Whether you’re employed at an Registered Training Organisation (RTO) or a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Institute, you might have a few breaks throughout the year that you need to plan for. My first training gig had a 16 week repeating schedule – 12 weeks on (3 units), 4 weeks off – so I found it critical to consider how I was going to fill these weeks.
Sometimes I found TAFE holidays felt like a well-deserved breath of fresh air – especially after weeks of lectures, assessments, and administrative tasks – but maybe you find yourself torn between catching up on work, indulging in rest, and squeezing in some personal growth. What’s the right answer?!
The good news? It’s not too late!
With the upcoming break – a little planning means you can strike a perfect balance! Returning to work feeling recharged and ready to tackle next term. Here’s your guide to making the most of your TAFE holidays – whether you need time to unwind, organise, or rejuvenate!!
Recharge Your Batteries: Rest is Productive Too
First things first: It’s okay to take a break. There – I said it.
In fact, it’s essential. Burnout is a real thing and so many trainers think it just won’t happen to them… the reality is that many trainers push themselves so hard during the term, they hit a wall during the holidays. Their break is all used up just trying to recharge their batteries.
Whether you are taking time throughout the term to recharge, or you are saving up all your stress to fall apart in the holidays – it’s critical to accept that your body and mind need the downtime. So let’s start by throwing some ideas out there on things you can do to recharge those training batteries!!
🧠 Simple Ideas to Recharge Those Brain Batteries
- Listen to Music You Love – Play your favourite songs, sing along at your own dance party, or just relax and let the music wash over you. Like a friend you haven’t seen in a while, Music can bring joy.
- Enjoy Quiet Time: Find a peaceful spot to sit by a creek, breathe deeply, and take a break from noise and distractions. Yes, that might mean leaving your phone in the car or at home and that is OK!
- Do Something You Love: Read a book, draw some zentangles, bake some sourdough, or work on a hobby. Doing something fun and creative can help you feel refreshed. Maybe there’s a DND game…
- Take a walk in nature: Get out and explore a national park. Go look at a waterfall. Meander along a riverbank. Spend time outside and disconnect. I feel like there’s a repeating theme here and it doesn’t involve that brick in your pocket…
- Indulge in hobbies: Whether it’s gardening, painting, or binge-watching your favourite shows, lean into what makes you happy. It needs to be repeated, indulge in your hobbies.
- Get some sleep: Use this time to reset your sleep schedule and catch up on quality rest. Sleep in.
- Unplug: Spend a day (or several!) without checking emails or thinking about work. This is by far my favourite!!
I used to spend my holidays glued to my laptop, trying to get ahead. Thinking that if I just prepped a little more or got through just a bit more work on my own time that next session would be less anxiety-inducing. Spoiler: It never really worked, and I honestly came out of my holidays feeling like I hadn’t achieved anything at all.
This time, though, I forced myself to step away and spent a year using my holiday breaks to improve myself… Write a book… Spend time improving my skills in areas other that my work. Those holidays not only recharged me physically but also gave me mental clarity that lasted the whole year.
Plan for Professional Growth: Learn Something New
Holidays are the perfect opportunity to brush up on your skills or explore new ones without the pressure of deadlines. Or grading…
As trainers, we all know we have to do Continuous Professional Development (CPD), but now is the perfect time to actually do it. A little professional development during the break can help you stay ahead in the fast-paced world of vocational education and training.
If you’ve ever said, “I’ll look into that when I have more time,” the holidays are that time. Think of your break as a chance to plant seeds for future you – whether it’s finally exploring how to use Canva to design better resources, experimenting with ChatGPT prompts to speed up admin, or watching that saved webinar you never got around to. Even spending just an hour a day on something new can make you feel recharged and ready to return to classes with confidence.
📈 Professional Growth Activities that you can do right now!
- Attend workshops or webinars: Look for short-term courses that fit your interests or professional goals.
- Read industry books or articles: Catch up on trends in your field or explore fresh perspectives on training.
- Learn a new tool or platform: Familiarise yourself with tech that could make your job easier, like a new learning management system or assessment software.
You don’t need to cram your break full of work to make it count. Sometimes the best professional development comes from informal learning – listening to a podcast while walking, reflecting on what worked this term over a coffee with your head trainer, or even catching up with a fellow trainer to swap ideas on how to make next term’s classes even more engaging!
