When do your child start walking home/leaving the school grounds?

[robothoover40]

Can I ask what age/year do you allow your child leave school grounds at? My child is in year 3 aged 8 and I have a year 5 aged 10 I gave permission for the year 3 to leave the school grounds with the year 5 as I collect them outside the school and I walk my dog at the same time as they don’t want dogs on the school grounds which I understand. My year 3 daughter is only allowed leave the line once she sees me, her dad or her year 5 sister.
I’ve now been told they won’t allow the year 3 to leave the school with the year 5 but they allow from year 4 to walk home alone.

Standard from Year 3 at my DC's junior school. Lots meet parents a short distance out of the grounds or meet up with older secondary school sibling en route home.

If the school has a specific rule you may find it difficult to make them budge ,though.

In our school it's year 6 (SE London so lots of busy roads nearby).

Year 5 for us - largeish village with no busy roads. Year 3 is a bit young - I don't think the year 5 sibling comes into it as they're not old enough to be responsible for them really. I wouldn't want them to do it until I trusted them on their own, if you see what I mean.

There Is no way our school would allow a year 3 to leave into the care of another child at the school. It seems to be year 5 earliest with year 6 encouraged. I also think there is a tangible difference in maturity between the year 3s and 4s even though it’s only a year.

Year 6 here, busy roads, level crossing - Greater London. If they go to an after school club they have to be collected irrespective of year group

Year 6 here too.

Can y5 meet you outside of the school, hold onto dog briefly, while you go onto grounds to get y3?

Yr 5 children can leave alone.
They allow secondary pupils (so yr 7 upwards) to collect junior pupils.

If you have a friend collecting could they wave at your child too and then send them to you?

In my DDs school it was from year 5. Years 3-4 they would have let them out if they could see me to wave to but I can understand them not wanting to let a year 3 child leave with a year 5 sibling if they don’t know you’re there waiting.

Thanks everyone I might get another parent I know to wave at her. I couldn’t leave the dog with the older girl because once all the kids start coming out of school some don’t like dogs understandably so I can recognise that and move away whereas she wouldn’t see that. I walk both girls to the gate with the dog in the morning and they go straight to their classes so I was trying to get an afternoon walk in with him as well.

If you have a parent who is willing to collect them from the line and walk them out of the school gate to you I would do that. There were members of staff on each gate at my DC's school and no dogs were allowed on school grounds. That meant several children met their parent outside the gate.

Year 6 to walk home alone, year 3 upwards to not have to be passed off to a parent but as I said there were staff on the gates so a year 3 child couldn't just be walking out without a parent or meeting a parent with a dog.

Hopefully someone who collects every day will happily just walk your child/children to you. As parents we have all helped each other with things like this.

I wouldn’t have allowed my (11yo, in year 6) DD to walk alone when she was in year 3 - they’re just not old enough. I know she’s only leaving with DD to meet you, but the school don’t necessarily know that you’re waiting there (I’d put money on some parents making their child walk the whole way home in Year 3 if they could) and I’d imagine a blanket it rule is easier to manage.

In our school they'll let children walk home alone from Y4 if parents sign a permission slip. I personally felt that was a bit young. My DDs are the same age, Y5 and Y3 and I've started letting DD1 leave the school grounds and walk halfway home with her friend and then meet up with DD2 and I who are a few minutes behind her.

Year 5 and 6 are allowed to walk home alone. However they can’t be picked up by someone less than 16 yo so my 13 yo can’t go and collect his 10 yo brother but he can wait until he’s left the school grounds and then walk with him! That bit makes me laugh but I think I understand why.

Year 6 to leave alone. And can't be collected by anyone under the age of 14