How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day. The Big Day.

For over three decades, Independent Thinking has been part of thousands of inspirational and unforgettable INSET days throughout the UK and beyond.

So, we have a good idea of how schools and collages can get an INSET day right – or wrong. 

In How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day - Part One Day, Associate Dave Harris shared his thoughts on the first steps to take in the process. 

In How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day - Part Two, Ian Gilbert shared his experience on what you should be doing as the big day approaches.

Now, in the third and final part of our advice on making your INSET day memorable for all the right reasons, he shares wisdom gleaned from many years' experience of the big day itself.

On the Day

Arrive early: Be on-site well before others to make sure everything is as planned. Make sure that urn is gurgling nicely and whatever is meant to be in/out of the fridge is.

Welcome the speaker(s): Greet them warmly, provide Wi-Fi details, and ensure they have everything they need. Offer them tea or coffee and make sure they have water for the day. And tell them where the loos are. (‘Can you point me to the loo?’ ‘No, but I can take you to the door’ – a conversation that only happened in my head.)

Technical support: Have someone on hand to manage any last-minute AV issues. Make sure everything is still working before the speaker starts. We’ve heard, ‘But it was working fine when I checked it yesterday’ so many times.

If you are planning on using a laptop and projector before the speakers starts, make sure you build in time to swap over from your tech to theirs and do this before you introduce them formally.

And have a serious think about whether you actually need to be showing anything in the first place as it introduces a hassle that no-one needs. If it’s just a slide with the outline of the day on it, let the speaker have it in advance so they can display it for you and save having to do the awkward swap around.

Kicking Off

Set the tone: Whoever is doing the introductions should highlight the school’s values and link the speaker’s input to them. See above for more on this.

Get the speaker’s name right (Ray Leighton, anyone?) and, if you have whole-staff notices to give out before the day starts, be careful what they are about. A session that starts with an explanation about the need for redundancies (true story) or the death of a former colleague (also true) makes it hard going for everyone.

And never, ever, EVER use the phrase ‘So, without further ado…’

If you are the Head, don’t simply sweep out of the room after doing the introduction. It sends the message that what the speaker is about to say is not important and the day can be lost before the speaker has even said a word. Stay in the room. That way, everyone knows the message is important, that professional learning is important, that being together is important and that conducting themselves in a professional manner is important.

And if you do leave the room, it also means the speaker will make a joke about you after you’ve gone (true story).

In the Breaks

If the speaker is not performing, tell them. Direct them politely and professionally in order to make sure you are getting what you need from them.

If the speaker is performing, tell them. We are fragile beasts and nothing helps us more than a thumbs-up from the organiser to say things are going really well so far.

And if any of your colleagues are behaving in a manner that you would not accept from your children, tell them. Your values are demonstrated by the behaviours you tolerate.

Some speakers want their own space in the breaks, so having a ‘green room’ or equivalent for them to decompress/check their emails/see who’s slagging them off on Twitter can be useful.

For me, I’ve always made myself available to speak to anyone who wants to. I think that is the polite thing to do when you are paying me for my time and wisdom.

That said, I also hate queuing so if someone can go and fetch me a coffee/plate of sandwiches/piece of cake then I’ll be happy with that too.

If you have done your planning right (see How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day – Part One and Part Two) then you will have built in time for breaks and transitions. A thirty-minute break normally lasts about thirty minutes. As does a twenty-minute break. Planning a break of anything under 15 minutes is one of the early signs of madness.

Agree with the speaker if they or you will call everyone back to their seats and do the ‘settle’. I usually give them a five-minute warning and then do the ‘Places, people. Places!’ clap when the break is over. Anyone who comes in late does the walk of shame.

Sometimes, for a whole day, schools will plan for a tea break in the afternoon. Given the choice of that or finishing the INSET day twenty minutes early, you know where the vote will go.

At the End

Close with purpose: Summarise the day’s key takeaways succinctly but without simply repeating everything the speaker said, including the jokes. Reiterate the connection to your school’s vision and ambitions and motivate staff for the next steps.

Let them know that you will be (playfully but seriously) looking for examples of changes in practice and approach as a result of the INSET day and that you expect colleagues to experiment with the ideas, trying new practices ‘on for size’ as it were. The message is that doing nothing is not an option.

Make sure they know what the next steps are and their role in the process.

One activity I have used is to ask the staff to draw three concentric circles.

In the centre they identify what they are going to do differently as a result of the day.

In the middle circle, they identify what they want to change as a team/department

In the third they suggest some areas for improvement for the whole school.

If you plan on having closing remarks and/or ‘Next steps’, make sure you ask the speaker to finish five minutes early so that these are on school time, not staff time. Nobody listens properly when they think they should be somewhere better.

The same goes for feedback forms if you are doing them. Put them on the table part way through the day so staff can fill them in before the end. Or, better still, put them online (eg a Google Form) to make it easier to collate the feedback and also for you to know who hasn’t filled it in yet. Give them a day or so to do so – this way they can also feedback on the ideas they have tried as a result of the INSET day too.

I have always been more than happy for a school to have a set of my slides or other resources after the day so do ask. Printing them out as a pdf is easy to do to put in an email and send to staff. Obviously, you don’t then share this precious IP outside your school or rip it off and sell it (TES Marketplace, I’m looking at you).

The Day After

An inspiring INSET day should make you want to get back into the classroom to experiment with the ideas.

The following day, don’t pretend it never happened or that it was a special one-off sort of day but, hey, back to reality.

Refer to it. Continue thinking through the ideas individually and as a team, especially now you’ve had a bit of time to reflect and let what was said sink in. Share how you might use the ideas. If you are in leadership, share the action points you are working on for the whole school as well as in your own practice.

If you have made the effort to collate feedback then make sure you share it too, all the time aligning the new learning and practice with the school’s longer-term goals.

Keep the buzz going as much as you can. A good speaker can create a great deal of excitement during an inspirational INSET day but it is down to the leadership of the school to keep that buzz going.

Ending the day with a parting, ‘Let’s hope that does the trick’ does not bode well for long-term change (And yes, true story).

Like we said in How to Plan an Inspirational INSET Day Part One, an INSET day is only as good as the changes it causes.

By planning it carefully with an attention to detail and choosing the right speakers, either internally or externally from a source you can trust like Independent Thinking, you can ensure it becomes an important and memorable part of the journey of your school.

Oh, and one more thing. When you receive your invoice for the day, pay it on time. It’s the right thing to do.

We hope you have found our three-part series on planning an unforgettable and inspirational INSET day useful.

For more suggestions and free, no-obligation advice please call us on 01267 211432 or drop us an email. and we'll get back to you reassuringly quickly.

Working together, we can help you plan an INSET day that can and will make a difference.

After all, it's what we've been doing for over thirty years. [ITL]

Ian Gilbert in Action