Growth doesn’t always happen behind a desk. The key is to stay curious, stay open, and use your downtime in a way that fuels you for what’s next.
Last summer, I enrolled in a one-day course on Notion. It’s been a game-changer for tracking and managing all the different aspects of my life. Plus it makes me feel like a programmer, even though I’m not.
Get Organised: Tidy Mind, Tidy Work Life
A cluttered workspace can lead to a cluttered mind. Use the holiday downtime to streamline your materials and prepare for a smoother term ahead.
There’s nothing like starting a new term with a clean slate – and that includes your workspace. The term break is the perfect time to give your physical and digital environments a little extra love. Clear off your desk, toss what you don’t need, and finally organise those random files clogging up your desktop. It doesn’t have to be a massive project – even spending half an hour decluttering can make a noticeable difference. Trust me, I’m like the world’s worst digital hoarder!
🧹 Quarterly decluttering tasks to get the most out of the term
- Purge your desk: Recycle old papers and file what you need to keep.
- Update your digital files: Create folders for the next term and archive old ones.
- Audit your lesson plans: Check that your materials are up to date and align with current industry standards.
Beyond the mess, think about how your systems are working for you. Are your resources easy to find? Could your lesson plans use a bit of an update? Taking time to refresh and reorganise now means less chaos later—and who doesn’t want that? I once spent an afternoon scanning and tagging my old resources into a cloud drive, and it made everything feel so much lighter. When the term started, I was ready to go without the usual scramble.
Connect with Your Network: Collaboration Inspires Growth
TAFE holidays don’t have to be a solitary affair. Connecting with colleagues or industry peers during the break can provide fresh ideas and perspectives.
AND… Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. In fact, this is a great time to reconnect with people in your professional circle, without the rush of deadlines or meetings. A simple coffee with a colleague can spark a new teaching idea, or a casual message might lead to a bigger collaboration down the track.
Sometimes the best innovations come from a relaxed chat, not a staff meeting.
You could also use the break to explore new professional connections. Whether you’re catching up with trainers in other regions, joining an online group, or teaming up to co-create resources, staying connected helps keep your practice fresh and relevant. I once co-designed a set of digital templates with a peer over the holidays – what started as a quick idea turned into a full toolkit we both still use today. Collaboration doesn’t just save time – it builds community.
👩💼 Some Ways to Connect with your colleagues during the break
- Host a coffee catch-up: Meet up with a fellow trainer to share tips and your experiences over the last session.
- Travel the Country: Visit different parts of Australia and drop in to visit your remote working colleagues. They will appreciate you making the effort to connect with them. We are introverts and need an extrovert trainer friend!
- Join online communities: Engage in forums or social media groups for vocational educators.
- Collaborate on resources: Team up with another trainer to create shared lesson plans or activities.
A colleague and I once spent a holiday creating a shared repository of teaching resources. But like fun things! My fun file now includes various Kahoot quizzes, simple check in prompts & motivational marking responses to encourage our students! It saved us both countless hours in the following term and strengthened our working relationship. Because ya girl likes to wing it and you taught me the benefits of helping students see how amazing they really are!
Enjoy Time for Yourself: Rediscover What You Love
Finally, remember that holidays are your time to be more than just a trainer. Reconnect with the activities and people that bring you joy outside of work. Because you are more than your job title!!
Your term break is your chance to step back, slow down, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that don’t wear a name badge. Whether it’s spending time with people who make you laugh, diving into a hobby you’ve been putting off, or simply doing nothing for a while – this is your space to recharge in a way that feels right for you.
👉 Reminders for “You Time”
- 🧳 Travel: Explore a new place, even if it’s just a nearby town.
- 👨👨👧👦 Spend quality time with loved ones: Host a family dinner or plan a fun outing.
- 🧘♀️ Pick up a personal project: Tackle that home improvement task or start writing that novel you’ve always dreamed about.
One term break saw me spending days learning to improve my drone flying skills.
The best part? When you give yourself permission to unwind, you often come back more creative, more energised, and more present – for both your learners and yourself. It’s a great reminder that nurturing your personal passions can sometimes feed back into your professional life in surprising ways.
What’s your favourite way to spend your break? Do you have any tips for balancing rest and productivity? Let’s share ideas in the comments and inspire each other to make the most of our well-earned holidays!
Till next time.