From the next 2016-2017 academic year in Cantabria, a new school calendar will begin to run with one week of vacation every two months of class, following the model of most European countries. The parents shouted in heaven at the change, because among other things they have not been consulted, but mainly because they believe it is a disorder for family reconciliation. For its part, Castilla-La Mancha is also considering it and has led to debate in the school council whether or not to implement this calendar model.
The idea of Europeanization seems to spread and may be spread to other communities. The question is: Do you think they should change school holidays in Spain? The first concern that arises to those of us with school-age children is how to reconcile non-school days with the parents' working life. Therefore, we wanted to meet first hand how families that have school holidays 'in Europe' are organized.
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A few days ago, our Xataka Magnet classmates compared the Spanish school calendar, with twelve weeks of summer vacations, with that of other countries that share vacations in several periods and cut summer vacations.
We have talked to five mothers, two living in Spain under the French school calendar and three Spanish mothers living outside, two in Germany and one Bulgaria, to tell us how they carry this holiday system.
Fatima, a Spanish mother in Germany
Fatima Casaseca, author of the blog Spanish Mom in Germany and mother of four children (9, 6, 5 and almost 2 years old) tells us how her family is organized in a country where each federal state has its own school calendar, which makes it even more difficult The conciliation.
"The idea here is that every 6 weeks, more or less, children have 1 or 2 weeks of vacation. In summer, children only have 6 weeks of vacation, but not at the same time. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg (where I live), they have left them more or less fixed, so that the children finish at the end of July and start in mid-September every year ".
Of course, Germany's weather is not as hot in summer as in Spain, "So having school in July or August is not so dramatic. In Spain, honestly, I can't imagine how they are going to send the children to school at 40 degrees ... (because I imagine that those free weeks during the course will have to recover at another time) ", says Fatima.
And how do you carry it? "It is poorly compatible, that is clear. In cities it can be made more compatible, but in general, parents have to take vacations (or one of them), or point children to specific courses, or send them to grandparents … My sister-in-law usually sends the children here, with their in-laws, for example ".
In their case they do not find it so difficult to organize because "My husband is self-employed, he runs the family business, which is quite small and we live next door (50 meters away), and I am either helping him or working from home (I work as a professional reader and I write (I publish a novel in September with DeBolsillo) ". Fatima is also the author of the book 'A Spanish Mom in Germany' edited by Planet of Books.
In addition, my in-laws also live here, and although they both work, they have a lot of freedom of movement and lend a hand. My friends and acquaintances who work here, in the end most women or are at home, or have jobs for a few hours, or in shifts (nurse in hospital with night shifts, for example), or are autonomous, precisely because they do not There is another way to cover these aspects (in addition, children come from school at 12:00 and in the afternoon they do not have class). There is no concept of summer camp during the day, as in Spain, and having an assistant / internal / babysitter for so many hours is also difficult (the internal impossible), as well as very expensive. But this has nothing to do with the holidays themselves, if not with the type of society and the German, for these things, it is quite peculiar and retrograde.
Marta, Spanish mom in Bulgaria
Martha is Mama in Bulgaria, the blog in which she shares her daily life as an expatriate mother in that country. She is married to a Bulgarian and they have lived in Sofia for 7 years. They have two children, a 3-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, and he has told us how school vacations are there.
Summer vacations are longer than in Spain: 4 months (from May 17 to September 15 for primary and secondary school students (older students have fewer vacations.) At Christmas, they have vacations from December 23 to January 2, a week of "winter holidays" in February, a "Spring break" week in April and 4-5 days of holiday in Holy Week.
Schedules are another disorder for conciliation. "The school schedule is intensive since two schools share a building (the public centers). One semester is school hours from 8 to 12, and the next semester from 1 to 5 pm"Marta tells us.
And how do you organize with that panorama? "My husband works in a company, and I am a freelance collaborator in Radio Bulgaria, so I have some time freedom to take care of the children. When I can't, my in-laws help us a lot, they pick up the children from school and if necessary take care of them on vacation ".
However, in general, parents who do not have grandparents available should choose between paying someone to take care of their children or staying home without work. With the low salaries in Bulgaria, many mothers opt for the latter, although they later have it complicated to rejoin the labor market.
Maria, Spanish mom in Munich
Mary It's mom in Munich. He has gone to live there for love and has two children, one of almost 7 and another of almost 4. Although the holidays last the same time in all states, the year begins and ends on different dates. In Bavaria, the federal state where he lives, the school year begins in mid-September and ends in late July.
