What to wear on inset day?

[followthefairytalexx]

I am going to be a trainee teacher in a secondary school this week. What do teachers usually wear on an inset day? And what is done on inset days?

Casual at all the schools I’ve been in.

Last year it was hot so some were in shorts and t-shirt
I would say wear smart casual this time then depending on what they wear you'll know for next time

I normally wear jeans and a top/jumper.

I’m not a teacher but I’d go for smart casual . My ds and his partner are both teachers ( at different schools) and his partner had an inset day last Tuesday ( 30* in the SE) and they were sent an email on BH Monday saying no shorts - absolutely ridiculous .

Inset days are usually a mix of training and organisation, and information sharing. Teachers use any spare time for planning and sorting out their classrooms and resources.
There might be a theme - safeguarding for example. Have a good day!

Casual and comfortable in the school I work in, although it is smart during term - so it makes a nice change.

It’s business dress at my school so what you would normally wear for work.

I would say smart casual - so I live in jeans and t shirts or similar at home, but wear chinos and a shirt or nice top to INSET days.

I'm primary, though, so at least some of my day will be spent getting dusty putting up displays or sorting out resource cupboards. Secondary might be half a notch smarter.

Pottering, that's really interesting. Obviously business dress simply wouldn't be practical or wise for anyone on a Primary inset, unless you knew in advance it was a full day of classroom-based 'training'! However the fact that some secondaries make it a very 'this is WORK' in terms of clothing is an interesting approach.

Depends entirely on the ethos of the school management, I find. Do you have a contact/mentor/line manager you could send a brief message to?

We were always casual on INSET days at my first school, we were taken over by an academy chain and the first INSET day we all rolled up in shorts/vests/t-shirts/jeans/flip flops etc. and the entire (new) leadership team were in suits. They were NOT impressed! My current school is also an academy but has casual INSET days though.

It might also be worth asking for an outline of the day and the lunch arrangements - again, we always had a free buffet lunch but the new management put a stop to that without warning so we were all hungry as well as horribly underdressed!

If you can’t get any info, just go smart casual and hope for the best. Good luck in your new role

It really varies from school to school! My last school was smart casual (no jeans!), the one before casual (everybody including HT in jeans and trainers) and some schools are “business as usual” smart business dress. If you haven’t been told I would go with smart casual, no jeans.

The day will most likely start with everybody in the hall, first thing on the agenda will probably be exam results review, then some kind of “vision” for the year. There might be safeguarding training or other training sessions plus faculty time, maybe a year team session as well.

A lot of this will probably go over your head (and be very boring). Just go with the flow. Make sure that you get to know the most important people for you and ask your mentor what you should be doing. Good luck!

At my old school everyone wore jean apart from the head.

Actually I'm not a fan of jeans so I wore something casual like leggings or a non smart summer dress. Maybe check tho as some schools now insist on school wear ie smart.

What you do varies, but for the September one we usually had some compulsory refresher training like safeguarding, update on changes to the school such as behaviour management, then faculty time including planning the year, sorting stuff out, getting class lists. Busy day.

Very casual wherever I've worked - jeans, t shirts, trainers. I'm secondary.

Jeans at my place.

At secondary they will spend quite a bit of time looking at GCSE and A-level results and talk about whether it’s good or bad and what the priorities are for the next year. There’ll probably be a department meeting, some safeguarding training, a new staff induction, and if you’re lucky some time to get your shit together.

Lunch may be provided.

cantkeepawayforever - we always used to be jeans and then they changed it about 3 years ago. Also no jeans for stuff like GCSE results day now. If you’re in school you’re in work...!

I would wear something like trousers (not jeans but doesnt have to be ultra smart) and a nice top. Don't wear anything too good as in our we have a short amount of training then it's cleaning and displays and moving furniture etc

Just wear casual clothes (jeans and t shirt) while you still can! You'll probably be in the main hall to start with for at least a couple of hours whilst results etc are discussed. Then departmental meeting, maybe year team meeting if you're a form tutor and possibly also a meeting for new staff/chance for you to get your lanyard etc.

Top proprieties for you should be:
Find out how and where to photocopy (vital)
Where the nearest staff toilets are to your classroom

Take lots of water and ibuprofen with you as you will have a headache by the end of the day! Also take something to make a to do list in which you can add to as the day goes on.

Have fun!

Thankyou everyone for the advice!

How different schools are, results days everyone bar the head appears in shorts and t shirts, I think this is good as everyone is on holiday and has to actively choose to go in.
Tomorrow I am wearing cut off jeans shorts, trainers and a t shirt.
I do not expect to stand out.

Oh, and sorry it will be as boring as shit.
I love my job, my results are consistently fab but bloody inset days do my head in.
Don’t judge the year by the first couple of days, roll on Wednesday when we get the kids back.

I think it's quite poor that you haven't been told a dress code for training days: it would make you much more relaxed about what will be a strange day anyway.

Smart casual in 2/3 secondary schools I've worked in, so not jeans but not suits. Most people will wear chinos /linen trousers/dresses etc including SLT. Then, bizarrely, one school I worked in with full on casual, ie jeans or shorts allowed, was also where SLT all wore suits on training days.

I'm wearing a fatface fairly casual jumpsuit, vest top, and trainers. Training days here are own clothes days.