Would you leave Year 5 and Year 7 home alone after school?

[Jinglejinglejingle7]

Advice please. After a struggle following redundancy, myself & Dh are both getting new jobs. Ive had a job offer and dh looks like he's about to get an offer. Big change in circumstances as I'm going full time in office and dh will be hybrid, possibly 3 days in office. I may have some flexibility to finish early and wfh but I cant push that yet.
Problem is we have 2 dc, eldest year 7 youngest year 5. I think they are old enough to be left at home for an hour/ hour and a half. Eldest makes her own way home already, youngest gets picked up/ dropped off but its 15 minutes walk max and he's 10 now so could walk or eldest could collect. Dh worried that they're too young. I dont think we have a massive choice. Would u let 10 year old walk home, then stay with his sister for an hour or hour & half on they're own? They're sensible, get on well, we leave them now to run to shops/ walk dog etc.

Silly me - I realise it’s not ages but years, read it in a hurry. Yes I probably would be happy at those ages but as someone else said, it would depend on the individual child.

Yes, I used to do this 1 or 2 times week when my kids were those ages.

I'd allow the Y7 child be at home alone, but not looking after the Y5 child. After school club or another arrangement where an adult looks looks after her.

I wouldn't leave mine becaise they'd fight but yours sound very responsible so yeah, I'd vote to do it.

Our Yr5 goes to after school club so that's doable and preferable to 90 mins alone with the yr7.

I have a year 4, oldest in the year would've been year 5 for less than a week difference in birthdays and a year 7
Either one could be trusted to stay home alone until I finish work
Together? Not a chance
Oldest likes to cause problems youngest takes the bait
I wouldn't trust my year 4 to walk home they would get dropped off in that scenario

Myself and my db used to walk home from school at a similar age and wait on parents coming home 2 hours later we got on well enough

I have a neighbour who has been leaving her two dc a year 5 only two weeks older than my year 4 and a year 7 home alone for a couple of hours for the last 2 years very likley longer as one parent goes to work and they wait for the other to come home
Only found out recently when I asked who was watching the dc and the reply was the security cam

It really depends on the children and what emergency plans you have in place eg neighbour at number 12 has a spare key
Or if anything goes wrong you can knock on number 9 for help as they're always in

SS wouldn’t do anything - there’s no legal minimum age in the UK for leaving your child alone at home

You feel happy with it so it will be fine. The problem is with Mumsnet is everyone will think about it in terms of their own situation. People live in villages, towns, know neighbours to call on or don’t. Sibling relationships are different. This is a conversation for you and your husband but my daughter leaves my yr 7 and yr 5 grandchildren for a couple of hours at a time now and they are just fine and I did the same with my children at similar ages.

I would and I did this when my youngest was a bit younger. She was dropped off/walked home with her sibling and I got home over an hour later. They are sensible.

No, definitely not. Sorry.

Y7 yes but not the Y5.

My son has been walking home alone since he has 8. He's 10 now. Someone is generally in when he arrives, but on days that we have on site meetings that can't be rearranged we will aim to be 15-30 mins behind him.

Most of the kids in his year who walk home, walk home alone.

I think this is fine. Mine are 14 and soon to be 11. I've left them for short periods of time since age 10. I think the independance does them good.

Yes

How times change. At 6 and 8 my sister and I were getting the bus every week to go to our piano lessons. At Year 3 on all the children who lived a mile or so from school were getting the bus home and back at lunch time as well as to and from school morning and afternoon. Aged 11/12 year 7, we were getting the bus to and from school in the centre of the city. My friend was cycling to the station, getting the train to the city centre, then the bus to school at 11. We roamed the local area, hired a boat on the lake, got the bus to parks and museums, the centre of the city, wandered down to the river to look at the floods. All well before we were 11. The rule was at weekends/holidays you had breakfast then said 'I'm going out' and your Mum said 'don't be late for dinner at 1'. Children went to the shops doing errands for parents, neighbours from age 7. Previous generations ie my aunts and uncles were working in a factory from 13. 12 in the case of my father because he had an August birthday. How have we got to this , that we are infantalising our children. How are they going to cope with life if we have not given them opportunities to learn and gain confidence in their own abilities. In many other countries it is not like this. They allow children to go to and from school at Year 3 etc., are given the responsibility to care for animals on the farm etc etc.

Yes, I pick a 9 Yr old up who is not allowed out until the teacher acknowledges me . I don't think this will change next year . It's a no from me especially in Winter , dark nights etc . No job is worth it .

Yes if you think the 10 year old is ready then I think this is fine. I was leaving my 10 year old alone for short periods. I would make it more that he is responsible for himself than that his sister is responsible for him. Have some rules about what they can and can't do and tell them if anything goes wrong to call you or go to a friendly neighbour.

For my iwn 2dc (yr 4 and 6 currently) I wouldnt at this time. What I would do is use after school club for yr4 child abd let yr 6 child stay at home

Absolutely.

My children are 12 and 8 and I would have no problem leaving them alone together for 1-2 hours.

They are very sensible and get on very well so I know there’d be no arguing or fighting etc (which definitely helps).

They know what they can and cant do when they’re home alone, they know how to contact us, grandparents, other family members and trusted family friends, and we also have a good relationship with our neighbours that they can go to as well if needed. We also live in a nice quiet crescent where nothing ever happens.

However, these are our circumstances, and you can only make the right decision based on your own circumstances.

Many years ago I did. Mine were sensible kids, and I was home about 45 mins after them. Once my Y7 was in secondary and caught the bus they went straight home. After a little while my Y5 asked if they could go straight home rather than the childminders they had both been at. The childminder dropped them off at home and Y7 was already there. They had a phone. They enjoyed being able to get a snack and changed out of uniform before I got home.

Our school sends a form at the beginning of year 6 to ask if they can release the kids without a parent being there to collect. They let year 5s out alone if the parent e-mails to say it's ok.

children around here are allowed to walk home from year 5. Perfectly reasonable and good for their independence and self esteem.

And what about the dark evenings? If it's a 15 min walk they'll be home by half 3!

They are allowed at any age but most school frown on before year 5, from year 5 is allowed. It wouldn’t have worked for us.

No I wouldn't, too young

Yes they do! My DD is year 6 and has been walking home alone since start of year 5.

To answer the OPs question yes I would do this if it’s only going to be an hour some days a week.

I know times have changed but from the age of ten I was responsible for my seven year old brother for 40 minutes, three times a week. I knew I could get help from a neighbour if I needed it. It depends on your children, I think.