Summer is a precious break for your child: a time to rest, change pace and grow. When it is well organised, it also paves the way for a successful return to school, without turning the holidays into an extra school year. Here is a guide to finding the right balance, week by week.
A shorter summer than before: what has changed
Since the 2022 reform of the school calendar, the school year in French-speaking schools in Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) starts at the end of August rather than on 1 September. The summer holidays last about seven weeks, from early July to late August.
For the 2026-2027 school year, classes resumed on Monday 24 August 2026. This tighter calendar changes the way you plan the summer:
- a period of genuine rest matters all the more;
- the return comes quickly after 15 August;
- resit exams can no longer take place during the holidays: depending on the school, they are held at the end of June or in the first days of the school year.
The simplest approach is to check your school’s dates as soon as the end-of-year report arrives, then plan the summer around them.
Start with a real break
After ten months of school, your child needs a breather, and so do you. Plan at least two weeks without any schoolwork, ideally right after the end of classes.
This break is not wasted time. It lets your child recharge, sleep at their own pace and rediscover the desire to learn. It is also the right moment for family time, far from exercise books and marks.
If the year was difficult, this pause helps everyone step back. At this stage, a calm conversation about what went well and what did not is worth more than a revision programme.
Your child has a resit exam or a holiday assignment
A resit exam or a holiday assignment requires real preparation, but it can be planned. A few pointers to organise it without stress:
- Understand what is expected: subjects, type of questions, assignment instructions, exact date. Ask the school for this information before the holidays.
- Gather the materials: complete course notes, textbooks, corrected exercises. Incomplete notes are the first source of anxiety.
- Identify the gaps: the difficulty often comes from a basic concept that was poorly understood earlier in the year. That is where to start.
- Make a realistic schedule: short, regular sessions, rest days and a few moments of relaxation planned in advance.
Let your child have a say in this schedule: they will stick to it better if they built it with you. If there is a lot of material to catch up on, private tutoring for secondary school can help focus on what matters most.
After repeating a year: preparing a fresh start
Repeating a year is often experienced as a failure, by the child and by the parents. Summer is the opportunity to turn it into a fresh start.
- Fill in the basics: calmly go back over the concepts that caused problems, without redoing the whole year.
- Restore confidence: start with manageable exercises, so that your child rediscovers the pleasure of succeeding.
- Prepare an active attitude: when school starts, keep notes in order, dare to ask questions and even help a classmate, which also strengthens their own learning.
If your child feels genuinely discouraged about school, our article My child doesn’t like school can help you understand the reasons.
Staying in touch with learning, gently
Seven weeks without reading or doing sums is a long time, especially in primary school. Without turning summer into an extra school year, a few light habits are enough to keep the mind active:
- reading for pleasure: comics, novels, magazines, whatever your child chooses;
- board games, which involve counting, reasoning and following rules;
- everyday activities: measuring out a recipe, a holiday budget, a route to plan on the map;
- a few educational apps or games, with screen time kept limited.
The goal is not to get ahead on the curriculum, but to keep the enjoyment of learning and familiar routines.
Using the summer to become more independent
The holidays are ideal for developing independence, a skill that will count a great deal when school starts again.
- Give responsibilities: packing a bag for an outing, managing a small budget, organising a day.
- Encourage initiative: a personal project, a holiday camp, a new activity chosen by your child.
- Learn to get organised: build a weekly schedule together that balances leisure, chores and, if there is any, schoolwork.
Being able to plan, anticipate and keep commitments is already a large part of the study skills your child will need in class.
The last week of the holidays: preparing the transition
With school starting in late August, the return to a school routine is best prepared from mid-August. A few simple steps avoid an abrupt restart:
- Adjust sleep: gradually bring bedtime and wake-up time forward, by fifteen minutes every two or three days.
- Prepare school supplies together: supply list, school bag, timetable. Your child looks ahead more easily when they take part.
- Talk about the new school year: what they are looking forward to and what worries them, especially when changing school or stage.
- Set up a work space again: a quiet, tidy spot, ready for the first homework.
Every child experiences the return to school in their own way: some look forward to it eagerly, others with apprehension. Your listening often counts more than any programme.
What if your child needs a helping hand?
A resit exam, shaky foundations or a worrying start to the year: personalised support can reassure both your child and you. Since 2003, My Sherpa has offered private tutoring at home everywhere in Belgium, or online, with coaches chosen by an educational adviser according to your child’s needs, in primary and secondary school alike.
