As half-term approaches, the kids at the school gate visibly slow down. They start dragging their feet and purple smudges appear under their eyes. I feel sorry for them. Then I think of my home country, America. No half-terms. Children in the US went back to school on 3 January and they won’t have a week off until 3 June – five months without a break.
Children form their own societies, Lord of the Flies-style, where the only rules are the ones the bullies enforce
If that sounds blissful from a childcare point of view, here’s the drawback: the American summer break is 11 weeks long. Eleven weeks! Now that I’m raising my own children in the UK, the school calendar here seems positively civilised, with week-long breaks at intervals throughout the school year and a modest six weeks off in the summer. Compared with the US system it seems sensible and measured.
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