Steve, I too endured the most ridiculous 'exercises' on Baker Days. One involved jumping across the assembly hall using large tyres, 'helping' ones team to move forward. A colleague and I were branded Refuseniks. We stated categorically that our contracts did NOT include circus stunts, and we would be going to our rooms to get on with marking and lesson preparation. We were asked the next day to 'tell a colleague a secret about our lives, and trust them not to repeat it', then 'give our car and house keys to another colleague for the day'. We flatly refused again. Luckily the Head didn't challenge us. (He wouldn't have got very far if he had.) I thought I'd ended up in some sort of educational lunatic asylum.

Greg, I'm very surprised and sad that even the US has these problems too. Whatever is the world coming to?