What would consider an acceptable age for your child to catch the bus?

[wingingitsendsnacks]

DS is starting secondary school next year and wants to catch the bus, it would be a public bus and when he starts he would be getting the bus on his own.
I would be able to drop him at the stop (on way to siblings school) and he would just have to get off at the stop outside school.
It would help with the drop off and getting to work logistics but he would still only be 11.
Is this too young or a good age for independence?

I think it’s absolutely fine. Start catching the bus places with him now, so he gets some practice. Do a practice run on the route in the holidays.
In year 6 I got the bus a few times with my ds to town, then let him go with friends to McDonalds in town after that.

My DD caught two public buses to/from school from the first day of secondary. We didn't give her a lift to the bus stop - she walked out of the door on day 1 of secondary and got on with it. It was fine.

I did travel the route with her in the summer holidays, and she did a trial run on her own as well.

Normal for secondary. I would do it with him a few times first.

Sounds perfectly fine to me

10 or so. Definitely secondary age! I live in London kids take public transport to school all the time from that age.

Normal for secondary.

my kids did it for primary (but it was a dedicated school bus)

Sounds fine so long as you practice the route, though how would he get to school if he didn't? I showed my DS the bus route to school before secondary but he prefers to walk as it's only half an hour and by the time you're done waiting the bus is no quicker.
It did take until year 9 until he was comfortable figuring out which bus to get for unfamiliar journeys though.

I’m in my 30s and caught my first bus alone (with friends) in year 6. Had no idea what we were doing, went the wrong way and walked hours home. We didn’t have phones at that age either but I think it was the right age to be able to make those mistakes and deal with them without an adult.

ETA now I think back it was the first bus I’d ever been on at all, not just alone.

It would be unusual to say he is too young in Y7 simply because so many secondary school children across the country need to use buses or trains to get to school. There will be a few for whom it is not appropriate or safe and you know your son best, but it is a normal thing for many many children in Y7.

It's astonishing how much they grow up between now and next Sept. Honestly. Add a bit of scaffolding and practice and you should be good. I believe there is a developmental leap around age 10 which makes them far better able to judge traffic than younger children too.

Just remember to have a plan. What if the bus doesn't come. How long to wait. What if he gets off at the wrong bus stop. Check the route, are there any weird off the main route loops etc. What happens if he's late to school, is there a particular gate he has to use. Etc.
If it is all thought about beforehand, it just makes it all seem easy.

10 is a good age. Very normal for y7s to be getting the bus themselves.

It's fine and very common at age 11 but you could catch the bus with him a couple of times and then let him do it on his own a couple of times in the summer holidays before he starts.

DD was 9, but I suspect the difference is we didn't have a car so had spent her life travelling by bus and was a route she knew very well.
It's a good time to start, most in DD's class were taking the bus into the neighbouring town at the end of Yr6 to prepare them for the next school. Everyone bar one child from her primary class either cycled or took the bus to their secondary.

11 is absolutely fine. Please don't pull up in the bus stop to drop them off though. If he can't walk from home, drop him at a safe place nearby.

Totally fine. Desirable even.
Don't turn into my ex-MIL, who accompanied her 19 year old to the small city 50 miles from home so that they could do a practice bus journey from her student room to the college she was starting. At 19!😂

it's perfectly normal for secondary school age kids to get the bus to school!

Secondary age to use buses alone. For practical reasons more than anything.

Once they hit 11 they need a Zip card in London. In my experience London bus drivers can be very overzealous with making sure kids have a valid Zip card and an under 11 won't have one, so they may be refused travel?

Zip card allows free bus travel for kids up to 16yo, but drivers need all the kids to scan their Zip cards especially at peak times / along school routes.

Under 11 I'd have worried the driver would refuse to let my child on the bus due to lack of Zip card (even though they would be too young for one but bus drivers wouldn't always accept this?)

I've seen way too many kids refused entry onto a bus as they don't have their Zip.... kids in school uniform etc, so clearly kids on route to or from school but bus driver says no card, no bus 🙄

Have a few practice journeys and do things like sit away from him, meet him at the stop he needs to get off at, go to the next stop so he knows where it is if he misses the stop. Then he'll be fine in September. Dd1 has a train into a very busy station and a bus and was doing it on her own after a couple of days.

I think 11 is absolutely fine.

Summer term of year 6 is perfect for practicing travel training and come up with “what if” scenarios. Bus pass lost, phone not charged, bus breaks down, horrid person on bus, no seat, bus late etc..cover them all off and they will be fine.
At that time in the morning it’s really normal to see secondary kids on public transport.

Mine started at secondary school, we lived in London without a car, they were well used to buses and finding alternative routes if needed.

Mine used to go on the bus at 9/10 years old and went to the local shopping centre to meet their friends for coffee/burgers/cake!

It is the norm to get the bus once you start secondary.

Why do you need to drop him at the bus stop, is it a long way?

About 9/10. Somewhere in year 5 depending on the child obviously. 11 is definitely not to young.

My dd has had a zip card since she was 5 (there's a version for 5-10 yo and another type for 11-15), we got it so we could use the normal gates on the tube rather than queuing for the wide gates.

My dd started using the bus and tube at age 11 when she went to secondary school, it's very much the norm in London and it would be unusual to be dropped off by a parent. She would probably have been fine using buses at age 10, but school and friends were walking distance so it never came up.

tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=55572#on-this-page-0