Inset Days vs School Holidays

emweaver

A little off topic but my daughters teacher is going to America for two weeks next week. Literally only just back from Easter with half term the week after she returns. I don't feel she should be allowed to holiday in term time if pupils can't. It's not the first teacher to holiday during term time either since September.

Alchemilla

duchy wrote: »

Or do as the school I worked in did - Did the training as twilight and still shut the school on the inset day so the teachers could have a day off !!
Apparently training days give teachers who are also parents childcare problems (presumably parents who don't work in education don't have the same problem)

That is the point. The staff have completed that work day in twilights so they DO get the day off.

Remember these were never taught days.

Alchemilla

Indie_Kid wrote: »

TBF, when their children are off school, the odd day here and there for inset days, they may either have to take time off work or find childcare. Neither of which are always easy.

There is no reason for maintained schools why parents cannot lobby the local authority for tacking INSET on to holiday if it is more convenient. Our LA decides the dates of three of the training days and the schools can schedule the other two.

Alchemilla

emweaver wrote: »

A little off topic but my daughters teacher is going to America for two weeks next week. Literally only just back from Easter with half term the week after she returns. I don't feel she should be allowed to holiday in term time if pupils can't. It's not the first teacher to holiday during term time either since September.

I think this is the exception rather than the norm. It might be a family wedding or something but two weeks is surprising. The teacher might be on a supply contract with zero job security and in that case they can choose which days they work.

FBaby

What I don't understand is why different schools use a different amount of days if these days are so important.

I have to say I agree with this, not a difference of one or even two days, but what can be up to a full week.

I was surprised when I realised that my DD secondary school only have one inset day this year, and that was the first day starting in September. They were totally reduced after becoming an academy. I think my son's school number of inset day is what is set by the LA, that is 4 annually.

However, a friend of mine who lives in a different county was telling me that her DD school has 7 inset days a year, which seems incredibly excessive.

whitesatin

A few thoughts from a retired teacher:

Re the teacher going to America for two weeks, that does seem a bit much but, as suggested, she might not be on a proper contract. When I did long term supply teaching, I took time off to go to a wedding in America. It might have appeared to parents that I was out of order but the reason people do supply is for the flexibility.

I hated twilight sessions. At the end of the school day, I had lots of writing up and prep to do and just wanted to get on with it rather than always take it home. I attended training even as a supply teacher as I could see the benefit but would rather have come in for inset days than do any training after a full day in the classroom.

Now, as a grandma, I can feel the frustration re taking children out of school but fully understand why it is not a good idea. We are going away for a little seaside break next week, to a place that is big enough for my grandson to join us. It is tempting to keep him out of school (he is still not 5 and has been at school since September) but, instead, he will just join us with his parents at the weekend.

ViolaLass

I'm glad to see that the OP has realised that their child is not missing any teaching as a result of INSET days being introduced.

That said, I'm not convinced that they're always best used (and I say this as a teacher).

We have about 5 INSET days a year. They tend to be used for:
- a whole school staff meeting (where the head enjoys the sound of his own voice),
- some necessary training e.g. on autism or SEN,
- departmental meetings (which everyone gets through as quickly as possible and which could really be done during lunchtime during term AND might benefit from being shorter but happening more often than once or twice a term).

In the afternoon, I attend a meeting that is particular to the kind of school I work in and that wouldn't apply to most schools.

Probably about 2-3 hours of the day is really used well. The rest is filler.

I'm not saying this is the case in all schools - my previous school used to do really good CPD for my department and I felt that at least the morning was used well. I just don't think my school does it that well which suggests that plenty of others don't either. That said, my previous school had other issues so you can't win them all.

To the posters who said that it gives you a chance to write school reports and prepare displays - I can appreciate that it's nice to be given time for these but that's not what INSET days were intended for, surely?! I have to write school reports in my own time and don't find it too much of an issue.

daisiegg

emweaver wrote: »

A little off topic but my daughters teacher is going to America for two weeks next week. Literally only just back from Easter with half term the week after she returns. I don't feel she should be allowed to holiday in term time if pupils can't. It's not the first teacher to holiday during term time either since September.

I can't believe this (I don't mean I think you are lying, I just mean, wow!) I have never, ever, ever heard of teachers being allowed holiday during term time other than people mentioning it on these forums, which has happened once or twice before as well. We would not even be allowed a single day off for a close family member's wedding. A colleague recently was not allowed a day off for his mother in law's funeral (he would have been if it was his own mother, father, sibling, or spouse,but that is all). I have worked in a few different schools and know people working in many more than that and no one I ask has ever heard of teachers being allowed holiday in term time. I just don't get that at all!

duchy

Alchemilla wrote: »

That is the point. The staff have completed that work day in twilights so they DO get the day off.

Remember these were never taught days.

Indeed but it was presented to the STAFF as -"we can have a training day or you can have a day off mid term and do twilight". I have NO problem with staff staying to normal finishing time of 6pm to "earn" the hours off -after all lots of salaried professionals come in early and stay late -some get to flex those hours , for others it is "just part of the job" so the teachers are fortunate in that case. My issue is when this "flex" is taken. It would be far less disruptive to the consumers/customers of the school (otherwise known as parents and students) if those days were either tagged onto the beginning or end of terms or the staff treated them as floating days . There are plenty of instances when teachers ARE absent to attend various off-site work related events/meetings/trainings and these could be treated in the same way rather than these mass random days midterm which make difficulties for parents who already stretch their annual leave to cover school holidays -and already rely on holiday clubs which obviously don't exist for training days.

American schools give their teachers a certain number of "personal days" each year which can be used either as sick days or days off in term time. They can be taken at more or less any time but obviously if they are elective first week of term, exam weeks etc are excluded. My teacher friends use them for long weekends (so they get to holiday in term time-the age old teacher complaint) or weddings or all the other things we needs days off for and where they are elective the school gets to plan for cover and has lesson plans in advance so far better for the students than a teacher pulling a sickie.

Yes we need training days - but we don't need wholesale closure to accommodate them. Twilight them and then tag them onto the end of sessions or give the teachers the time off individually. Most would be happy to cover the lessons for others knowing it would mean they can have a day off mid term when they want it without having to get special permission or go sick (and make no mistake plenty of teachers will pull a sickie when they absolutely need a day off in termtime)

There's a mindset that we need to close the schools to fit in training - we don't. There are other options that benefit both teachers and families.

Brighton_belle

daisiegg wrote: »

A colleague recently was not allowed a day off for his mother in law's funeral (he would have been if it was his own mother, father, sibling, or spouse,but that is all).

That is seriously appalling Daisie - to think on the worst day of my life, my mother's funeral, my husband would not be allowed the day off work to comfort me is beyond comprehension. Inhuman.