Any teachers out there ? - what actually happens on "Inset days " ?

SandC

I go to a zumba class in my local high school and I get there at 5.45pm on a Monday. There are around 2/3 cars in the staff carpark when I get there (if that) and the only times that has been different is if there is some kind of after school event going on.
Just saying......

Edited to follow on from above post about schools not being available to work after 5.30pmish...... there has to be downtime at home for tea, dishwashing, getting the kids bathed and bed etc. somewhere within these 13 hour days we are being quoted?

Hmm71

I don't really think there should be a problem with INSET days being tagged onto the end of summer holidays. My daughter's school goes back on the 5th September and I only found out from one of the other mums that the 3rd and 4th are INSET days. It doesn't bother me at all, as far as I'm concerned the new term starts on the 5th and that's that.

It's the other mid-term INSET days that can get annoying when you're working and you have to arrange extra childcare, especially when, as someone else mentioned earlier, when you have two or three kids with different INSET days.

But then I guess teachers with children also have to find childcare on those days so must be equally annoying for them.

Hezzawithkids

And another thing --- what exactly is "non contact time"?? I see that it's built into my son's primary school teacher's timetable, one afternoon a week when the teacher isn't in the classroom and someone else has to take over (not sure who). Another parent told me it was to give the teacher a break from the children.

Remind me again why you wanted to be a teacher??

ViolaLass

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

And another thing --- what exactly is "non contact time"?? I see that it's built into my son's primary school teacher's timetable, one afternoon a week when the teacher isn't in the classroom and someone else has to take over (not sure who). Another parent told me it was to give the teacher a break from the children.

It's preparation time - preparing lessons, marking, whatever else may need doing. It's not 'to give the teacher a break' but rather to give them time to do their job.

gingerdad

Notmyrealname wrote: »

She must be new. None of the four members of my family who are teachers spend anything like that time. One is a head of year, three have been doing it for 20+ years, one for 8 years. My brother, the one doing it 8 years said that in the first year or two you do spend a lot more time doing preparation until you work out how to do it and start reusing material from previous years.

no has 20 years exp and loves her job. and with the moving curriculum its not as easy as using last years stuff. also has a spilt year group which changes.

Idiophreak

SandC wrote: »

Edited to follow on from above post about schools not being available to work after 5.30pmish...... there has to be downtime at home for tea, dishwashing, getting the kids bathed and bed etc. somewhere within these 13 hour days we are being quoted?

I wish

When my wife's busy, particularly during report writing or around ofsted, I make the tea, do the dishwashing, cleaning etc and, frankly, there just wouldn't be time for us to have kids as well. A good number of the teachers I know pay cleaners to come in and look after their house as they just don't have time for it.

Of course, it would be possible for us to have children if we wanted....the wife could be less ambitious with her career aspirations, take on less after school activities or, ultimately, could move to a "nice" little village school with easy children and easier teaching methods...Or even teach part time.

In that regard, teaching *is* a good, flexible career, there's not much argument about that.

Also note that the 13 hours you were quoted was an average, including the weekend work....although it's not far off fair, anyway, and 13 hour days are far from uncommon.

BristolBob

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

And another thing --- what exactly is "non contact time"?? I see that it's built into my son's primary school teacher's timetable, one afternoon a week when the teacher isn't in the classroom and someone else has to take over (not sure who). Another parent told me it was to give the teacher a break from the children.

Remind me again why you wanted to be a teacher??

When do you expect them to mark the work done by the children or prepare the material to teach?

whitesatin

It makes me chuckle, looking back now but I can remember comments made by the caretaker/cleaners when I was still working in my classroom around 5.45. I had to attend meetings two or three afternoons after school, as part of the leadership team, and I had to do my prep before the next day. The cleaners would make comments like, "You can't be very good at your job if you have to work till this time". What they didn't know was that my own two children, who were being looked after by a relative or friends till I got home, would get quite shirty when I still had work to do at home.

I think I was good at my job but it is interesting how people perceive things in their own way.

Acc72

I mustn't live anywhere near the schools that MSE members teach at as I cannot remember a time when I have ever passed a school on my way home from work and seen any cars in the car park (I work a day / office job).

whitesatin

Acc72 wrote: »

I mustn't live anywhere near the schools that MSE members teach at as I cannot remember a time when I have ever passed a school on my way home from work and seen any cars in the car park (I work a day / office job).

LOL, that's because the caretakers have chased all the teachers home so that they can get on with the evening hirings out.