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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this last minute inset day is a terrible idea!

279 replies

Gotajobthrunepotism · 09/12/2020 22:11

Please don’t think I’m teacher bashing. Because I’m really not: I think teaching must be a stressful job, and not one I would choose.

But, this last minute inset day is an awful idea:
This year has been dreadful, and stressful for most people. We home schooled during lockdown while both working full time in hectic jobs. And it was very trying.

To schedule a last minute inset day makes it so difficult for people to get childcare: not everyone has someone to look after their child (particularly if your family are shielding)

Surely this should have been announced at the start of term so parents could plan in advance ?

OP posts:
Jenifirtree · 09/12/2020 22:12

It’s a fucking shit show. It had nothing to do with teachers or even schools though, you know that, right?

superram · 09/12/2020 22:14

Not sure heads were made aware that schools were an extension of track and trace-if they had I’m sure we’d be breaking up this week....

Redlocks28 · 09/12/2020 22:14

Completely agree. Why the DfE thought this was a good idea beggars belief.

I feel so sorry for heads now-they are stuck between a rock and a hard place and blamed for it all.

mamma2016 · 09/12/2020 22:14

Totally agree (I'm a teacher). My school aren't using it as we feel it's too short notice for our families plus we'd want to use it productively for staff training and this would be a rushed decision. Another example of a last minute government announcement- ridiculous!

PurpleDaisies · 09/12/2020 22:15

This is not teachers. This is Gormless Gav and the DfE changing the goal posts again at the last minute.

Many schools have wanted to close early for ages but have explicitly been told they were not allowed to until right at the last minute. Without this inset, they’ll be contact tracing over the school holidays.

MajorBumsore · 09/12/2020 22:15

Please don’t be duped into thinking that this has been done at the behest of or under pressure from schools and teachers. They are as pissed off about it as you are. INSET means training not a day off. It takes organisation and planning, which is not something that can be done easily at short notice. It’s been done so that head teachers can have the pleasure of being unpaid track and tracers for the first 6 days of the holidays before everyone starts travelling around the country with gay abandon on the 23rd as BJ has promised.

Maireas · 09/12/2020 22:16

Where I teach we're not doing it. Not enough notice.

capercaillie · 09/12/2020 22:16

Not all schools will do it- we’re not

BabbleBee · 09/12/2020 22:16

DH is a headteacher. He was told yesterday, same as parents, and has wasted nearly a whole day dealing with parents aggressively telling him that teachers shouldn’t be getting a day off etc etc.

It’s not even an extra day, it’s one that has to be rearranged from 2021 and put in place at the last minute. Like so many other things to do with education this year, the DfE / government have not helped at all.

Oeliilio · 09/12/2020 22:16

It’s incredibly stupid. It’s not an extra day. Schools set their days last year, and to have this day off now they need to add one day in July in most cases. It’s stupid to give them ‘permission’ now, they always had permission as they can pick any day they want for an inset day.

Staff aren’t happy. In addition they want school staff available up to Christmas Eve to support contact tracing. I’m fed up of lost weekends and holidays (unpaid). We theoretically have permission to travel to family, yet in reality we need to potentially be available to go in to access registers etc.

BibbityBobbityBellend · 09/12/2020 22:16

I was shocked when I read the email. It makes no sense. It saves no one with it being only one day but causes a huge issue for a lot of people.

CM warned me at pickup and offered services but that's £40 a day if we weren't able to be work from home. I'm not allowed any more but her dad can.

There the government go again, just not understanding life for the working parent.

Sennetti · 09/12/2020 22:16

have the schools not missed out on the inset days through the virus closing them completely?

inset days need to happen.....i'm sure we all want to start back next year with the best start possible. this will be aiding that.

childcare reasons is no excuse....your kid could have to isolate at any minute so what would you do then?

D4rwin · 09/12/2020 22:17

The teachers didn't think this one up. Most schools here have said it's too short notice and the government have pissed about making this call too long .... again. Like every decision Boris has stayed in his fridge

Maireas · 09/12/2020 22:17

@MajorBumsore - in a nutshell.

beela · 09/12/2020 22:17

It's bloody ridiculous to suggest this now at this stage in the game.

Dotinthecity · 09/12/2020 22:17

The school I work in has decided not to take the onset day on the 18th which I think is the right decision. It's too late in the day to announce this.

Dotinthecity · 09/12/2020 22:18

Inset!

Original poster
Gotajobthrunepotism · 09/12/2020 22:18

Sorry, not blaming teachers. I don’t think this decision is in their pay grade or responsibilities.

Just the idea of it so last minute is ridiculous (and teachers are also impacted by lack of childcare like other workers). And yes, I imagine staff training involves a lot of planning

OP posts:
Original poster
Gotajobthrunepotism · 09/12/2020 22:20

@Sennetti. Agree they need to happen. But not at such short notice.

Kids needing to isolate would be a pain in the arse, but we’d need to suck it up. But for the schools to close to pupils completely with so little warning for an inset day just seems daft

OP posts:
InTheLongGrass · 09/12/2020 22:20

Between the 3 schools the kids and I are linked to, all are open on the 18th.
It's just another governmental shit show trying to show they understand, whilst missing the bigger picture.

BertNErnie · 09/12/2020 22:24

It's an absolute bloody joke. We are not changing anything at all as it's too short notice and it means we have to tag the day onto the summer which no one wants to do.

I am also furious that we are expected to track and trace up until Christmas Eve. Absolutely furious.

Can you imagine? "Hi parent/carer, hope you are enjoying the break, just to bring some Christmas cheer I'm ringing to say you must self isolate immediately and cancel all of your plans tomorrow. Merry Christmas!" Confused

FleasAndKeef · 09/12/2020 22:24

Teachers unions asked for this day off because of the way contact tracing works. If the last day of school is Friday 18th, teachers might have to be doing contact tracing on Christmas day. If the last day is Christmas eve, they can have Christmas day off to spend time.with their loved ones.

Frlrlrubert · 09/12/2020 22:25

Surely, if we actually wanted this decision to make any sense it would be Thursday as well so that in the 23rd people can be sure their kids won't be caught by school T&T?

None of it makes any sense. My school is doing it. No idea whether teachers will be in school for training or not at this point. I'm guessing we will be, some rushed out 'training' and some meetings we could have had on teams no doubt. Probably with the heating off again so we all freeze as well.

I bloody hate insets, but that's because my SLT are of the last-minute-plan variety at the best of times.

MasterGland · 09/12/2020 22:26

It's not great, but with the rate of infection in some schools at the minute, many will not make it to the end of the term anyway. Bubbles bursting all over the place.

wonderstuff · 09/12/2020 22:28

Teachers think it's a crap idea too. INSET isn't a day off, we get 5 training days a year, at short notice it won't be effective and is at the cost of a well planned inset next year. It perpetuates a myth that INSET is a day off, it absolutely isn't.

They've put it in place because after spending ages claiming it wasn't the case the DfE have worked out school leaders who have had very little time off this year could be being asked to track and trace up to Christmas day.

Too late now, what should have happened was months ago someone think about it and allow school to move to online for all but children of keyworkers next week to allow the best chance of a proper break and minimum children and teachers isolating over Christmas.
They also should have closed school for a fortnight over October half term and lockdown the whole UK at the same time, but that didn't happen either.

Government constantly reacting, never planning.