Thursday, February 4, 2010

School Holidays in Australia

After my last post, I thought it might be a good idea to write a little about school holidays in Australia.

The school year begins on either the last week of January or the first week of February. The school year consists of four terms, each of which is between eight and eleven weeks long. There is a two-week holiday between each term. Term four ends in mid-December at the start of the summer holiday, which is about six weeks long.

The exact dates of the terms vary slightly from state to state in Australia. The timing of the first two-week holiday usually coincides with Easter, so it may begin in either March or April. The winter holiday is usually in early July and there is a spring holiday in October. Bear in mind that the seasons are reversed in Australia, so April is in the autumn, July is in the middle of winter, October is in Spring and December is the height of summer! I still find it quite strange after living here for more than two years!

Unlike in the UK, there are no half-term holidays, so the children attend school for between eight and eleven weeks without a break. I've found that this can be quite exhausting for the children (and for the teachers and parents, too!), especially if the term is a long one!