For anyone who feels that the six week summer holiday is too long…

[Forgottenmyphone]

consider yourself lucky and thank your lucky stars you don’t live in Italy!

I'm in Scotland and this year it's 6.5 weeks for DDs state school. Finish 29/6 back 14/8. Private schools have around 8 weeks.

That's fine if you're in Italy with their glorious weather. Imagine having 14 weeks off in the UK in the piss-pouring rain.

We’re in Switzerland and have 5 weeks which is just about right. With two working parents we can just about cover it with some input from grandparents. We’re lucky enough to have a holiday home and I can work remotely, so DS will have 5 weeks at the beach with a mix of all his grandparents, cousins and a local friend he made.

12 weeks here in Turkey, although the last week of school they don't do anything so most kids don't go. I love it. It's far too hot to be in a classroom. Bliss for the kids, can you imagine 12 weeks of being in the sea everyday....

Do they have long holidays at Xmas and Easter etc? I used to know some Italian children and they had a lot more homework to do than English DC. But I’d definitely struggle if school was only open 9 months of the year.

Surely you had some adults supervising while you were in the pool? Grandparent or the parents in the friendship group took it in turns? That's the thing in a lot of places there is much more of a community to look after children, in UK is very much fend for yourself I think.

Hopefully all the posters who object to the sorts of subsidised childcare that exists in civilised countries across Europe are pro increasing immigration.

It's between 6 to 8 weeks in our part of Scotland, it varies from year to year.

I don't ever remember Scottish schools going back that late, it was generally mid August.

They do in many other parts of the world.

52 days for DD this summer in Scotland. I would honestly love 10 weeks plus.

People probably pay higher taxes in those 'other parts of the world'.

How interesting.
My brother teaches in Bulgaria and has a long summer holiday.

It’s so simplistic to say pay for your own children. Subsidised childcare means parents can work. How anyone affords their kids being off 13 weeks is beyond me!

Dd gets 8 weeks and I work tto and follow her holidays. It honestly goes so quickly, though I wouldn't want to juggle it with working. Dd has always hated holiday clubs.

Yeah I am now at the stage where mine can be left alone while I head out to work which means once I leave the house they are either sleeping the day away, eating or playing online. Brain numbing stuff but still cheaper than when I had to pay childminding fees for them I guess.

And free education is the funniest thing althouogh they are giving us the stationary this year so that is something. Nothing towards ipads and all the other bits.

I grew up in Spain. 13 weeks are great when you have guaranteed sun and beach every day. I used to spend the entire summer running around with friends, only back home to eat and sleep

The close to 3 months off in Eastern Europe is a lot easier to manage. Firstly, the kids start school later around age 6 or 7. You are allowed to leave them home alone a lot earlier - sometimes even from age 8. Because it’s expected for them to be independent they are properly prepared for it, including safety classes at school.

There are more state subsidised kids clubs and holiday camps. If you do an activity during the year, like football or dance, it will probably have a holiday camp for it too and if you train semi seriously you’d be expected to go. Usually 2-3 weeks long. Then some time with grandparents or cousins, and a holiday with your family, which is a lot more affordable because it’s not the whole country being off at the same time. That’s 3 months quite easily covered.

I can’t believe people moan saying six weeks is too long. Why even have children ffs

A long way from your map... But... Australia.

It depends on your year level & if your private or public. High school public in the upper grades usually get 8.5 weeks . If you're private you get it the entire primary & high school.

We have three other breaks a year, though. The mid year break is 3 weeks for private & 2 for state. Private usually have slightly longer school days, though.

My question has always been what do private primary school parents do with the extra weeks? Vacation care (subsidised) mostly only runs public school hols. Not everyone has family to help out.

And we wonder why there are so many mental health issues,and we want to reduce them
further….🙄

I'm in Scotland and we have 6 weeks in my area. Dh and I are lucky enough to work around each other so the kids will always have a parent home. I'm looking for summer clubs just to give them some stuff to do. I'm just picking odd days just to break things up as I don't need to use them for childcare. We have a week's holiday planned and another week in the UK will be spent visiting grandparents. I'm a big advocate of not planning days to the nth degree, allowing children to get bored and come up with their own games but even I realise that I can't do that for 6 weeks straight so do need to come up with some stuff to do eg painting in the morning.

Many of the other countries in the picture have glorious weather in the summer holidays. In Scotland it's very hit and miss, my son's birthday is at the end of July and it frequently rains then so it isn't as simple as allowing kids to play in the gardem or park all day. I do enjoy the summer holidays with them.

The thing is, it generally winds up being similar amounts to cover regardless, the question is whether it's spread out or not. The USA is slightly shorter at 180 days a year whereas UK is 190, but the major difference is far less holiday in the rest of the year. I think 11 weeks is too long all at once, but it would be worse if I would have had to find childcare in February. (DH and I actually get plenty of holiday time by American standards, over 4 weeks each, but that wouldn't have covered 13 weeks a year.)

I am curious about the other countries with longer holidays and whether their attitudes to children being more independent and having responsibilities at a younger age makes a difference.
Once upon a time in the UK no one would have batted an eyelid at a 14 year old being in charge of their younger siblings while parents work.
No one would have been concerned at a whole group of children playing outside all day who only return to a house for food.
No one would have thought it odd that if their primary age children went to a summer play scheme that while adults were in charge there would be 14/15/16 year olds working as play assistants.
No one would have thought it odd that a 14 year old could get a full time summer job and not even have to be home alone.
Different attitudes to life will probably make a difference in some countries.

This is why basically everyone takes the whole of August off in Portugal/Spain/Italy. I've heard that, historically, the summer hols were long as it was a very busy period on farms and they needed all-hands-on-deck including the kids. Not sure how true that is.
I loved the long summer hols as a kid, though we did have reliable sunshine and were right by the sea. And we often got carted off to the grandparents for weeks at a time.