School Holiday
I can’t believe it - we’re done with a full year of “big boys’ school” and on to another school break. The school system is set up a bit differently in New Zealand than in the US. There are four terms, about ten weeks each, with a break between. After term 1, we had a two week break to fill before school starts up again at the end of April. After term 2, our school has a three week break, though many have another 2 week break. There’s another two week break after term 3, and a long, 7 week break after term 4. I’ve noticed it requires a different approach than in the US to handle the frequent, longer breaks than in the US where there is one big break in the summer.
The attitude towards work-life balance means many parents take time off. That’s not to say that everyone takes the whole break off, but companies and the culture don’t compel parents to work the whole time. This may mean leaving work early every day or perhaps taking one of the two weeks off. There is an understanding and expectation that this is time for families to reconnect, and that is important.
Holiday camps are everywhere. If your kids are five or over, there are a ton of either daily or weekly camps to attend to keep them busy during the day. There’s everything from tennis, to skateboarding, to art, to whatever you can dream of. I love how there are more flexible options than the camps I could find in Austin where we had to sign up for an entire week. A great resource for picking out geographically and activity appropriate programs can be found on the Auckland for Kids website.
One thing I have not seen? Sleep away camps! This was one of my favorite parts of the American summer break, and I’d love for my kids to experience the fun of sleeping in a bunk house, doing arts & crafts, learning about archery, and losing at a canoe race. Perhaps this is because Kiwi families do some much traveling on their own and visit holiday homes together that there isn’t the need to send kids off to experience nature on their own. I’ve heard of American kids travelling back to the US during the July break for summer camp, and I can’t lie, I’m considering it in the future.
Special events are everywhere. We’ve seen lots of shows at the Bruce Mason Center in Takapuna (an amazing neighborhood on the North Shore) like Room on the Broom and the upcoming Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and Fantastic Beasts. There are lots of holiday-only special events, like ice skating in Aotea Square during the winter and movies in the park during the summer. A great source of inspiration and information is Auckland Live, which lists all of the cool things going on all the time - not just during the holidays.
Many preschools remain open during the school holidays. This is something to ask about when looking for an under 5. If you know you’ll need year-round care, you should have no trouble finding a preschool that provides. We found many that are open for all but a few weeks around Christmas and New Year’s. I am curious to see how this affects our family this break. Our four year old still has school while our six year old does not. This should make for some interesting mornings.
Travel, travel, travel! One of the biggest advantages to a longer break is that many families are able to take a good trip, and Kiwis LOVE to travel. Since New Zealand is so isolated, a longer break means bigger trips are possible, and, let’s be honest, most of the trip are big if you’re leaving from the bottom of the world. We used part of our April break to visit Fiji, a popular destination for Kiwis. During the winter months, it appears that skiing in Queenstown is the trip to take. I’ve heard from at least four other families that they plan on spending part of the upcoming holiday on the slopes.
You may remember me talking about baches before. These are holiday homes, often near a beach or lake. Kiwis embrace the idea of the bach (rhymes with “catch” after a bachelor pad, which is what they used to be.) and use breaks like this to escape to the family bach to relax and unwind with family and friends. We don’t have a bach (yet!) but we’re trying to befriend people that do so we can get invited and have the quintessential New Zealand holiday experience. There’s also the option of booking someone else’s on sites like AirBnb and Bookabach.
I’ve been completely struck with how different the attitude towards school breaks are in New Zealand versus the US. I always felt like the school breaks in Austin were a burden. Something I needed to find a work around for until the kids were back in school. Here, the approach is very different. I feel like everyone is excited about school break. It is a time for families to relax and enjoy each other. It’s time for adventures and new experiences. I think this ties in perfectly with the Kiwi approach to life, and I, for one, and a fan.
