School's out

This was the scene at my daughter's secondary school when it ended at midday. On Wednesdays in Belgium, school is in the morning only. Despite the overcast sky and a chill wind, many students were in shorts. Mind you, some of the hardier ones have been in shorts since mid-February when there was still snow on the ground.

Although we live in the French-speaking part of the country, our children go to school in Flanders, just 20 minutes away. My daughter, 14, is fluent in English, French and Dutch and is learning her 4th language, German. Hers is a Catholic school. It's a very liberal one, open to children of all faiths or none. Academics and sports are at a high level, students and teachers are courteous, and there is a zero tolerance policy toward bullying. Environmental awareness is taught at every turn. About half the students cycle to school, which makes them a very fit bunch. Though it's not quite Hogwarts, the school has its own forest with huge old trees and is surrounded by fields, so there's literally nowhere for the students to go if they wanted to skip class. Hooray. University will be a different story.

We're fortunate to live in a country where education is excellent and free.