The End of the School Year: Celebrating Growth, Embracing Rest, and Preparing for What Comes Next

As another school year comes to a close, many international families across the Netherlands are preparing for a well-deserved summer break. Whether your child is finishing primary school, navigating the challenges of secondary education, or completing a university semester, the end of the academic year is much more than a holiday—it is an important psychological transition.

For students, this period often brings a mix of emotions: pride, relief, excitement, uncertainty, and sometimes even anxiety. For parents, it can be a moment to reflect on how much their child has grown while also preparing for changes in routines, childcare arrangements, travel plans, and future educational transitions.

At Baumgarten Child Psychology and More, we encourage families to view the end of the school year not only as an ending but also as an opportunity for recovery, reflection, and growth.

Why End-of-Year Transitions Matter

Research consistently shows that transitions can have a significant impact on young people's wellbeing. Changes in routine, social environments, academic expectations, and support systems require psychological adjustment. While transitions can create stress, they also provide opportunities to develop resilience, independence, and coping skills. Studies have found that students' sense of belonging, supportive relationships, and emotional wellbeing are strongly linked to both academic success and overall development.

For international students in the Netherlands, transitions may be even more complex. Many families navigate multiple cultures, languages, educational systems, and friendships spread across different countries. Summer holidays may involve travel, relocation, or extended visits with family abroad, adding another layer of adjustment.

The Importance of Rest

In highly achievement-oriented environments, it can be tempting to view summer as an opportunity to fill every moment with enrichment activities. However, psychological research suggests that periods of recovery are essential for healthy development.

During the school year, students manage academic demands, extracurricular commitments, social relationships, and, for older students, examination pressures.

Research shows that sustained academic stress can negatively affect mental health and wellbeing, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood.

Summer offers something increasingly rare in modern life: time to slow down.

Unstructured play, creative activities, outdoor experiences, family connection, and simple boredom can all contribute to emotional regulation, creativity, and resilience. Children and adolescents often use these less structured periods to process experiences, strengthen identity development, and recharge psychologically.

Finding the Balance: Structure and Freedom

While rest is important, research also suggests that completely abandoning routines can be challenging for some children and teenagers. Many young people benefit from a balance between freedom and predictable structure.

The American Psychiatric Association notes that maintaining some consistency around sleep, physical activity, social contact, and daily routines can help support mental wellbeing during long breaks.

Families may consider:

• Maintaining reasonably consistent sleep schedules

• Encouraging regular physical activity

• Protecting time for social connection

• Creating opportunities for reading and exploration

• Allowing plenty of unstructured downtime

• Limiting excessive screen use while avoiding overly restrictive approaches

The goal is not to recreate school at home but to provide enough structure to support emotional wellbeing while allowing space for recovery and enjoyment.

Preventing the "Summer Slide" Without Creating Summer School

Many parents worry that their children will forget what they learned during the school year. Educational research has identified a phenomenon often called the "summer slide," where some students experience declines in academic skills over long breaks, particularly in reading and mathematics.

Fortunately, preventing learning loss does not require worksheets all day long.

Some simple, evidence-informed strategies include:

• Reading for pleasure every day

• Visiting local libraries

• Exploring museums, science centres, and cultural activities

• Practising mathematics through cooking, travel planning, or shopping

• Encouraging curiosity-driven projects

• Supporting multilingual language use at home

For international families, summer can be a wonderful opportunity to strengthen heritage languages and cultural connections while maintaining cognitive flexibility.

Supporting Children Through Educational Transitions

For some students, this summer marks a major educational milestone:

• Moving from primary to secondary school

• Transitioning between international schools

• Starting university

• Returning to a home country after studying abroad

Research indicates that successful transitions are supported by preparation, strong relationships, and opportunities to discuss concerns openly. Students who feel connected to their new environment and supported by trusted adults tend to adapt more successfully.

Parents can help by:

• Listening more than solving

• Validating mixed emotions

• Discussing realistic expectations

• Encouraging gradual independence

• Maintaining social connections where possible

• Focusing on strengths and past successes

Remember that excitement and anxiety often coexist. Feeling nervous about a new beginning is a normal part of growth.

A Message to University Students

University students often experience a different set of challenges. The end of the academic year may bring relief from exams, but also uncertainty about internships, employment, housing, finances, or future studies.

Research shows that university students commonly experience cyclical increases in stress around examinations and major academic deadlines. Recovery periods are therefore particularly important.

If you are a university student, consider using part of the summer not only to build your CV but also to restore your wellbeing. Adequate sleep, social connection, exercise, meaningful activities, and time away from academic pressures are investments in future success—not distractions from it.

Looking Back Before Looking Forward

One of the most valuable end-of-year activities is reflection.

Before rushing into the next goal, take time to acknowledge progress.

Ask yourself or your child:

• What am I most proud of this year?

• What challenges did I overcome?

• What have I learned about myself?

• What strengths have I developed?

• What would I like to carry forward into next year?

Growth is not measured only by grades, test scores, or university credits. Emotional growth, resilience, friendships, self-awareness, and courage matter too.

Wishing Our Community a Restful Summer

At Baumgarten Child Psychology and More, we celebrate the achievements of all students and families who have navigated another academic year.

Whether this year brought success, struggle, growth, change, or all of the above, we encourage you to take time this summer to rest, reconnect, and recharge.

Learning does not stop when school ends. Some of life's most important lessons happen during the pauses in between.

We wish all international students and families across the Netherlands a healthy, restorative, and joyful summer.