"The course is divided into separate blocks by holiday periods: the first pause takes place in November, then Christmas Holidays, one week in February, two weeks in Holy Week and two weeks in May. Summer vacations last six weeks ", says Maria.
How do you make your children's holiday compatible with your work? "I imagine that as in any other country, looking for life. What happens is that in other places, the holiday blocks are longer and less frequent, and here they are more frequent and shorter.
María is an online language teacher and translator, and therefore works at home. "For me this is a real luxury because, as a working mother, I have enough flexibility to be able to do my job and be able, however, to have at home a son who is sick, or that day does not have school for any reason, or that don't feel like being out all day. "
Do you like the German holiday system? Is it good for children to have more distributed vacations during the course? "Yes, I like it very much. But this opinion is based more on what I think is convenient for children, than on what is more convenient for me. From the pedagogical point of view I think this system is great. Because children they don't get so tired, they go to school for a few weeks and then they rest, and the educational system here is quite demanding, and they have many tasks, but it is forbidden for teachers to put homework for vacations, so when they are on vacation they are resting of the real school. And it gives them time to disconnect, to have other experiences ".
"On the other hand, I also think that, obviously, the establishment of one system or another must go hand in hand with the place, the culture, the climate where one lives. That is to say, I cannot imagine the children who live in very hot areas. , going to school until the end of July. My opinion of being established in Spain is obviously in favor, but taking into account the dates and adjusting them to the environmental and cultural conditions ".
French holidays in Spain
Almudena She is the mother of an 11-year-old boy who attends the French Lyceum of Madrid, where the school calendar of that country governs. In the middle of each quarter children have a week of vacation, but classes also start on September 1 and end on June 30.
And how are the families that live with the French school system and the Spanish labor calendar organized? "Most of the mothers of children who go to the Lyceum do not work (80%) so they are very active and participate in all kinds of activities that the school organizes to involve parents (conferences, workshops, go to the classes of their children to explain their professions, if they collaborate with an NGO, etc.) "
Up to 11 years old children finish at 4:00 p.m. Working parents have the possibility of leaving their children in a kind of outdoor nursery, in the library with the supervision of a teacher to do their homework or point them to an extracurricular school (basketball, football, swimming pool, fencing, etc. ).
During the summer months "The school organizes a series of camps where they learn to do hip hop, circus, crafts, read and play with their friends supervised by French monitors. In winter, many parents point their children to a ski course that week. Others leave their children with their parents, with some caretaker at home or are forced to take some of the two that week also on vacation to be with the children at home. Each family is a world, and everything depends a little on the economies, but you can always look for solutions ".
Another example: Nuria He has two children, a girl of 6 and a boy of 8 who go to the French Lyceum of Malaga, where a calendar mixes French and Spanish. At Christmas and Easter, the holidays coincide with those of Spain, the rest not, except July and August. The white week doesn't match either.
If it is already difficult to reconcile, it is complicated in your case since your partner travels a lot. "Last year he left in May and returned in September and at that time we saw him 3 weeks", says Nuria. She leads the labor administration of a company and has relative flexibility to work. "Basically I live with a computer in tow, but I work from where I want and I can (home, camping, etc.). Nobody gets into my schedules and I know I have deadlines to meet. Sometimes flexibility is positive for me, sometimes no, but in global it compensates. "
How do you organize? "I think we organize ourselves like any family that has children in a school with a Spanish calendar. We try to see our availability and organize ourselves to be with them on vacation. And sometimes if necessary, someone is used external. Last year for us it was chaotic, because we had no foresight and I found a summer alone, butt of work, with no one outside and with the kids on vacation. ".
When we ask If you think that Spain's holidays would work in Spain, you answer yes. "The kids feel good about the break every month and a half. I don't think there is much difference between organizing according to the Spanish or European calendar. In the Spanish calendar you find 2.5 months of summer vacations plus the rest of the holidays during the course and You also have to organize yourself. I don't think the problem is how the holidays are distributed, but the periods of vacations of parents and children are different. That they are distributed in one way or another no matter, in the end you have to organize".
The organization is the key
After knowing the five testimonies, we realize that the situation of any country is idyllic. The reconciliation between the school life of the children and the working life of the parents is quite complicated in all cases, whatever school calendar they have.
The question is to organize with the possibilities that each family has within their reach. Family organization is the key for the pieces of conciliation to fit together.
What do you think after knowing the experiences of other families, Should I change the school calendar in Spain to one week of vacation every two months?
