School was out for the summer last week in Berlin. For most school children and their parents the very last day of the school term was much anticipated not just because of the ensuing weeks of freedom but also because it was Zeugnistag (report card day).

The process in Germany for giving school children their reports is quite different to the one I remember from my Yorkshire school days. I have a vague memory of having an envelope to take home to my parents which contained my school report. At primary school it was not a lot more than a few sentences on my general progress, my participation on school sports day and a note about how I liked to help out tidying up the art cupboard. At secondary school, the report was more nuanced with grades in each subject and a short note from each subject teacher. In my mind, it was not given out on the very last day of the school term but some time in those last few hazy weeks where we didn’t do much more than have English lessons reading novels on the school field and watch endless repeats of Dads Army in History. There was no public fanfare nor was there open comparison with our classmates – just that quick conversation with our parents when we got home and that was that until the next year.

Zeugnistag in Germany is a far more ceremonious affair. After the usual morning classroom greeting, children are called up one by one to receive their report, each being individually applauded by the class. Back at their seat, they are free to look over how they have done and compare with their classmates. For older children who receive official grades (1 to 6 with 1 being the best), they may be called in order of best average. In some schools, these ranked lists of averages will hang on the wall for all to see. Once the handing out is done (after about two hours), the school day is over and parents are to come and pick up their children from school. Indeed, despite after school clubs being open for the rest of the day, most children feel very indignant about having to stay after 11.30am, even if they have working parents.

The sense of ceremony is not only in the handing out but also in the preparation and reactions. Many children dress smartly for the day – though I think in today’s casual culture this aspect of it is on the wane, at least in Berlin. And then the rest of the day is devoted to some sort of celebration – a fancy lunch or dinner in a restaurant or Kaffee und Kuchen in a nice café, perhaps with a grandparent or two in tow.

This level of formality and occasion on Zeugnistag echoes the fanfare in Germany at the start of school (Einschulung), which is also about celebrity children in school with gifts and public attention. It also must have some connection with the respect afforded to those who achieve high academic qualifications: the Herr Doktors and Frau Professors you see sometimes in email sign-offs.

Children are actively rewarded when they have done well, receiving 20 euros from one grandparent here and a new book from a parent there. This provokes the broader question as to whether or not children should be financially rewarded for academic success. Having not grown up with that, I feel reluctant to encourage endeavor for the sake of financial gain. My sense is that children should feel motivated by the pleasure of learning and the longer term promise of what good school grades will bring them by way of opportunity. But I could well imagine that my children see this differently!

Whether this is all better or worse than the rather understated affair of report giving in the UK is hard to say. Either way, what is clear is that the emotional emphasis on this day is, as sung by Reinhard Mey, not an easy experience to forget.

Chloë