Why can't Teacher training be done in summer holidays

[daffodil10]

Why do summer holidays need to be extended by 3 days to cover inset days when teachers have had 6 weeks off. And before I get shot down I realise they may have been in school over the holidays etc. But what is the point in going back to school on a Thursday

Agree. Hate INSET days

A big part of our INSET training this week was spent on first aid, how to save a child's life if they were choking etc. Pretty important stuff if you ask me...

My uncle was a secondary school English teacher for about 30 years and was frequently up until well past midnight unpaid doing lesson plans, marking homework etc went in on "school" holidays etc and salaries are pro rata. They get paid for 38 weeks a year but split over 12 months and the grief and even violence they get off certain pupils is ridiculous and not limited to the pupils as parents could be as bad, he retired from teaching early and moved abroad working in a much better enviroment in the end as it was killing him . My son goes to a small, lovely family school and his reception class now first year as just gone back little git of a child classmate frequently tells his teacher to F off and calls her a c etc and lashes out physically and the self restraint that woman has is beyond belief. Our inset days are partially in the holidays and partially scattered in the year giving long weekends which is perfect for a cheeky midterm getaway at a cheaper price than holidays. As the summer holidays was originally for kids to help with the harvesting I would be happy with the holidays scattered more evenly throughout the year.... and every area differently so they could scrap the stupid seasonal charges when going on a holiday

I'm going to repeat this, even though multiple people have said it already, because apparently it hasn't sunk in yet.

Teachers don't work 8.55 - 3.20, Monday to Friday, term time only. They are often in school from 8am (or earlier, my friend regularly is in for SEVEN AM) and if they leave before 5 (due to their own childcare needs) are working at home until after 9pm. School 'holidays' are not huge chunks of time off for teachers, they do huge piles of paper work and prep in the holidays. Some of them also teach in Summer schools to supplement their public sector salary.

No I'm not a teacher, my sister and several of my friends are.

And whilst we're at it, would you go into work for training during your annual leave??

Shall we touch on how the Govt has shafted teachers (and other public sector workers) over their pensions?

Unfortunately @Monsters, no one really cares about all that. All they care about is having to spend an extra day or so with their own spawn.

huffletuff completely agree!

See, comments like that make people think teachers have no respect for parents. My DC's school was essentially our childcare for years, and we were v fortunate that we only had to find 5 days of different childcare for their INSET. And that was awkward enough at times. Finding cover for all the holidays must be a nightmare for many parents. Recognising that doesn't hurt, but it doesn't mean terms should be longer either.

Not at all. I have respect for the parents who have respect for me.

School is NOT childcare.

However, you did say no-one. And referred to their children as "spawn".

It sort of is though.

I do apologise. Replace "no one" with "some parents".

They are still spawn.

Odd how hostile people are to teachers. We are losing teachers in droves, which shows that the job isn't the cushy one that a lot of posters seem to think it is. I only have to contemplate a day spent looking after 35 under 7s (for example) to head for the horizon screaming. Value the talented teacher - we are losing far too many of them. And no, INSET days are not taken out of the school term time. Teachers' pay was always calculated to take into account the periods the schools were closed, though it's also important to remember that teachers work during those times.

Having been in school since 7 am and I'm still working on marking, planning and general resourcing... I'm really quite disheartened at some of these comments. No I haven't had a break all day. Yes I've also cooked dinner, done a load of washing and I wont be finished before 11pm tonight before getting up at 5 am tomorrow to do it all again.

Oh yes and I've taught 30 6 year olds between 8.40 and 3.15.

Err I can definitely tell you that teachers do get paid for the holidays - the same salary as per every month, not reduced or anything. Why would anyone think that they get less each month to cover the holiday time? Do other jobs pay you less to cover the annual leave? Teachers do their training , inset days in the holidays not as an extension to them.
I'm glad op that you'd be happy to agree to training days when you're on your annual leave - I expect your annual leave can be taken when prices for holidays are a lot more reasonable? Teachers unfortunately don't get a choice.
Honestly op - how naive are you?

Why would anyone think that they get less each month to cover the holiday time?

We do. It's why supply teachers get paid more, because they're not paid in the holidays.

Inset days are there for the staff to do what they need to, I am really lucky vtgat my school tags them onto holidays/half term.
Yes I have to parent my children (not spawn) and I have to take annual leave to do this.
Oh, but I am just a nurse (don't get me started on working over our time)
I have massive respect for teachers as I know so many, and they work SO HARD in thier own family time to prepare thier lessons and mark paperwork.
That is the teachers I know who are still teaching, so so many are leaving which breaks my heart.

@MaisyPops I was being flippant. Sorry.

Spawn - offspring. Used to be a term for aquatic creatures. Now accepted as a term for the offspring of anything. All children are spawn. Often used in a derogatory manner when referring to the offspring of parents that choose to have children but don't fancy parenting them

Starlight. I haven't posted for a while as my right to reply is playing the victim card apparently. But if you had bothered to read the whole post you'd see that about 4 pages ago I admitted my stupidity. I'm not naive I was asking a question which on a forum you are allowed to do. Secondly you have no idea what I do for a living or my husband so how the hell do you know when I can take my holidays!!

I'm glad op that you'd be happy to agree to training days when you're on your annual leave - I expect your annual leave can be taken when prices for holidays are a lot more reasonable? Teachers unfortunately don't get a choice.

OP appears to have school age children, which also tends to limit your opportunities to go on holidays when prices are cheaper....

Daffodil10
The council website has the term dates on it yes but if you look at the bottom it does state it has held back 5 days of the children's holiday for school to use as inset. School staff are given 12 weeks holiday. 4 paid and 8 unpaid. If you take the 4 weeks paid as annual leave, would you go in on your annual leave? No. If you count it as part of the 8 weeks unpaid. Would you work if you're not getting paid for It? No. Neither would we.

Thank you jassy. And due to my husbands job the time of year when we can go on holiday is very narrow now that we are unable to take them out of school for 5 days once a year

I seem to remember reading about one school last year who used all their five INSET days in one full week. As a member of SLT (don't shoot me) I would say that INSET should link to the School's Improvement Plan. I think it usually works best to take two days at the beginning of the year to set up development work but also allow time for some work on the learning environment, meetings etc. At our school we pay part time staff to be in school all day and we include teaching assistants in whole school CPD. Not all schools can afford to do this but we feel it's necessary. As other posts have said there are some pieces of mandatory training that need to be completed either annually and/or as part of a cycle e.g. Safeguarding, Health and Safety. Whole school First Aid training is becoming more common too and a full Early Years training course takes two full days. So, OP I really hope that your child/children have a fantastic year at school and, if you really want to know how the school used their INSET time, ask the Head what the school's priorities are for the year ahead. I bet that INSET reflected these. Good luck with back to school!