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

My DD asked to be able to walk to school on her own for an 8th birthday present!

It was a pretty safe route, so she got her wish.

YABU because it depends on the child. My dd walked to & from school from the age of 8 as we could see the school gate entrance from our house & she wanted to do it. I'm a bit sick & tired of hearing about how the world is so unsafe these days when it's no more unsafe than 50 years ago

I let DS start walking places by himself in yr4.

It's a quiet estate, no big roads nearby. He doesn't actually have to cross roads to get to school. We have lots of neighbours that he knows and would help him if needed.

He's sensible and can be fairly mature in a way that many of his peers aren't. Id have said a had no to many of them in yr4.

For some children it's totally appropriate from yr4. For others absolutely not.

It depends on the child and the area.

Mine walked from age 7/8. With friends not alone. 5 minute walk through residential streets, no major roads. He was always super sensible though. Played out from then too with all his friends after school, who were also all neighbours. Really is child/area dependent.

I find it hard to believe you’re being pushed into letting you kid walk home. The office will send reminders because ppl will expect to let their kids walk without signing.
if you don’t want, just don’t sign surely?
and your question is unreasonable. The same answer doesn’t apply to every kid obviously! There are so many factors to take into consideration.

It doesn’t mean school think all children are ok to leave and walk home at this age it just means that school are allowed to let parents make the decision from that age. The point is that school are not making this decision, you are.

Some parents at my child’s school park up nearby but allow their child to walk to the car which when parking is an issue/or time, can be helpful. Or they wait down the path from school for them but they can leave school alone. Some meet them on a local park nearby in summer so as not to be dragging younger kids to wait in the playground. Some walk home with older siblings.

We allowed our yr5 to walk home when we are WFH and a friend from the street was walking home too. When our son is in Year 4 if our daughter was in year 6 I would be happy for them to walk home together.

Lots of options before doing the full walk home with a door key.

I have a year 3 (one of the oldest) and I wouldn't let him walk alone to and from school but it's a mile away. Instead he walks with his brother in year 6 (one of the youngest in his year) with me trailing from a distance so I can just about see them. Then when we are nearly at school I let them go alone and I turn around. I can't see them after that but they are 30 seconds away with loads of other parents and the lollipop lady so it would be pretty obvious if somebody tried to kidnap them.

There will still be some people uncomfortable with what my children are doing and insist they will get kidnapped if they aren't directly next to me and there will be others who were letting their child walk to school at 5 who think I'm being to OTT.

It's very much child, parent and area dependent so whilst it's a bit young for me it might not be for someone else.

It depends on the area, route, and the child. It might be too young for your child but that doesn't mean its too young for other children. In my country they start school at 6/7 years old and they all walk or bike alone unless they live further away and get driven in (only one school in my whole town so some are coming from quite far, though if over 5km they get picked up by the school bus). My DS is 7 and walks to school by himself but doesn't walk home alone as he goes to afterschool club and I don't want him coming home to an empty house yet so I pick him up after work. One day a week my 14 year old picks him up and that's also fine. He also walks/bikes to friends houses by himself, yesterday I let him cross the main road, after reinforcing once again the rules for crossing the road. Next year I'll let him walk to town (3/4km away but very simple route straight down the main road) to go to his hobbies by himself, others his age are already going to hobbies by themselves but they live closer to the town centre than we do.

As others have said, depends very much on the child and the route. Also how much independence the child is used to. My first child was obviously less independent than my third for example. The third child was very keen to do things on his own, loved to be able to be off on his own. If you have confidence in your child’s abilities then a good parent will allow the child the space and opportunity. But definitely all children are different and it’s up to the parent to decide what they are happy for child to do alone.

Mine walked alone from 7. It was only about 200 m with one busy road which was right outside the house so i could watch them over.

It depends on the child. One of mine would be fine and one has SEND so would be a definite no. Just don’t give permission if your child isn’t ready.

Depends where you live when my eldest was younger we lived opposite the school and their was a lollypop lady think about 10 steps and he would be home so it was a bit irritating having to fetch him everyday before they allowed him to come home himself but now we live further from the school I will be collecting my 2 youngest until their much older.

In Scotland it is generally around P2-3 ie Y2 with them being told if you are expecting someone and they aren't there to walk back into school. England is not intrinsically more dangerous than Scotland , France Germany etc. Scotland is not all rural villages the same rules apply in Glasgow Dundee etc
Ultimately it is parents decision but with some schools it might involve sending A formal letter then simply not showing up, the school will not refuse to release all evening social services are not interested in school rules unless there is an actual specific safeguarding risk to that particular child.

In general, I think between 8 and 9 is a good age for children to start walking to and from school without adults- but obviously there will be individual children who this isn’t suitable for- either due to the journey, or additional needs, or immaturity in particular individuals. But I think it’s great that the school are encouraging it, for the majority who will benefit from the skills that come from growing independence.

It's surely up to individual parents and not a demand that you must not pick them up or drop them off from year 4?

That's a sensible school.Mine walked home from Y3. Obviously those children who can't ot whose parents don't want them to can carry on being collected but imo we baby children too much.

It will surely depend entirely on the child and their particular route to and from school. My Gdd1 would have been fine, human hurricane Gds maybe not.

In the 1970's I walked home from primary school from the age of 7.

It depends on route and distance and sen should be considered but walking home from school today should be no different to how it was way back when. If the school says it's fine then I think it's something children should do. Kids need to learn independence and what better way is there to do this than letting them walk home alone.

In Scotland kids can walk home from P1.

Not true, my kids school did refuse to let my 13 year old collect my 8 year old even though I was right outside and no they didn’t back down. They just won’t release them it’s that simple and yes they refused to even though I called them and said he is allowed and I’m waiting outside

Like lots of schools they'd quickly realise that isn't their call when challenged by a parent.

In twenty years working in education (and having 6 of my own) I've seen schools back down numerous times over their "rule". Only once did I see a school actually take steps to prevent a child walking home alone because it was a genuine safeguarding concern, and part of a bigger picture of concerns.

Ds walked home in year 4 and he's 24 now so not a new thing. Completely up to the parent as to wether they allow it.

8 seems very young and mini blondes age but no way is she walking home alone yet

Our local school is from Year 5 summer term

and then into yr 6

I know l am a dinosaur compared with many here but, back in the seventies, we walked to and from school independently as soon as our parents deemed us capable. I was certainly doing so in the top infants (year two) and this was quite normal. Usually, we would be with friends. By the time I was eight, I was catching the bus to the next village for my piano lesson by myself. We would also play outside unsupervised as groups of children for hours as long as our parents knew roughly where we were. We had safety rules drummed into us by parents and school and these were reinforced by the truly graphic and terrifying public information films we were shown at school on a regular basis. I think the amount of independence we learnt made us streetwise in the best sense of the word. Stranger danger is no worse now than then. I think the biggest difference is the amount of traffic. By the seventies, it was usual for a family to have one car but these days most people seem to have at least two cars per family. It's a difficult thing to decide but I think year four is about the right time these days for children to walk independently to school unless they have special needs or live in a dangerous, traffic heavy area. Common sense should prevail. I do think that year six is too late.

Well it could be over protective like my kids school, not allowed till year 6 and any children under year 6 aren’t allowed to be collected by a sibling unless they are over 16 which I think is really over the top!