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Ineducation, aninset day (anabbreviation ofin-service training day; alternativelyINSET day)[1] is aschool 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 inCommonwealth countries, predominantly the United Kingdom and Canada, and also Ireland.
An inset day may also be known as aPD day (professional development day; alternativelypro-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] orinservice day.
In the UK, inset days were introduced in 1988 byKenneth Baker, then theSecretary of State for Education, as part of a series of reforms that included the introduction of theNational 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]
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 thelocal education authority, althoughacademy andfree schools have the freedom to set their own dates.
In Canada, the number of inset days varies between each province and individualschool board. TheCanadian territories are not known to have inset days.[2]
| Province or territory | Inset days per school year (2022–2023) | Notes and exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 3–7 | TheMinistry 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 | 7–12 | Some school boards, such as theLester B. Pearson School Board, have as many as 19 inset days, 7 of which are when school is not in session. |
| British Columbia | 6 | Individual school boards decide the number of inset days; most school boards have 6. |
| Alberta | 5–13 | Individual school boards decide the number of inset days. For example,Edmonton Public Schools schedules 8, while theCalgary Board of Education schedules 12, 4 of which are outside the school year. |
| Nova Scotia | 2–8 | Though the maximum inset days is 8, individual school boards choose how many they have. Many school boards have "half-PD days", most commonly forparent–teacher conferences. |
| Manitoba | 9 | 2 inset days are outside the school year. |
| Saskatchewan | 3–15 | Strongly varies between school board. For instance, theSun West School Division has 15 inset days (7 outside the school year), while theChinook School Division has 3. |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 7 | Decided by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association. |
| Prince Edward Island | 6 | Of the 6 inset days, 1 is outside the school year. |
| New Brunswick | 2 | Some school boards have additional half-days; theAnglophone West School District, for example, has 2 full inset days and 4 additional half-days. |
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]
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, someYMCAs and businesses offer "PA day camps" to help parents make alternative plans.[2]
It has been suggested that inset days lead to greatertruancy, 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]