Summer vacation (also called summer holidays or summer break ) is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students are off school typically between 6 and 10 weeks, depending on the country and district.
School vacations
During this period, the schools prepare for the next academic year so they undertake cleanup and maintenance exercises which cannot be done during normal class hours. Also, this period offers an opportunity for teachers to seek further education themselves, advancing their knowledge and skill levels for future endeavors.
Students
In some countries, students participate in programs such as organized sports, summer camps, and attend summer schools.They may also hang out with friends. High school students sometimes visit college and university campuses. It is also typical for teenagers to get a job during the summer vacation in order to raise some money. Many parents take time off work, in order to go on a family vacation during the summer.
Criticisms and support
The concept of summer vacation has been criticized because students supposedly forget large amounts of information learned in the past year ( See: Summer Learning Loss ). Alternatives to summer vacation, such as year-round school or Winter Vacation are used by some schools.
In the United States, any discussions or news stories about schools going year-round have included the claim that what is now summer vacation was originally given as time for kids to work on family farms for spring planting. This seems to be at odds with the facts of spring planting which comes long before summer vacation, and fall harvest which comes long after.
Other education reformers believed that children were overstimulated in a system which required 48 weeks of schooling. They believe that over-schooling could lead to nervous disorders, depression, and insanity. They believe that children need the 2–3 months off to relax and also to take a break from other childhood stresses associated with school such as peer pressure, cliques, and bullying.
Some critics of summer vacation point out that American students spend approximately 180 days per year in school, but Asian students are in school for 240 to 250 days. This is consistent with the conclusions of researchers who suggest that advanced abilities are in proportion to the time spent learning. However, supporters of summer would like to point out that Americans supposedly believe in child rights, and taking away any amount of vacation is a violation.
By country
- In the United States, summer vacation lasts for almost 3 months. Most schools take summer vacation from early to mid June to Labor Day or from late May to late August. These dates vary depending on the location of the school district.
- In Australia, the Summer season officially lasts from December to February, and therefore coincides with the Christmas and New Year holidays. The dates of Australian school holidays (the term used, rather than "vacation") are determined by each state's Department of Education, the Summer (also known as Christmas) holidays being the longest in duration. Typically Christmas or Summer holidays in Australia last approximately six weeks, usually from around December 20 (depending on school year, see below) to the last few days of January. While significantly shorter than the North American Summer vacation, Australian schools also break for two weeks at Easter, and in June and September, giving students and teachers a total of twelve weeks of annual holidays. In many public schools, years 10 through 12 will finish before December 20, allowing time to complete exam marking and results. Year 10 commonly finishes at the end of November, Year 11 at the end of October, and year 12 also at the end of October after 3 weeks of end-of-year exams. This can bring the normal 12 weeks of vacation to 20 weeks of vacation. The intervening periods of school operation are called "School Terms", each term lasting approximately ten weeks. All Australian states have relatively similar holiday periods, but there is the ability for this to change around, such as for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth games, when the first term in Victorian schools was shortened to 6 weeks and the other subsequently extended to 12 weeks each allowing people to attend the events. Most private schools in Australia have up to four weeks additional holidays, due to their longer teaching hours during term.
- Summer vacation in Sweden is between between the spring and autumn term. It last from early June to mid/late August (a minimum of 10 weeks, some have longer it depends on in which county you live in). In Sweden, students end their term either at a church or in their school, singing traditional summer songs like Den blomstertid nu kommer(only the first 2 verses).
- In Finland, summer vacation starts on Saturday in late May, or in the beginning of June. The vacation lasts for 2 1/2 months. Usually, school starts again on August 14-20.
- In The Netherlands, summer vacation is shorter than anywhere else in Europe. It usually starts in July (depending on the region) and lasts for 6 or 7 weeks.
- In New Zealand, the summer vacation for primary school students typically starts around 20 December , and ends around 7 February . For junior secondary school students (Years 9 and 10), school holidays typically start one week before primary school students. Senior secondary school students (Years 11, 12, and 13) officially start their summer holidays at the same time as the junior secondary school students, but the summer holidays for them start in mid-November, in the week before the first NCEA exams.
- In Poland, summer vacation starts on the first saturday after 18 June and ends on the first weekday of September.
- In the Republic of Ireland, most secondary schools get off for Summer on the last week of May or first week in June and don't return until the first or week in September. They also receive around two weeks for Easter and around another two weeks for Christmas and New Year, as well as another week around Halloween (called "Mid-Term") and another few days (usually 1 or 2) for St. Patrick's Day. Most schools also get every Bank Holiday off. Students doing exams (Junior Cert and Leaving Cert) have to come in some days during June to sit their exams but otherwise have the same break as those not doing exams. Primary schools in the Republic of Ireland follow the same pattern, though only get off for Summer at the end of June. All schools in Northern Ireland also follow the same pattern as primary schools in the Republic of Ireland, except students doing exams (GCSE and A-Levels), who get off at the start of May on "Study-Leave" and do the exams sometime in June, but still have the same Summer as those not doing exams.
- In Canada, the first day of summer vacation for public schools is the Thursday before the last Friday of June. This may vary in Quebec (re earlier due to provincial June 24 holiday). In some areas, that Thursday is a half-day. The last day of summer vacation is Labour Day. It can vary in Private Schools. School generally resumes the day after Labour Day (in September). Most have two weeks of vacation for Christmas and New Years, and a week for Spring Break (usually March).
- In Scotland, school summer holidays can start from 27th of June to 2nd of July depending on the day of the week and last for about six weeks, with most schools returning on the 20th of August. In addition to summer holidays, Scottish schools have one week in October, two weeks at Christmas and two weeks at Easter. They also have a week off in Mid-February. They have two bank holidays in May, and one in September wraps it up for school holidays. Scottish schools get the fewest days off in the whole of the United Kingdom.
- In state schools in England and Wales, summer holidays usually start in mid-July, and last until the first week of September - normally a duration of about six weeks. In addition, schools have three one-week-long half-term breaks (one at the end of October, one in mid February and one in late May) as well as two weeks off for Christmas and two weeks off for Easter - bringing the total number of weeks off per year to 13. Dates in the independent sector are likely to differ in that schools typically offer an extra week's holiday at the beginning and end of each of the long vacations - i.e. four weeks for Christmas and Easter and eight weeks in summer.
- In Estonia, summer holidays start in the beginning of June, the date ranging for different grades. School begins every year on September 1 .
- In the Philippines, summer holidays for kindergarten, elementary, and high schools typically start on the third or last week of March and ends in the first week of June. This coincides the country's tropical summer months which span from March to May. Colleges and universities, however, offer summer classes for students who wants to take advanced subjects or those who fail to pass the prerequisites for the next school year. School year begins in the second week of June, the start of Philippines' wet season.
- In Pakistan, summer vacation starts from May 31, as annual examinations or semsters in schools, colleges and universities of the country end during the month, and last till the end of July owing to extreme summer.
- In Israel,summer vacation for the middle school and high school (7th-12th grade) start at June 20 and end at September 1. Lower grades are off to vacation
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