Year 5 - walking to and from school WWYD

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DD is moving into Y5 next year. She is summer born so will just be 9 (and probably looks about 6/7). They have been told they will be allowed to walk to and from school (presumably if allowed).

I’m ok with giving a bit more freedom and responsibility but I’m wondering what to do on our situation.

We live about 1.5 miles from the school so not a round the corner wander. The walk would involve walking along a fairly busy morning rush hour road (30mph) but she will be sensible. She could get to school with safe crossings but has to go under an underpass (my main concern!) She would not have a phone and I would not buy her one.

On the upside, it’s great exercise. On the downside I wonder whether she’s too young and it’s too far.

She would never have to do it as we have a younger child at the school who will be being taken but I’m wanting ideas on whether other parents would be OK with allowing her to walk.

Following with interest
I think I'd be worried about the underpass - would she know what to do if there was someone in there who was a bit intimidating, youths hanging about etc.
Mine is the same year group but autumn born. We're probably going to allow him to go independently but we're a lot closer to school. Have been considering switching schools but this is one of the factors against a move as it would involve main roads & bigger crossings in rush hour.

One and a half miles is perfectly fine for a 9 year old to walk. My eldest walked that distance when he was in Y1.

But do you actually mean walk by herself? At 9 that entirely depends on the child and the route IMO. The distance isn't an issue but I'm not sure if I'd like the idea of an underpass

Do you normally drive?
One option would be to drop off at a closer friends house so they can walk together.

Its a good step of independence.

Yes, I mean walking alone. They do the walk as a family all the time. Probably 2 or 3 times a week.

I think that’s a bit far to walk alone and I would definitely give a phone in case something goes wrong or she gets worried. My y5 son has a basic Nokia call and text phone and an AirTag.

Does she have friends or other children she can walk with/meet on the way?
I'd be keen to let her have a go. It's a little nerve wracking but worth a fairly low risk half hour for a touch of independence imo.

Def not alone. With a friend ok or can you drop her off closer

Also depends whether she wants to or not. If she's keen great, if not I might feel a little mean leaving her behind while taking youngest!

Do you need her to do this? Does she want to? If yes then I would definitely be buying a basic phone in case of emergencies. Personally I wouldn’t feel comfortable, I think it’s too young, but then I have always been lucky enough to be able to do the school run around work. Appreciate this is not the cas for everyone.

I'd say not alone too. Will the little one finish at the same time as the older sibling? When you say they would 'be being collected', would they be walking home or going by car?
Could the collector (you?) meet somewhere on the route to give the 9 yr old a bit of independence and a chance to talk to friends and the person collecting some peace of mind?

Can you start with her walking with you part of the way and then she goes ahead and does the last bit on her own?

My DC did a similar length walk (well, they mostly cycled - is that an option for you?) from Year 5. As did most of their peers.

One option is for you to walk half way with her (or pick her up half way) and then let her go off on her own to build up more gradually

Is it likely that she will actually be on her own? Are there no other children walking in the same direction that she will end up going with?

If you let her walk, I'd suggest giving her a brick phone in case she needs to contact you (also good for building up responsibility for a smart phone). You also need to talk about if she's allowed to spontaneously go off to friends' houses/ the park after school (another reason for the phone so she can tell you).

I wouldn’t want her walking alone at this age, especially if you are going anyway! And definitely not without a phone.

If she’s desperate for independence, find a friend nearer school where you can drop her and they walk together.

TBH id probably not do either until year 6 and im usually pretty laid back with this stuff.

Keep in mind that in a few short years she will be old enough to go much farther, on the bus, and so on. Children in other countries will be making journeys like you describe far earlier than age nine, it's not at all strange that she would be able to do a walk like that alone at her age - in Germany she'd have been doing it for years already. Independence is a really important part of children's cognitive and emotional development.

Also following. In a very similar situation with DD who will be year 5 in September and early Summer born. We're about 1.2 miles from school with lots of roads to cross, including the busy one outside of school (and we've not had a lolly pop person for six months as they can't recruit!).

She's also ND and although she is reasonably road-aware, tends to panic, ie if she even sees a car in the distance will start running across the road.

Tbh, I haven't even thought about it in terms of her walking early on in the year. Here, it does tend to be the latter half of the year when year 5s start to walk by themselves.

What I will probably do eventually is do it in stages, so go with her for most of the journey, then watch her do the last few minutes and slowly extend the bit she does by herself. Or maybe follow behind at first.

And I'm not planning to get her a smartphone, but will probably get a simple call and text one.

Has she even asked to?

is there another route that doesn't involved the underpass, that would be my only issue.

Personally, if it was me, I would probably wait a while.
My child started walking back from school in the middle of year 5. But she was 10 and a half.
We live just under a mile away from ours and it's along a busy road although there's proper crossings where she needs to cross.
I think that was the right time for us

And yes she had a phone then

Are you walking with her currently? If not you probably should be.
a jacket with reflective strips.
in sept- Easter I allowed my kid to walk 1.5km to school, but collected in the afternoon.
As I was concerned that he should be walking to school and back in daylight only.
this summer term he’s been walking home.
I expect him to arrive directly. No dillydallying.
I think in year 6 they should begin walking both directions.
but this is based on us living in zone 2 London and I wish him to travel to secondary school independently.
what are your intentions for year 7?

It is her that is driving this. She is desperate to do it. As I say, we’re doing the trip anyway so makes sense to do as a family. But she’s been looking forward to walking to school alone for years!

We live outside the village and no children on our street in Y5 or 6. There is the option of dropping at a friends house but that’s on the other side and would be a logistical difficulty as then my son would be really early.

It may be that she sets off 5 mins before DH and DS so she can wait if worried at any point.

But 100% her driving this request.

I think if she wants to do it and you are not keen, you should be able to express your reasons to her and see how she responds (which will in itself show her level of maturity).

So can you articulate your reasons?
Do you think it is too far?
Too dangerous?
She is not mature enough to handle foreseeable incidents?

What risk mitigations can you (or she) put in place? Walking slightly ahead of other family members is a good plan.

Does she "play out" (or could she over the summer)? Walk to local shop? Do other things that can demonstrate her independence/readiness in a "smaller" way?

Also you haven't mentioned if she goes anywhere else by herself. My child went to the local shop by herself a fair few times first. Which is a lot shorter and no busy roads

Given you are going there anyway:
Start off by letting her walk 20metres or whatever ahead, but,waiting at any difficult crossings.
At crossings she tells you when it is safe (if you aren't already practicing this)
Then work up from there.

As she really wants to this I think you should strongly consider it. Having her start off 5 minutes before is a perfect way to start it as she'll know her dad and brother are just a bit behind her if she feels uncertain.

What is the underpass like? Do dodgy types hang out there usually? Because an underpass alone wouldn't bother me (there's one on the way to our local shop and I'm happy with my 7 year old walking there alone because there's never anyone hanging out in it) but if its a place where people gather then that's a bit different, can be intimidating for a child alone. But if its normally empty except for normal pedestrians at the time of day she'll be walking then its not such an issue.

This is the thing, where we live means it’s difficult to gradually build up. We’re a mile from the village but could perhaps start giving her shop errands whilst we hang around in the village.

I’ve never seen dodgy people hanging around there. The only thing would be off the rails kids but imagine that’s more likely in the evening. There is graffiti but I’ve never seen anyone other than dog walkers. But it is remote and away from everything. No one would hear a shout for help.