Children walking home alone from school

[Jeclop]

General discussion here.

At what age did people start allowing their children to walk home alone from school?

For a little context, we live in London in a fairly busy area that is also very touristy on Fridays - think well known street market that is visited en masse. School on said street. The walk home would be around 20minutes or a short cycle (on the pavement!).

My children are still a few years off being able to walk home alone but out of curiosity, when did you start allowing your children to walk home alone, with a parent waiting for them at home?

Our school only allows it from year 5. Dd started doing the occasional walk herself in year 5. In year 6 she walks home by herself every day and to school on occasion (I'm at home with baby and find it good for us to get up and out in the morning and dd likes walking with us so try to walk her most days, but she'll walk herself or with a friend if we're not ready or dd2 has slept a bit later or something). But her school is less than a 10 minute walk and is on our estate, not sure how I'd feel if we lived in a busy area of London.. but if your dc is going to be getting themself to secondary then I think it's really important that have at least some experience of walking themselves in year 6 to prepare and get a bit more confidence with it.

Apologies, did read all your replies first so didn't see that they'll be at the same school for secondary. In which case what I've said is less relevant. I think the important thing is just to do it gradually to build that confidence. So if you want them to be taking themselves all the time when they start year 7, at some point during year 6 they should be doing at least occasional journey themselves.

Only allowed from y6 when Dts were in primary.

Mine have taken themselves to and from school since last August when they started P6 and P3.

Our local primary insists all children from reception to year 6 are accompanied to and from school, it's part of their safeguarding policy.

To be honest my 2 will be with their childminder in year 6 I wouldn't dream of making them walk on their own it seems a bit crazy to me.

I live in a city but the school is less than ten minutes walk away with no busy roads to cross. Start of year 5, age 9, is pretty standard here. Those who live further away wait till end of year 5 or start of year 6. I would not leave it any later than that, to get ready for the much longer journey to secondary school.

In London

Occasionally in the summer term of year 5.

More often at the start of year 6, but probably less in the depths of winter when it was dark. Nearly all the time when the days started lengthening again.

I think it's quite important that DC learn to get around without an adult there, and better on the deeply familiar route to and from primary, rather than on the new route to secondary (I read somewhere that RTAs involving child pedestrians peak at about year 7 age, and that being out without an adult for the first time is part of the reason - no idea if that's true, but I thought it was plausible, hence deciding to go for a longer and gentler learning time)

Year 6. School allowed from year 5 but we live on a busy road and DS is summer born so felt he needed the extra year. DD probably will from year 5 as she's September born so will be older then.

Back in a different era (1940s) my Mum walked on her own from when she started primary aged 4 1/2 😂

She says that her mother told her not to speak to strange men, so on her way to school she went out of her way to go up to a strange man and asked the time. He told her it was ten to nine, she thanked him and carried on to school...

As I said, different era! Year 6 for us.

How on earth do they enforce that? Surely every adult doesn't check in each morning with the teacher. Even in p1 dd would often be off playing in the playground then run to the door so teacher might not even see the parent then, aged 4. I can't even imagine how checking that would work with older children or the chaos at the end of the day with so many parents in the playground getting checked off for much older dc as well as the small ones

DS, who is Y3, is already excited about walking to and from school on his own when he is in Y6. We will probably phase it in over the year. He's summer born, but very switched on already, so I am sure it will be fine. We're in London, and it is less than a 10 minute walk along a main road, with several small/quiet roads to to cross and one that is busier. I want him to be confident with this shorter walk before he has to do it to secondary school in Y7, which will be much further whichever school we choose for him.

Those saying the school can’t stop you well no but you would probably get a nice phone call to social services about you, in my kids school they won’t release them unless they SEE the parent, they will just hold them in the late room and then call ss if you don’t pick them up so I’m sure most parents would prefer not to go through that. Also they absolutely can refuse I witnessed a 15 year old trying to pick up her sibling but the class teacher refused to allow the child to go with the girl as she wasn’t 16 yet.

I started letting mine in the last term of year 5.
I live in a big city it's a 15 min walk, I started off meeting them at a certain point on the way home then gradually let them do it by themselves.

This is overkill, to not allow a 15 year old to pick up a child, that she knows from school is ridiculous and a school over stepping the mark. At 15 years old my dd was perfectly capable of picking up her sister from school at aged 9. Though dd2 was walking home herself then as it wasn't seen as some weird thing for dc to walk themselves to and fro school in the beginning of this century.

The is no law either that a 15 year old can't babysit so on what grounds are the school holding the child hostage?

justanotherdrama. whats crazy about walking to school by yourself? It was perfectly normal when I went to school and the same for my dc in the 90s and 00s - whats changed in the last 13 years to make it crazy?

I'm bemused by the number of schools holding 9 and 10 year olds until they see a parent. Surely most children that age don't need that and you hold onto the one or two who do. What happens when they have a supply teacher who doesn't know the children.

In Germany and Switzerland 6 year olds walk home alone and even get buses.

she wouldn’t let the child go and said she was calling the parent, I told the reception once my sister was going to pick up my children and the reception said she must be at least 16

A mile away, both DS & DD started walking home from year 6. Helped them to boost their independence ready for secondary school.

There was one major (residential) road to cross, but there were always parents with children they’d tag onto for the road crossing, just as we’d do on the same stretch of road when we were collecting our DCs.

It really helped their independence & confidence, but as it’s been 15 years since my last DC left primary school, I’ll let you into a secret; if you go into one of their bedrooms, you have a clear view down the hill to the crossing point. Since I’d always have a brew ready for when they returned home, regardless of if they’d dawdled up the hill with their friends, one day my daughter asked if I was psychic.

It’s only in the last couple of years that she’s worked out how I really knew when she’d be home -she’s 27 this year lol!

My child is Primary 5 and will be walking home with their elder sibling after Easter break.
Our eldest started walking themself to/from school at the start of Primary 6.
No idea how that correlates to Year 5/6/7 etc as the English school years confuse me no end- given I'm not in England.

OP you will know when the time is right, for ages I couldn't imagine letting them walk themselves but then they grew up a bit and the timing was right.

Y4, but v small rural village, everyone else did, v close to school.

Y6 - that is the earliest the school would allow it anyway.

My dtwins are in year 5. We don’t live near to school but I let them walk 2 roads down to meet me in the village carpark. The aim to to slowly increase their independence so by Y7 they are confident to walk alone.

Also London but with one main road to cross. Last term of year 6, when it was lighter in the evenings.

ironically it’s a safer walk to secondary than it was to primary.

she wouldn’t let the child go and said she was calling the parent, I told the reception once my sister was going to pick up my children and the reception said she must be at least 16

what law prevents a 15 year old collecting from school?

Don’t know ask my kids school 🤷‍♀️ mine aren’t old enough to pick up siblings and my sister was in her 30s so I didn’t challenge them on it as it isn’t my business but no that’s their “rules”