Just for the comparison. There are some slight variations from state to state but this is the public school system in NSW:
The Australian school year ties in with the calendar year. The year is broken into 4 terms of approximately 10 weeks, with about 2 weeks break between terms. The school year ends in December, just before Christmas. Summer holidays are at this time - usually about 5 or 6 weeks. This totals about 200 days (minus a few for public holidays. Also the first day of first three terms are teacher development days so no students attend on those days.
That is so balanced in comparison! How is childcare arranged in the breaks?