Inset day

Last updated

In education, an inset day (an abbreviation of in-service training day; alternatively INSET day) [1] is a school day on which teaching sessions are not conducted and students do not attend school, but teachers are required to attend for training or to complete administrative tasks. Inset days allow teachers to catch up on work (such as marking exams or report cards), train on new technology, or learn new methods of teaching. [2] [3] Inset days are common in Commonwealth countries, predominantly the United Kingdom and Canada, and also Ireland.

Contents

An inset day may also be known as a PD day (professional development day; alternatively pro-D day), PA day (professional activity day), Ped Day (pedagogical day), TD day (teacher development day), teacher training day, Baker day, [2] [4] [5] staff development day, [6] school development day, [7] or inservice day.

History

In the UK, inset days were introduced in 1988 by Kenneth Baker, then the Secretary of State for Education, as part of a series of reforms that included the introduction of the National Curriculum for England. Baker introduced the requirement for teachers to attend training in addition to the 190 days previously required, leading to the name Baker days. [4]

Attendance

United Kingdom

In the UK, teachers in state schools are required to undertake five inset days in addition to the 190 teaching days children are required to be in school. [4] The days are determined by the local education authority, although academy and free schools have the freedom to set their own dates.

Canada

In Canada, the number of inset days varies between each province and individual school board. The Canadian territories are not known to have inset days. [2]

Province or territoryInset days per school year (2022–2023)Notes and exceptions
Ontario 3–7The Ministry of Education mandates a minimum of 3 inset days and a maximum of 7; most school boards choose to schedule the maximum of 7.
Quebec 7–12Some school boards, such as the Lester B. Pearson School Board, have as many as 19 inset days, 7 of which are when school is not in session.
British Columbia 6Individual school boards decide the number of inset days; most school boards have 6.
Alberta 5–13Individual school boards decide the number of inset days. For example, Edmonton Public Schools schedules 8, while the Calgary Board of Education schedules 12, 4 of which are outside the school year.
Nova Scotia 2–8Though the maximum inset days is 8, individual school boards choose how many they have. Many school boards have "half-PD days", most commonly for parent–teacher conferences.
Manitoba 92 inset days are outside the school year.
Saskatchewan 3–15Strongly varies between school board. For instance, the Sun West School Division has 15 inset days (7 outside the school year), while the Chinook School Division has 3.
Newfoundland and Labrador 7Decided by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association.
Prince Edward Island 6Of the 6 inset days, 1 is outside the school year.
New Brunswick 2Some school boards have additional half-days; the Anglophone West School District, for example, has 2 full inset days and 4 additional half-days.

Australia

In Australia it is either known as school development days or staff development days where teaching staff prepare for the school term and it usually is the first day of school term. This could involve professional learning or doing administrative tasks. [7]

Criticism

Parents have to arrange childcare or schedules to account for inset days. This can cause disruptions and burdens on parents who do not have easy access to childcare and flexible schedules. Teachers who are parents themselves may have greater problems than other working parents since they are unable to take inset days off to look after their own children when an inset day is scheduled at their children's school. [8] In Canada, some YMCAs and businesses offer "PA day camps" to help parents make alternative plans. [2]

It has been suggested that inset days lead to greater truancy, especially when they are scheduled near the end of the school year for teachers to mark report cards and final exams, as students may believe their marks and attendance after those inset days no longer matter. [2] [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teacher</span> Person who helps others learn

A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kindergarten</span> Preschool educational approach

Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th century in Germany, Bavaria and Alsace to serve children whose parents both worked outside home. The term was coined by German pedagogue Friedrich Fröbel, whose approach globally influenced early-years education. Today, the term is used in many countries to describe a variety of educational institutions and learning spaces for children ranging from two to six years of age, based on a variety of teaching methods.

A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical experience in educational settings. The curriculum is designed to provide foundational knowledge in pedagogy, educational psychology, teaching methodologies, and subject-specific training. Graduates of this program are equipped with the skills necessary to foster a supportive and effective learning environment for their students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in England</span>

Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child care</span> Care and supervision of children

Childcare, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from two weeks to 18 years old. When describing a business class, 'daycare' is usually written as a single word. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typically refers to the care provided by caregivers who are not the child's parents. Childcare is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early childcare is an important and often overlooked component of child development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preschool</span> Establishment for education of young children

A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It may be publicly or privately operated, and may be subsidized from public funds. The typical age range for preschool in most countries is from 2 to 6 years.

Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

An academic term is a portion of an academic year during which an educational institution holds classes. The schedules adopted vary widely. Specific synonyms are commonly used to denote the duration or a term. In most countries, the academic year begins in late summer or early autumn and ends during the following spring or summer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Austria</span>

The Republic of Austria has a free and public school system, and nine years of education are mandatory. Schools offer a series of vocational-technical and university preparatory tracks involving one to four additional years of education beyond the minimum mandatory level. The legal basis for primary and secondary education in Austria is the School Act of 1962. The Federal Ministry of Education is responsible for funding and supervising primary, secondary, and, since 2000, also tertiary education. Primary and secondary education is administered on the state level by the authorities of the respective states.

A preschool teacher is a person who is employed to care for children from infant to 4 years of age in a daytime setting. “Preschool“ is the category for children aged 2 to 4 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teacher education</span> Training teachers to develop teaching skills

Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community. The professionals who engage in training the prospective teachers are called teacher educators.

A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" is the most commonly used phrase in the United States, South Africa, Canada, India and Ireland, while supply teacher is the most commonly used term in Great Britain and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick. The term cover teacher is also used in Great Britain. Common synonyms for substitute teacher include relief teacher or casual relief teacher and "emergency teacher". Other terms, such as "guest teacher", are also used by some schools or districts. Regional variants in terminology are common, such as the use of the term teacher teaching on call (TTOC) in the Canadian province of British Columbia and occasional in Ontario.

Education in Jamaica is primarily modeled on the British education system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Ethiopia</span>

Education in Ethiopia was dominated by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries until secular education was adopted in the early 1900s. Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated literacy rate below 50% and compared poorly with the rest of even Africa in the provision of schools and universities. After the Ethiopian Revolution, emphasis was placed on increasing literacy in rural areas. Practical subjects were stressed, as was the teaching of socialism. By 2015, the literacy rate had increased to 49.1%, still poor compared to most of the rest of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certified teacher</span>

A certified teacher is an educator who has earned credentials from an authoritative source, such as a government's regulatory authority, an education department/ministry, a higher education institution, or a private body. This teacher qualification gives a teacher authorization to teach and grade in pre-schools, primary or secondary education in countries, schools, content areas or curricula where authorization is required. While many authorizing entities require student teaching experience before earning teacher certification, routes vary from country to country.

A paraprofessional educator, alternatively known as a paraeducator, para, instructional assistant, educational assistant, teacher's aide or classroom assistant, is a teaching-related position within a school generally responsible for specialized or concentrated assistance for students in elementary and secondary schools.

Teaching in Victoria, Australia is regulated by the Victorian Institute of Teaching, through the Department of Education and Training (DET), which is part of the State Government. The DEECD is biggest operator of schools in the state, and along with the independent and Catholic school systems have an interest in teaching as the operator of schools and employer of teachers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education Act 2011</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Education Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was the first major piece of education legislation to be introduced by the coalition government, and makes changes to many areas of educational policy, including the power of school staff to discipline students, the manner in which newly trained teachers are supervised, the regulation of qualifications, the administration of local authority maintained schools, academies, the provision of post-16 education, including vocational apprenticeships, and student finance for higher education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United Kingdom</span>

In March 2020, nurseries, schools, and colleges in the United Kingdom were shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By 20 March, all schools in the UK had closed for all in-person teaching, except for children of key workers and children considered vulnerable. With children at home, teaching took place online. The emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 in December 2020 led to cancellation of face-to-face teaching across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales the following month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the Republic of Ireland</span> Irish school and university closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

On 12 March 2020, all schools, colleges, and childcare facilities in the Republic of Ireland were shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 Leaving Certificate and 2020–2021 Junior Certificate examinations, as well as all 2020–2021 Irish language summer courses in the Gaeltacht.

References

  1. "Monthly News - Training day". Teacher Development Agency. November 2005. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Edwards, Samantha (11 January 2023). "What school PA day calendars look like across Canada". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  3. "No Pupils? It must be a Baker Day". Times Educational Supplement. TSL Education. 16 May 1997. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 "Inset day attendance". Schoolzone. Archived from the original on 29 July 2010.
  5. Sellgren, Katherine (15 April 2014). "Parents 'baffled by Inset days', teachers are told". BBC News.
  6. "Staff Development Day (Term 1 2022)". Ashdale Secondary College. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  7. 1 2 "School development days". education.nsw.gov.au. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. Freeman, Alex (2007). "INSET Days – A Pleasure Or A Pain?". eParenting.
  9. Buck, Naomi (28 June 2022). "Opinion: When the school year fizzles out, we're telling kids that education is optional". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 May 2023.