School holidays in Poland - do 'half term hols' exist?

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering about the school holiday provision in Poland. We (in Lincolnshire) have just recently 'enjoyed' our spring term half term holiday. One of my students doesn't understand why there is such a difference in timings and the length of time students are allowed off for school/college holidays.

I can see her argument as she has children at a local primary school that had their half term hols a week before ours, so in effect she lost an extra week of learning english. I must admit I didn't quite know what to say (I do know it's usually tied in with funding and class hours).

On reflection it does seem a bit odd that different counties have different dates for holidays and it changes again in FE.

Does this happen in Poland too or is it a British education system thing?

Many thanks :-)

In Poland schools have two weeks of "winter holidays" between the semesters. These holidays are in different terms in different parts of Poland (it is regulated in the Ministry of Education, I think). The idea is that if the holidays were in the same time, the winter resorts in mountains will be overcrowded.

On the universities it is different - every university has its winter holidays in any time they wish :)

Also one half the country has the first two weeks of a month off whilst the other half is in attendance to school and vice versa with the last two weeks of a month off

How thoughtful of them and practical too!

Thanks for the information - I couldn't really find it anywhere else.

It's evil :)
It's not a fixed 2 week period - last year my daughter was off in the middle of February, but this year the region was back 'at the beginning' again i.e. 2 weeks in the middle of January (just 7 days after the schools had gone back after the christmas break).

thats crazy ... :D

Yes, the Poles call it the ferie. It is a period for extra study but away from schools. It comes at a time when many students are preparing for mock MATURA tests.

[quote=Seanus]
It comes at a time when many students are preparing for mock MATURA tests.

I don't think ferie have anything to do with it, esp. that university students have ferie as well, at approx. the same time. It's simply a winter break between the two semesters of the school / academic year.

When I was little, everyone had ferie at exactly the same time, the current approach is quite recent - introduced maybe in the last 10 years or so.

Well, perhaps, but many are still doing tests around this time.

As far as I remember mock matura examinations used to be conducted sometime in April... At least mine was (1986).
Of course, the run up to the ferie is a stressful time, as you have to wrap up a whole semester of school work, so there's loads of tests and stuff to endure, while the students still haven't quite realised the Christmas break is over ;-) On the other hand, once the ferie start you're good. I can still remember the exhilarating feeling of freedom.