How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day. The Week Before.

Over the last thirty years, Independent Thinking has been part of literally thousands of inspirational and memorable INSET days all around the world.

So, we have a good idea of how schools and colleges manage to get it right – or wrong.

Here, in the second part of our blog on How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day, Independent Thinking founder (and none-too-shabby INSET speaker himself) Ian Gilbert shares some tips and suggestions as the big day approaches.

One Week to Go

Confirm all the logistics: Double-check with your staff and external speaker or speakers that they are clear on timings and expectations.

If you ask a speaker in advance for their slides, this might be useful for you, but it rather implies they have either planned your session well in advance (unlikely) or they are just using the same set of slides with everyone and have been all year (not us).

If you absolutely must have them in advance for some technical reason, the closer to the day the better. Even if that’s the morning of the INSET day itself. Many a presentation is tweaked late at night in a Premier Inn.

If you haven’t done so already, exchange mobile numbers in case of any last-minute issues, queries or, heaven forbid, emergencies.

With that in mind, what is your plan b if for some extreme reason the speaker doesn’t show up (weather, illness, car breakdown, train strikes, family drama, wrong date in the diary. True stories all)?

NB More frequently than you might think, we are approached by schools who have been let down at the last minute by a speaker. We have usually been able to help them out at such short notice so make sure you know how to get hold of us quickly.

You can always call us on 01267 211432 or email learn@independentthinking.co.uk. That includes evenings and weekends.

Communicate with site support teams: Ensure cleaning, catering and site staff are fully briefed on what’s needed on the day, including specific food requirements.

Talking of which, make sure non-teaching staff are invited to be part of the day too, even if only for the breaks if the rest of the day is not suitable.

That said, we have had some great sessions when non-teaching school staff are in the audience too.

If you are planning on inviting them, make sure to tell the speaker so they know to incorporate non-teachers into their presentation.

Check AV and sound needs: Confirm the speaker’s tech requirements (microphones, screens, laptops, even a flipchart – with pens that work!) and arrange any additional equipment.

Assuming they are using something like PowerPoint, double check you or the speaker will have HDMI adapters if needed.

And if you are fortunate enough to have widescreen projection rather than the usual 16:9 let the speaker know that too. Showing smaller slides on a wide screen looks awful but reformatting everything at the last minute is a faff we could all do without.

Double check the sound from the computer works too, whether that’s through the HDMI or via an external jack.

And if you’re not the sort of person who knows how to change the sound and vision output settings on a Mac or PC, know someone who is.

Make sure it is clear who is going to actually introduce the speaker on the day if it is not you. Ensure they are briefed about who the speaker is and what they have to offer the school. Printing out their bio from their website for someone to read out word for word is not the best way to start a day for anyone, including the speaker.

When I am asked how I would like to be introduced my first answer is, ‘Briefly’ and my second is that they should tell the audience where they picked me up from (saw me at a conference, read one of my books, the speaker they really wanted wasn’t available…) and how what I have to say fits in with where the school is going.

Three Days to Go

Finalise materials: Confirm any photocopying, handouts, or materials needed for workshops or sessions. Create extras to avoid shortages but, with the budget and the planet in mind, don’t print anything unnecessarily. Do the staff also really need that pen portrait from the speaker’s website?

Double-check supplies: Pens, notebooks, Post-it notes (oh how we all love those Post-it note activities) or any other materials — make sure everything is on hand.

Sweets on each table can be a nice addition (try and avoid noisy wrappers though) and of course, if you can have water on tables that will be useful too.

Two Days to Go

Distribute the timetable: Share a clear, detailed schedule with all staff, ensuring it reflects your school’s values and goals. (We talked about aligning the day to your school values in part one of How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day.)

Check speaker logistics: Confirm travel arrangements for the speakers and ensure parking or public transport guidance is provided.

If they are coming by train, is it straightforward to grab a taxi at the station? Can someone pick them up?

Are there any roadworks, notorious rush hour traffic jams or weird one-say systems they should know about?

If possible, reserve a space for them near the entrance and then remember to tell them (many a time I’ve ended up parking at one end of the car park and lugged my stuff to the school entrance only to pass a bollard with my name stuck to it in an empty parking space right by the front door).

And if you have more than one entrance or even campus, make sure the speaker knows the one they are heading to. (That last minute dash around Sheffield was not fun! True story)

Assign roles: Designate someone to greet the speaker and then let the speaker know who to ask for on arrival.

Does school policy mean the speaker has to sign in, even when there are no children or students in the building? Make sure whoever is on reception knows the protocol for the day. What do you mean nobody will be on reception that day?!! (Walking around the back of the school and waving through a fire escape is not the best start to the day. Another true story.)

One Day to Go

Prepare the spaces: Ensure the room (or rooms if you are having break-out sessions) are clean, set up, and at a comfortable temperature, especially if the room takes ages to either heat up or cool down. Check tables, chairs, and tech setup (including a final AV and Wi-Fi access).

NB If you are using the school gym for your INSET day, please don’t. The lighting is awful and the acoustics are worse. Avoid if you possibly can.

Catering checks: Ensure refreshments are prepared and the kettle or urn is ready for morning coffee. And please don’t think you can save a bit of cash by not having coffee both at the beginning and at least once more in the day. A hall-full of teachers who have not had caffeine by 9.00 am is a bear pit for all concerned.

To save time, have stations for the refreshments rather than expecting the staff to form one long (and time-consuming) line. If nothing else, encourage them to form two queues and pass down either side of the table full of vol-au-vents.

Bear in mind when and how the catering will be set up. It can be quite disruptive to have food and drink being set out in the same room as the INSET itself. And nothing is quite as distracting as a trolley full of sandwiches and cakes being wheeled past a hungry group of teachers who still have twenty minutes to go till the break.

Having a noisy urn intermittently coming to the boil in the same room can be a pain too.

Have another final tech test: Test all AV equipment again, from microphones to projectors, one last time. Make sure spare batteries are available for the mics and at least someone on the day will know how to change them if the situation arises.

Visual checks: Walk through the venue to ensure it looks professional and inviting. Sit at the back and make sure you can still see everything you need to see. Watch out for pillars.

I’ve often found in a school hall that is longer than it is wide that it is far better to deliver from the middle of a side wall with a horseshoe of chairs around me. Much more intimate and the back (and the PE teachers who lurk there) is much closer to the front that way.

You're almost there.

You've done all your careful planning both in the months before the event and in the week leading up to it.

But you can't quite relax yet.

Now's the time to check out part three – How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day - The Big Day.[ITL]

Ian Gilbert in Action