what do you call the parts of a school year

[ostap77]

1)There are semesters in a university year. What do you call the parts of a school year?

2)There are periods in a school day. How many periods are there in a school day? How many classes doeas the average school day count?

 

[emsr2d2]

1)There are semesters in a university year. What do you call the parts of a school year?

2)There are periods in a school day. How many periods are there in a school day? How many classes doeas the average school day count?

1) In BrE, a semester is called "a term", in school and in university.

2) I think each school and each country is probably different.

 

[SoothingDave]

In the US (and this will vary some by state), school for children is usually held from September through May. This amounts to 36 weeks of schooling per year. Some schools use a 6-week grading period. This means that report cards are issued every 6 weeks, or six times per year. This was the way it was when I went to school. They would refer to this six week period as a "sextile."

My daughter's school uses a 9-week grading period. So there are 4 report cards in a year. They usually just call it a "grading period."

Colleges and universities use semesters, usually a fall and winter (or spring) semester for most students.

 

[ostap77]

In the US (and this will vary some by state), school for children is usually held from September through May. This amounts to 36 weeks of schooling per year. Some schools use a 6-week grading period. This means that report cards are issued every 6 weeks, or six times per year. This was the way it was when I went to school. They would refer to this six week period as a "sextile."

My daughter's school uses a 9-week grading period. So there are 4 report cards in a year. They usually just call it a "grading period."

Colleges and universities use semesters, usually a fall and winter (or spring) semester for most students.

"His grades have improved since last term." Here's the sentence I've heard.
Would it be common to call the parts of the school year "terms" in AmE? Since the speaker used the word "grades" he seems to have been an American not mentioning his accent.

Would someone please give an answer to question #2?

 

[5jj]

Would someone please give an answer to question #2?[/QUOTE]emsr2d2 did so in post #2.

Here are examples of British primary and secondary school timetable: The UK School System - Teaching Personnel. These are not really 'average' timetables - each school sets its own timetable, and periods may be as short as 35 miutes or as long 90 minutes.

 

[ostap77]

Would someone please give an answer to question #2?

emsr2d2 did so in post #2.

Here are examples of British primary and secondary school timetablew: The UK School System - Teaching Personnel. These are not really 'average' timetables - each school sets its own timetable, and periods may be as short as 35 miutes or as long 90 minutes.[/QUOTE]

Would a priod be synomymous to a lesson?

 

[SoothingDave]

"His grades have improved since last term." Here's the sentence I've heard.
Would it be common to call the parts of the school year "terms" in AmE? Since the speaker used the word "grades" he seems to have been an American not mentioning his accent.

Would someone please give an answer to question #2?

Yes, "term" would be a common way to say this.

In my experience with high school and middle school, we had 8 periods per day. They were about 45 minutes each, except for "5th period" which was longer and included lunch.

 

[ostap77]

Yes, "term" would be a common way to say this.

In my experience with high school and middle school, we had 8 periods per day. They were about 45 minutes each, except for "5th period" which was longer and included lunch.

I've been googling and I've got the word "semester" as in univerisity used in a context about high school. Could I use either "term" or "semester" for high school?

Sorry for making a repetition, would a period be synonnymous to a lesson? Can a period refer to both a lesson and a break " I had a free period."?

 

[SoothingDave]

It is not normal in my experience to talk of high school being in semesters. Semester literally refers to half of a year.

A "period" in school is a certain time. From 8:10 to 8:55 would be first period. 9:00 to 9:45 would be second period, etc.

A student's schedule would be different for each student. He might have math class in 1st period, Science in 2nd period, etc. If he did not have a class scheduled for a certain period he would go to a "study hall" for that period and be expected to work quietly for that time period.

 

[ostap77]

It is not normal in my experience to talk of high school being in semesters. Semester literally refers to half of a year.

A "period" in school is a certain time. From 8:10 to 8:55 would be first period. 9:00 to 9:45 would be second period, etc.

A student's schedule would be different for each student. He might have math class in 1st period, Science in 2nd period, etc. If he did not have a class scheduled for a certain period he would go to a "study hall" for that period and be expected to work quietly for that time period.

Would a lesson be close in meaning to a class? Is it obligatory to have a study hall? Could I have a break instead? Could I refer to a break as "a free period"? I was watching a teenage series "Teen Wolf" and a guy said two or more times "I had a free period."

 

[SoothingDave]

I think "lesson" is more of a BrE thing. We have classes. Same thing, the students gather and a teacher teaches.

In my experience there was no such thing as a "break" or a "free period." You reported to study hall if you did not have a class during a given period.

A lot of TV shows and movies are set in California. They may do things differently out there.

 

[Barb_D]

My school system refers to "marking periods," which are 10 weeks each. Students get report cards at the end of each marking period. Some classes only meet for one marking period -- 10 weeks of art, followed by 10 weeks of home economics, followed by 10 weeks of industrial arts, and then 10 weeks of health education, for example.

So we could say "Your math grade has come up a lot since the last period." While we do have "periods" that break the day into segments, one class per period, in that context, no one would think you meant that you did better at 3 pm than at 10 am. It would mean the last marking period.

I too find it odd to refer to "semesters" for high school.