School holiday
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School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks and recess) are the periods during which schools are closed for study. These are in addition to public holidays, which usually last a day, and apply throughout the community. Sometimes schools remain open on some public holidays.
School holiday periods vary considerably between countries and within countries, hemispheres, and even between schools within the same community.
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[edit] Terminology
[edit] Christmas holiday
In countries with a Christian religious tradition, Christmas (or in the United States of America, winter break or winter recess) includes both the Christmas and New Year holidays. In the southern hemisphere Christmas is in summer and the break is longer and sometimes referred to as the summer break due to geographical reasons.
[edit] Easter holiday
In countries with a Christian religious tradition, Easter holiday is a school holiday that takes place in the northern spring, with the date varying by country and level of schooling.
[edit] Summer holiday
In most countries the longest break in the school year is during summer, often lasting for 5 to 8 weeks. In America, Summer holiday is normally 2-3 months, compared to England which gets around 6 weeks.
[edit] Variations by country
In the United States, the terms "summer break" and "summer holiday" are often used to refer to the large break from school and university taken during summer (usually August and some time before and after). The summer break takes place for a few months between May and September, depending on what scheduling system a school uses, and whether it is high school or college.
In the USA the secondary school year typically begins in August or September and ends in May or June, including Easter or spring break and Christmas holidays. In universities on the quarter system Christmas holiday begins at the end of the autumn quarter, spring break at the end of winter quarter, and summer break at the end of spring quarter. It varies from school to school, depending on the scheduling system. Some universities on a trimester system also have an autumn break. In high schools the winter break is usually from late December to early January. In some schools, especially colleges, the Christmas and winter break are merged into a month-long holiday.
School holidays vary in the countries of the United Kingdom. In England & Wales summer holidays are usually 5 to 7 weeks long and start in July. In Scotland summer holidays are about 7 weeks long from the end of June. In Northern Ireland summer holidays usually begin near the end of June and continue until the start of September.
In most of Australia there are four terms separated by breaks. The summer holiday starts in mid-December and lasts until late January for most schools. In the last year of school, however, the term ends in November; for those who go on to university, the term starts in March. There is a two-week autumn holiday in April (often incorporating the Easter public holidays), and another two weeks in July in winter. The spring break is also two weeks, typically from late September. The main exception to the four-term structure is Tasmania, which has three academic terms, with school holidays in early June and September.
In Austria, the summer holidays are mostly between late June and early September. Autumn break (late October), Easter break, Christmas break (from December 24 until January 6) and the mid-term break (late February) all last for a week. There are also four free days during Pentecost and various free days during religious holidays (assumption day, ascension day, Corpus Christi etc).
In Brazil, Summer holidays start in early December and end in late January. Winter holidays are generally the whole month of July. Brazilian Carnival is 40 days brefore Easter [1]
In Canada, summer holidays/break from school is July and August, with students returning to school in the first week of September. The winter break lasts for two weeks, which are determined by which two weeks encompass Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The spring break, or "March Break", is one week long and normally begins with the third Monday of March.
In Czech Republic, summer holidays begin at the end of school year on 30 June and end at the start of the school year in first week of September. Then there are autumn holidays, it is two days plus 28 October (day of creating Czechoslovakia). The winter (Christmas) holidays last usually from 22 December to 2 January. There is also half term one day holiday on 31.1. The spring holidays are a week long and takes range from February to march, depending on region, sometimes they continue with Easter holidays (the green Thursday, great Friday and Easter Monday). There are also free days such as 1 May and 8 May and 28 September. The school director also have right to add up to three more free days during school year. The school holidays are determined by Ministry of Schools for each school year and are valid for every basic and high school.
In Estonia, summer holidays last for three months from June to August. Christmas holidays last for two weeks, autumn and spring holidays both are one week.[2]
In Germany, summer holidays are mostly between July and late August with regional differences. Some regions begin as early as beginning / mid June, some end as late as start of September. They last 6 weeks. Other holidays are around Easter (usually 2 weeks) and Pentecost, in autumn (usually 1 week) as well as mid- to end-December to the beginning of January.
In Ireland second level school holidays last from the end of May until the end of August unless a student is doing Junior or Leaving Certificate exams.
In Italy, most school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, and are valid for all public schools of every order and grade. Summer school holidays take place between half June up to the second week of September, except for those students who have to undergo final exams in the Elementary, Middle and Superior schools, as those exams can go on for as far as the second week of July. Christmas holidays take start every year on December 23rd and end on the first or second working day past January 6th; other holidays include one week around Easter as well as one day on December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), two days for October 31th and November 1st (All Saints), the national holidays of April 25th (Liberation day) and June 2nd (Republic Day), as well as the Workers' Day (May 1st). Locally, school authorities have freedom upon the establishment of the lessons calendar to concede further vacation days for particularly important local recurrences (ex. for the local Patron saint day).
In Japan, school holidays take place from the end of March through the beginning of April, from the end of July until the end of August, and over the New Year period from 24 December to 7 January.
In Norway, school holidays vary by region. For example, recognised bank holidays fall on different days in Østfold and Oslo, the Christmas holiday is a few days longer then in Aust-Agder.
In Scotland(United Kingdom), there are a number of school holidays. The academic year usually begins on the third week of August, this period up until Christmas is known as Autumn Term. In the last week of October, there is a week off known as half term, which is the halfway point between Summer and Christmas holidays. The Christmas holiday usually begins a few days before 25 December and ends a few days after 5 January. Again, there is a week off half way through the term (Spring Term) and a 2 week break for Easter. After Easter is Summer term and the 3rd half term break is the half way point to the summer holidays. Summer itself usually begins towards the end of June for most pupils in years 1-7 and secondary years 1-3. Year 4, 5, and 6 leave at the end of May, after exams.
In Sweden, the school year starts around mid/late August (September 1 at the universities). The week before All saint's day the children at grade 1-12 have a autumn holiday. The Christmas Holiday begins around 18-21 December, depending which day the 24 December is (the day Swedes celebrate Christmas) it uasully ends in the second week of January. The weeks 8-10 the 1-12 students have one week of winter vacation, which week it is depends on where in Sweden you live. For the 1-12 students the Easter break is either the week before Easter or the week after Easter, that is also dependent on where you live.
[edit] Common practices and effects
Summer holidays for most children are a time to relax, enjoy themselves, and catch up on studies; the old purpose of the summer break, to free children to help with the harvest, is rarely relevant in modern times. Many families travel together on school holidays.
School holidays have many effects on a country, ranging from the price of travel and holiday accommodation, which increase as demand increases while children are off school, to an increased crime rate[citation needed]. Traffic congestion and heavy passenger loads on public transport on school run routes may be worse on school days during term time. The number of families taking holidays away from urban areas can reduce traffic and use of public transport in cities while loading long-distance highways and means of transport.
In some countries, including Germany, where many families travel to their holiday destinations, the start and end dates of school holidays in different regions are staggered to reduce the heavy traffic and pressure on means of transport that would otherwise occur on these dates.
