How old were you when you went to school by yourself, and what year?

[cornflowerblue19]

I was seven (1988.) I was also coming home to an empty house. I think it was a bit young even then.

P1 (aged 5). I only let mum walk me for the first week apparently and then insisted on walking with the big girl next door who would have been about 8.

1978, small town, no busy roads to cross.

I walked my little brother to school when he was in P1 and I was 8 as well.

Year 4 so I was around 8. It was about a 15 minute walk. I used to meet some friends along the way sometimes also walking without adults.
Came home alone too but didn’t have my own key so I had to wait in the front garden for about half an hour every day while my brother came home on the bus from his secondary school

In 1994.

I'm old so 5. My Mum took me on the first day and then I went with my brother (he was 7). We went home for lunch (we called it dinner) at 12 and had to be back for 1.30. We finished at 3.30 in the Infants. The Juniors (from age 7) finished at 4. We lived about a 15 minute walk from the school, no one came by car, children from outlying areas came by bus.

4/5 in reception. I only lived a couple of houses down from the school and I told my lovely teacher that I had forgotten the way home as I wanted to show her my house. Seems unthinkable now . This was very early 70s

11, 1991. To be fair my primary was a 30 minute walk and I had come back by myself a few times when there were hiccoughs in the normal lift arrangements.

I was 7 (1980s), first year of junior school
I walked to and from school with friends, no main roads and most of the journey was through a large, safe housing estate.
DD is in year 2, I can’t imagine letting her walk to school unaccompanied for a good while yet (we live semi-rurally, a fair distance from school and the roads aren’t very safe)

I was 4, with my sister 6, in the late 1960's, and we used to walk along singing 'My old mans a dustman'...to be fair there was a lot less traffic in those days.

Age 11 when I started secondary school.

We got the school bus to school every day but in the summer from the age of 9 (so 1980) I sometimes cycled the 3 miles to school. Country roads so a 60mph speed limit but there were far far fewer cars on the road back then.

I think I was taken to school for the first few days, just before I was 5,and after that I'd go by myself. But it was only about a minute away, you could hear the bell from our house!
By about 8 or 9 I used to come home for lunch and cook a light meal, sometimes alone but sometimes with friends. We'd have lunch and a cuppa then go back to school. Very few parents took their children to school or collected them, we thought it was very babyish to have parents bringing you. This was in 60's London.

Aged five -usually with 7 year old sister but if she was off, then on my own. Number 64 bus and about 1.5 miles either end to walk.

Age 7 or 8 in the mid-1980s.

I was 6. (in the mid-1960's)...walked about 1.2 miles to primary school, and back in the afternoon, stayed in school for lunch.......most of my wee classmates did around the same - don't really remember any parents around the school gates, but this was totally normal for us in Glasgow...

5 in '83 - very rural village.

I walked back and forward with a friend in my street from when I was 4 (1975).
The headmistress came out to where all the parents were waiting and told them we were all big enough to walk on our own at half term (October) - I'd been at school since August!).

4 from the first day, it was 1981.

6
p1
in the 80s

Year 5, aged 9, 2001/02. We have a three tier system and I was at Middle School walking home to an empty house but only for about 15 minutes or so while my mum got my younger brother from First School. Once he started at the middle school we walked with our own friends but looked after each other until mum got back from work (she changed jobs between me and my brother starting middle school - 2 years between us)/

I was 5 1979 my big brother was meant to ealk with me but he always buffered of with friends and left me. I did have my own circle of friends so we used to chum each other up

We had middle schools when I was a child so I started to get the bus to mine with friends in year 5 (1992)

4 years, put on a school bus outside the door

7 in 1980 I had to take my younger sister too
And still had to take her in 1987 during hurricane Fish as they wouldn’t let youngers out (was very tempted to leave her 😂)

Probably about 8 or so (mid 80s). Walked about 5min to catch the school bus, village setting on edge of town, had to cross the road by the bus stop but it was much quieter than now. Mum was always at home though.

DD started walking to school this year aged 10yo (Y6). Has to cross a busy road using a zebra crossing and also cross a busy road with no crossing, just crossing patrol. It's about a 10min walk. She has instructions to cross with another family if the crossing patrol isn't there (or phone the school) as there is no obvious alternative nearby and the road is extremely busy with awful parent parking all over the pavements! She occasionally leaves an empty house and comes home to an empty house twice a week (I'm about 20mins behind her). I can check she's arrived via her kids smart watch.

Walking to and from, but mum at home - start of middle school, in year 5, so 9 years old.

Local roads, no crossing of a main/busy road. About half a mile. Walked with my best friend who lived not he same street.

Coming home to an empty house - not very often actually as my mum didn't work as my sister is much younger. I do remember coming home for lunch at middle school when the lunch staff (I think it was them anyway) were striking and we couldn't have lunch at school. Always with a friend and my slightly younger brother - I'd have been year 6 (so 10/11y) at the time.