This year it seems especially the case, after the heatwave that has been with Britain for weeks. The best part of two months without rain, even in usually rain-soaked Cumbria. It's been a glorious early summer and though there's a chance it won't last, at least we've had a taste of good weather.
The kids in Scotland have been off for a while so they've already had the best of it but English and Welsh children will have to wait until the end of next week.
And then it's a month and a half off. Homework-free and no need to rush in the morning. Six weeks without class or assembly or PE lesson. August was always my favourite month as a child. The one part of the year where there was no hint of school.
Anyway, my job in Higher Education has changed so that I have to be in from mid-August. July doesn't quite herald the kind of freedom it once did (as universities now focus on income more than scholarship ) but there is still the vicarious pleasure of watching the kids break up for the summer. Watching their glee at having all that time off in the sun.