To consider leaving my dds on their own for 30 mins in the morning?

[BoBoo]

DDs currently year 5 and 6 and at the moment, I need to leave for work just after 8am and they go to breakfast club. I am considering letting them stay at home by themselves for half an hour after I leave, when they would then walk themselves to school.

Both are very sensible, especially the eldest. She has a mobile, so could contact me if needed and our neighbour works from home so would be there if needed in case of an emergency. This would save us around £200 a month, which would be lovely, but I am also keen to increase responsibility and independence in preparation for secondary school next year. They are both comfortable with the idea. Do other people do similar, or AIBU?

I would definitely do it. I would ask school to inform me immediately if they didn't make it in and I would ask a neighbour or someone I knew who walked past my house on their own school run just to check they had closed the door properly at some point after they had left.

I don't think I would (yr4&6 here) as I'd worry that they'd left the front door open all day. Or left an electrical item on, or didnt get to school on time or safely...
I'd do it when both are on secondary school. And maybe let them come home alone in a year's time.

Are there are nearby school run parents you could give a heads up to that your kids can go to just in case of emergency ?

My 9 year old walks home on his own, makes himself a snack and messes around on his tablet for an hour every day after school. It's not ideal, but it saves me a fortune in childcare, and he enjoys the responsibility. There are neighbours he could go to if he was worried about something.

I think he would be capable of locking up and going to school on his own. ... except that he hates school so much that I don't trust him to actually go! !

Sounds fine since the door locks itself!

My dd was ok returning to our house on her own aged 10, but that was her choice. The option was a child minder who was available but she wanted independence. It did work for her. However it does depend on the child.

I did this with mine at exactly the same ages. I made sure they were absolutely ready before I left and we're not allowed to eat or use any appliances.
They forgot to shut the porch door a couple of times but not the main door. never had any problems. Once there was a leak from a burst pipe and they found a bucket and went and found a neighbour who found the stop tap. thet then rang me. (probably handled it better than me!)

I would give them breakfast before I left. There are families we know well that are close by we could rely on in case of an emergency. I was the one to bring it up, but they are comfortable with it and quite excited at the prospect. I've said I'll give them some time to get used to the idea while we go over things before we start to do it.

My children did this at that age. I did liaise with the school before hand so their teachers knew they would be walking in unaccompanied.

I doubt the OP would only find out if they didn’t make it to school until it was too late.

A couple of years ago, I took DD on holiday a couple of days before term ended. I emailed the head but not the main office. On the day we left, the school rang me at 9.10 wanting to know where she was. And this was a slightly disorganised, 3 form entry, nearly 800 pupils primary school.

As long as the school knows and you trust your DC it should be fine.

OMG totally yes, they sound fine.

My youngest did this at about age 11 as I needed to drive his older brother to school. I just made sure he was ready and we set the alarm on the cooker and he just watched tv/played on his DS for half an hour and then let himself out and locked the door. We know our neighbours well though and next door was a childminder so she'd have a look to check he was in the playground when she was doing drop off and he had several people he could go to if he was stuck or unsure about anything. He also started letting himself in for 20 minutes after school at the same time. A couple of times he got to school and realised he's forgotten something and went back home for it but we only live about 200 meters from school so I know his journey was safe.

We live 2 doors away and ds took himself to school from year 5 onwards. We left at 745 and he went to school at 830...never late, always correct uniform and developed his own routine of timings to make sure he was ready and out on time rather than playing on the computer. I still have times when I feel guilty about it, but he loved the responsibility and being trusted.

can you give them a cheap mobile phone to text you on when they arrive at school, then hand in to the teacher until the end of the day?

How will you know they have made it to school safely? If something happened it could take the school office a few hours to go through their attendance and alert you to their absence

I would worry about a primary school that took a few hours to go through attendance. I know which children aren’t in school by 9.15 - 9.20 and I call parents of children on our “vulnerable” list by 9.30. All other parents of absent children are contacted (if they answered the phone) by 10.

Sounds fine but maybe trial it on one day a week to start with?

That's totally fine imo.

You will be able to see them up and dressed and maybe breakfasted? Maybe even call at 8.30 to say, Go to school now!

(That one doesn't stop btw - I still sometimes wake ds2 (15yo) with an 8am phone call!)

I agree, good for independence. Pretty sure mine were doing similar at same sort of age.

No sorry I think they are too young . I am sorry your in this predicament though

Far too young to lock a house up and walk to school by themselves imo. Sorry op.

I believe it really does depend on the maturity of the child. However our school has a blanket policy that only year 6 are allowed to walk to and from school alone, and a letter must be written to the Head explaining.

I would be most concerned about them locking up the house safely after experience with my daughters

I'm with Nicknacky. I've only just started to feel comfortable with my two leaving for school when I'm not there (doesn't happen often, only in case of late start due to cancelled lessons etc (not UK system) and I'm usually back within 10 mins), and they're 13 and nearly 11 and have a fair bit of independence otherwise. I've always been a bit at giving them the responsibility of locking up etc.

I am fine with my dd being at home on her own for reasonable amounts of time. She is 11 and ridiculously reliable. I still make my working day a bit more awkward to ensure we make half the journey to school together and from there she meets a friend. There is something about starting her day alone that I don't like. I can't quite put my finger on why but I prefer it this way.

How do your kids feel about it.