To think Year 4 is too young to walk home from school alone

Probably the ND is skewing how you feel. I have twins that are Y4, one I would be happy for her to walk part of the route and meet her halfway with a view to extending over the year. The ND one absolutely no freaking way! 😂

All depends on the route, the distance and the child.

I was doing it from that age but we lived 200 yards from the school with no roads to cross.

I’m in a very major city in Canada. Lots of busy roads around my DCs’ school. They are encouraged to walk or cycle home from age 8, as part of a healthy and independent lifestyle. I allow my 8yo DD to do it with a friend.

Depends on the environment/child. I'd hate a blanket ban as my 7 year old is perfectly happy walking the 2 minutes between our house and the school with her friends and/or big brother. No roads involved, just a flight of steps down a cliff and with a window open, we can hear them the whole way home.

I live in a middle school area. All children are expected to walk if not too far from y5. Kids definitely rise to the challenge of independence just fine at that age. DD was scooting a mile to and from school at 9.

No, it's fine. It's not saying they MUST walk home alone.

Totally depends on the child and the school/distance. For some Y4 kids who live over the road it’s probably a nice bit of independance for them! It’s from Y5 at our school, not vastly different.

As long as you have taught your child road sense there shouldn't be a problem. Many children have no road sense as they never walk anywhere so make sure you teach yours how to walk around the area.

So don't allow it. For your child. For others this would be fine and would make a lot of parents' lives a heck load easier.
My neighbour's very sensible year 5 daughter walks home. It's 2 streets from the school and her dad is WFH so she isn't going home to an empty house. She could easily have done this last summer term too.
Yet I know some 12 year olds who would probably cause chaos doing this. Age is not the only factor.

Traffic has improved in most places though. Where I live, there are more speed limits, stricter controls, more zebra crossings, more bumps to slow cars down, raised pedestrian crossings that didn't exist at all 20 years ago. So what's actually changed is our perception of danger, and not the actual dangers.
This is true for a lot of aspects in parenting.

When my mum returned to work she couldn’t quite get to the school to collect me in time. I was quite sensible but there were 2 extremely busy roads that she was worried about . A bus stopped outside the school and although it was only 3 stops it covered both big roads so she felt safe knowing I wouldn’t have to cross them and by the time I got home she was always there. Perfect solution except I was 8 and worked out that I could walk in the same amount of time ( didn’t have to wait for the bus) and spend the bus fares on sweets yay! It seemed very sensible idea to me but I never mentioned it to her just incase.

If you don’t think it’s ok for your child just carry on

but yes most kids at year 4 should be capable of walking to and from school. It used to be the norm and in many countries it still is

edit - we have become more fearful, but we are trading short term risk- accidents - against lives marred by physical and mental ill health

and fewer cars doing a school run will reduce accidents

One of the big differences is many children don't go to their closest school. My godson walks past two other primary schools to get to the one he got a place at. If he went to the closest one, as children general did years ago, he could absolutely walk alone, but not the distance he actually had to go.

The other big change is traffic. That's the thing most parents at our local school cite as the big problem - and we're a village location with a walking bus from the local pub car park, so a very good and safe set up. People still park like twats and drive too fast for some parents to feel comfortable.

DS is in year 4. He’s capable of doing it but there’s a big road to cross and I nearly got run over crossing it so I would worry about him crossing it solo.

Depends on the child, the route, so many other factors. In Scotland we generally do not have these set rules about what class the children need to be in before being allowed, schools leave it to parents to judge.

At my local school there are lots of 8 year olds walking home in groups or with siblings.

Just because he’s allowed doesn’t mean he has to - you do what’s right for your child and others can do what’s right for theirs.

anecdotally my daughter walked home in p6 (so 9/10) but my son has always been more independent and started walking himself home in p4 (he was 8). It’s a mile to the school with several crossings. But he’s unusually early and I don’t think many in his class are walking themselves even now a year later.

I'm in Germany so primary school starts at 6yo. I've never heard of a school stopping children from walking home alone. Of course you can collect your child if you want to but that would be unusual a 6 let alone 8!

I think it should be up to parents to decide at any age. Both of mine were perfectly capable from year 1, and would sometimes go on their own at that age when needed (school never noticed). From year 3 the school would release them after school to either walk or go and find their parent so could walk both ways on their own from that age, saved me a fortune in after school club and my DC were much happier.

My 8 year old in Year 3 could easily and safely walk home from school. It's 0.3 miles from our house.

I think it depends enormously on the exact details of the route (any difficult road crossings, roads without pavements, remote areas etc), the maturity and understanding level of the individual child and whether there are likely to be any issues with bullying. I would certainly not make a blanket statement that it is unsuitable for any Year 4s. I personally would have been happy for my own children to walk home alone at that age (very short journey, one road crossing with a lollipop man) but that particular school didn't allow it.

But you know your child best and if you don't think he is ready, you absolutely do not have to let yourself be pressurised into allowing it. You might even find that if you are still collecting him, some other children who nominally walk alone rather like walking alongside you.

This is purely a culture question, 8 year olds in the UK are no intrinsically less able or safe then 8 year olds elsewhere in Europe.

It's right that the school are leaving this to parental choice rather than imposing their own opinions.

Depends on route and child.

We are in Cornwall and my DSs route was safe in many ways but he was a dreamer! He would wander up our hill in his own dreamworld and possibly miss cars coming straight out onto the road from their small hidden parking spaces. So, we waited to allow him to walk home a few more years than his sister.

I find it odd the difference in attitude between England and Scotland. We live in a Scottish city and most will walk on their own by the end of P5, some much younger. We only had to collect them from the classroom in P1, so from P2 onwards I just waited for them at the gate.

It used to be normal for kids to walk home alone from 6 or 7 years old. What has changed in the meantime, except adults' perception of how dangerous the world is? Because traffic was a lot more dangerous in the 80s/90s, and I don't know of any evidence that crime against children has increased in the last decades. I think it's really important for children to learn that the world outside isn't too dangerous for them to survive. An 8 year old who is walking home alone (it's actually more likely they'll be walking with friends) gains in self-esteem and problem solving capacities. At least that's what I decided when I realised my 8 year old couldn't even unlock the front door without struggling because there had always been an adult to do it for him!

Just tell the school you plan to continue to pick your child up for now.