INSET day tacked on to half term that causes consternation as it seems like it is eating into term time

"...they have never had an INSET day half way through term - INSET days have always been put at the beginning or end of terms so they are more invisible IYSWIM eg the school calendar will say 4th Sept INSET day, 5th Sept start of term, ..."

That's no more or less visible than saying the same thing at half term though :) That's exactly what our school term dates say.

wfhworkingmumoftwo "....the teachers at my sons school admit they turn up in the morning to get a tick on the register as attended, then hang around abit, then go home.! BTW, my sons goes to a good state school"

That is appalling and I would question therefore if it is such a good school, actually. And even if it's true, how bloody stupid unprofessional of the staff to admit it to parents?!!! And it just paints the rest of us in a very bad light.

clam I suspected that claim might not be strictly accurate...

Unless they were being sarcastic I suppose, and wfh missed it.

Haven't had time to read all the posts but, OP, YABU not to have checked the term dates until today, and your opinions on teachers' holidays are also unreasonable.

So many people think teachers work 9-3.30 for hardly any weeks a year and it's just not true. Before mat leave started, I was in school at 7.45am. There is no "lunch hour" because, contrary to what we're legally entitled to, the norm is that you are expected to do duties or activities at lunch. At around 6.30pm as a rule, often later, I would leave because the caretakers locked up. So I would take several sets of books to my car so that I could carry on marking at home. Normally this would be marking until 9ish at night. At weekends then I could usually expect to spend one full day planning/marking/writing reports depending on time of year. Also, in my "holidays" I would often spend a significant percentage of time either working at home planning for the next term, or in school doing displays and maintenance in my classroom. Oh, and if I wanted to go away I couldn't choose to go when it was cheaper, or when there aren't kids around because I can only take holiday in the school holidays. Plus the pay (certainly at my level) is really pretty rubbish!!

I chose to teach and I'm not complaining that this has been my lifestyle, but I do get riled when I hear the age-old "teachers don't work hard enough" argument still being bandied around.

I had one of DDs teachers on the phone yesterday morning (yes, Sunday morning) - he has definitely been working all hours.

soupdragon - my point was that by having an INSET day attached to half term it gives the PERCEPTION that the teachers are having an "extra" day off (and I know they are not!!) whereas scheduling them before and after the kids are at school means that that particular misconception about teachers does not arise

Teachers work bloody hard and do a lot at the weekends and during holidays.

However, so do a lot of other professions. DH pretty much never stops working. He has to be available for more serious issues even on holiday.

YABU. They teachers need to do them. You should have checked the dates sooner.

I work but I can cope with a few TT days.

We need to change the terminology here; parents aren't covering Teacher Training Days, but their own child's holiday dates. Even if there were no INSET days, those days would still need to be covered by childcare.

the inset day dd's school did before half term they did nothing cos it had all been covered. Mind you, given the Tories have announced yet another curriculum change I expect the next one (end June) will be busier.