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.

It’s a yes from me, definitely. And sounds like logistically you have no real choice. If they’re sensible and both have access to a mobile phone to call either of you should an emergency arise I see no real issue.

Read back up the thread, I think you've misunderstood the rule we're talking about.

Would the school allow it? Ours weren't allowed to walk home until year 6 and we literally live around the corner with no roads to cross.
I would put Y5 in after school club and let Y11 walk ho.e but break it up with some activities after school some days.

Read back up the thread, I think you've misunderstood the rule we're talking about.

@Revoltingpheasants explains at 00:43.

And if they’re not fine and burn themselves there’s no one there.

Mine walked home from year 3 as long as given permission.
OP if they are sensible then I would. Of course there are what if scenarios but that is all of life. Do you have good neighbours if an emergency happens? Our water pipe burst when Ds2 was home alone aged 9 and he got a bucket then ran and got a neighbour.

Well you teach them what to do with a burn. A 10 year old is capable of basic first aid.

I waited till the youngest was in yr6 so I would hang on till then if you can

It’s all ok until there’s an accident and then they’d have plenty to say.

Wow. Ok.

They really won't.

I think it will be fine, and it’s much more common than responses would lead you to believe.
It’s good to get into the routine I of it when it will be light and better weather in the summer term.

We did it when youngest was in y6, and they were very responsible at keeping in touch, sending a text when they had both arrived home etc.

But tbh it worked less well in the morning, they found leaving on time and locking up etc a bit trickier. DH and I ended up shifting our work hours slightly so one of us were always last to leave the house, to save worry. But maybe that’s just my children!

My kids walked home from school from Year 5 onwards and stayed at home for an hour or so until I got home from work. I can’t see a problem with it particularly as you also have a secondary aged child in the house. If there’s an issue they can ring you.

I think with everything we do there’s a probability factor (how likely is this to happen) and a risk factor (what are the consequences of this?) And we do these little risk assessments all the time and everyone’s will differ a bit. Mostly common sense prevails and is generally better than a generic ‘children can walk home alone at ten’ as children do reach levels of maturity and capability at different stages (something that is often lost on here) and the parent is best placed to make that judgement call.

No they won't. I've worked with vulnerable children and literally begged social services to get involved with actual neglected and aabused children.

I didn’t leave until year 7 and year 9 - which was really aged 12 and nearly 14.
of course I would’ve left the 14 year old and frequently did, but together was a different matter.

Doesn’t your year 7 child stay for after school
clubs or matches? Ours both did several times a week so this wouldn’t work and I wouldn’t entertain stopping them to make them look after their younger sibling.

What is the walk home like? What are their temperaments, especially after school when they’re tired and hungry? What is their relationship like? Do they have access to the internet? Do they usually get themselves snacks and drinks?

so many questions and variables.

For me, it would have to be after school club / CM for the youngest

Why wow? For sure a 10 yo can run their hand under cold water. My DC were cooking more or less unsupervised by this age and certainly knew what to do.

I wouldn’t entertain stopping them to make them look after their younger sibling.

Clubs are important. Jobs are importanter.

Children have to make some sacrifices for the household just as parents do. My kids can't do clubs on two weeknights because of work commitments. That's life.

I’d have been ok with this for my two. They were very sensible.

One thing though is to run through what to do if there is a problem with the youngest specifically - like what if big sister faints so it’s on him/her to deal with a problem alone.

I taught my kids how to open the windows fully to climb out if there was a fire (they have a restrictive catch built into them for safety which is not intuitive as to how to open) pre-mobile how to use the landline to make a call or answer a call, how to go to our lovely neighbours on both sides or behind and what to say etc etc. I think you do have to run through different dangers that could happen - one at a time, role play if needed, to actually help kids learn.

I used to teach 1st Aid to Y5 and Y6 - they can learn what to do with a burn, CPR and so on. We had one young man who actually used the CPR skills we had taught him about 6 months later!

I find the responses on here to this sort of question totally bizarre. My concern would be the likelihood of them fighting with each other - if they get on well then I would have no concerns. My Y6 currently walks himself home to an empty house. He’ll ring me if he wants to go back out to the park. School has no authority to insist on a parent being at home or adult collection.

I find it odd how everyone is so relaxed about it. I wouldn’t leave my kids at home alone until they were 16. It’s different if it’s 5 mins or so to pop to the corner shop or the neighbours or something.

Seriously?

Please tell me you are joking. Maybe your DC are still very young, in which case I suspect you may change your views. Hope so for their sakes. Never to go anywhere on their own or with friends, or have time alone in their house or walk home from school by themselves until they are 16? Wow.

I think they can certainly do it. Do they know the neighbours and have you practiced fire safety and choking response and such?

My issue is to put this on your older one so regularly. Does this mean they can’t ever hang out with friends after school? That doesn’t seem very fair.

I live a mile from school and my son has been walking home for a year now - started at the end of p4 when he was 8. Plenty of kids walking themselves back and forth to school by that age near me. He goes to after school twice a week but mostly for logistics reasons (he goes to football with a friend on Mondays and has another club on Tuesdays).

id have no issues leaving my children home alone for ad hoc reasons but this seems much more than that. I’d probably pay my daughter to do it and she’d be delighted though!

Our primary ( and others) allow the kids to walk home alone from year 5