Secondary school - school run

You aren't alone - many Y6 parents wait until after Christmas (when it's light after school again) and then concentrate on getting their kids to the stage they can walk home safely. Generally they embrace the idea by then even if they felt too afraid at the start of Y6.

It's adorable seeing the kids going to cafes with their friends and no adults.

How funny - normally on here it's people from outside the UK aghast that our primary school aged kids still get walked to school at 8/9/10!

A NT 11 year old should be perfectly capable of the average secondary journey to school. Obviously there will be exceptions and some may take a little time to get used to it, but the vast majority should be absolutely fine.

Round here they mostly start taking themselves in summer of year 5, but it is a nice village with plenty of mums of younger kids around, and although many have to cross a nasty B road, they've generally been trained to cross it safely over the previous five years.
One of my daughter's friends was a bit of a daydreamer; she waited until the last half-term at primary (mutual agreement with mum), but she was fine when it came to it.
Get your son trained up over the next few months. If you drive him at the moment, park further away so that you at least walk the last part together, then start dropping him to do that alone. Have some practice runs for the secondary over the summer, walking the route together so that he knows the danger points.

@TeenPlusTwenties I see your point but many aren't only doing it for that reason. Even if they were, it would be sensible to drop them off a short distance away to enable them to have that independence. So many parents feel the need to drive right onto school site creating congestion when even a few hundred yards away would do.

You're right. Most parents don't care about their children at all. In fact mine drive me to and from work every day even though I am 33. That's love.

Seriously, OP, assuming no SN I think 11 is a reasonable age for a NT child to be able to cross roads safely and use public transport. They should know what to do if something goes wrong e.g missing the bus. Parents need to equip their children with these skills and some children will need more help than others.

Spag Depending on the area it isn't necessarily insane. If the parent is travelling in that direction anyway and otherwise you have to fork out £££ for the school bus, then why not get a lift.

I’m utterly horrified at the number of kids who aren’t travelling to secondary independently! Over 50% at my DS’ school are driven to and from school by mummy or daddy. Insane.

Things to do

Start walking the route with them as practice
Make sure they know how to cross a road safely. Mine cross at a pelican crossing but I still drummed it into them that even though it said they could cross they need to watch the cars and make sure that they were slowing down before they cross
Make sure they know not to use phone while walking along

If you don't trust your son to cross a road by the time he's 11 starting secondary then you need to suck it up and get that boy in line. Tell him how bad day dreaming near roads actually is, he isn't a little kid anymore he will understand

Trust me a child at the end of year 6 is a very different child to the one that started it!! It’s crazy how suddenly they grow up a bit.

Surely by now at the age of 10/11 you have taught your child road sense, organisational skills, etc!??
My kids who are now year 7 and 8 were driven to school in primary and never went anywhere on their own as we are rural so I always had to drive them. However the minute they went to secondary the walk to the other side of the village to get the school bus and twice a week come home to an empty house for a couple of hours and use their own house keys. They stepped up to the challenge and bar one or two instances of missing the bus/forgetting keys have coped fine.

Helen You might be surprised how much your DS grows up in y6.
However, regardless of that you need to start thinking now what skills he will need to get to Secondary next year. Then you need a plan on how to help him develop them.

e.g. If going by train, use trains and get him used to looking at departure boards, talking about 'what ifs'. Similar if catching public buses. If walking do the walk there with him and get his road crossing skills improved.

When DD1 (poor spatial awareness) started secondary there was a lollipop crossing on one part of the route that wasn't there if going home after a club. For the first 2 terms I picked her up, and then we went one day and practiced crossing the road for a while until I was confident she could do it safely.

I understand your concerns, but don't underestimate how much kids grow up over the course of year 6. Around here (London) kids travel on buses/tubes or walk to school but usually with at least one friend.

My Y7 DD gets a school coach, which is obviously easier, and we are walking her 15 mins to the bus stop at the moment only because it's a very early start and not yet fully light when she has to leave. Once the clocks go forward again and she's that much more confident, I expect her to walk there by herself. Agree with PPs though, it's part of teaching them independence and the skills to get themselves around.

It's not as much of a thing as I think it should be. Many parents do drive their secondary-age children to school, adding to congestion and pollution in the vicinity.
By not driving you are contributing to safety, in this respect.

Part of being a good parent is equipping a child with the skills to become independent. Making his own way to and from school is an important step in that process.

We have middle school here so children go on their own from year 5.

Normal precautions are in place but how can he learn to be responsible of you never give him the independence to be?