Family think I'm bad for leaving child at school 10mins before door opens

[pointbla]

I take my year 4 child early 10 mins before the school doors open and leave him there. I have another child to take to another school. He's 9 , I see no problem with it , other children are there too. Also, I don't regularly do that just occasionally.
My family seem to think this is very bad and I am putting my child at risk as the kids mess about. AIBU?

No. It's really really annoying from a school perspective.

Your child is within school grounds, unsupervised by you. School staff are busy setting up for the day.

If your child falls over/ gets stung by a wasp/ whatever, you will expect school staff to stop what they are doing and sort your child out because you are not there, even though they shouldn't be supervising children yet.

Their working day is long enough already and schools generally make it very clear what times you can drop off from. Don't take the piss by dropping them off earlier; book your child into breakfast club or find an alternative.

Next sept my kids will both be in the same school so I will definitely be staying until the doors open no issue

So in less than 1 week's time when term ends this wont be a problem. I wouldn't even bat an eye lid when they comment negatively to you.

Although you may find they don't want you cramping their style for too much longer and they will instead make you wait at the gate especially if they will both be in juniors.

Hercule
Seriously how many incidents of major accidents happening in 10 minutes before school have you evidence of?
Your dramatic imagination seems to be working overtime. I could walk out my door and suffer a medical crisis tomorrow. Nobody is respponsible for me but I would hope someone would help. Same as I would do for anyone whatever their age. If op was at the school and her child somehow managed to break his leg sitting on a bench I am sure the school would call an ambulance and help op.

Kids play together before school without incident up and down the country why are you making this into such a drama against the op?

Seriously how many incidents of major accidents happening in 10 minutes before school have you evidence of?

What? How is this the point? I haven’t invented accidents.

That’s not fair on the school either or other parents if something should happen.

@pointbla
You're right, there's no need for certain posters to grill you again and again, and be aggressively rude that you or others don't see it their way. Some PPs can't seem to understand that different schools have different arrangements, physical environment or entrance and that your child & all then others waiting may not even be on school grounds!

And that in many nice areas this is normal, teachers aren't expected to go outside school to supervise and is about DC being sensibly independent enough to wait for 5-10 minutes without an adult hovering over them!

As I said our school encourages independence & for pupils to arriveoutside the door 5-10.minutes early so no one is late. Since our school doors are only open for 600 pupils to get through for 10 minutes!
I suspect some PPs haven't RTFT and are catastrophizing based on a number of assumptions.

It's fine OP. Yanbu

Because you keep banging on about the child getting into 'difficulties', 'needing medical attention' and other people having to be responsible for him!
What trouble is he going to get into sitting on a bench?

Willow2017

Those things do happen. If I were suggesting he was at risk of alien abduction, I would agree with you. I am not. An accident is an unlikely but perfectly feasible result of leaving him unsupervised.

More to the point, the school policy can’t be based on whether a child stays on a bench. They either allow this or they don’t. The OP doesn’t seem to know or care.

Those things do happen. If I were suggesting he was at risk of alien abduction, I would agree with you. I am not. An accident is an unlikely but perfectly feasible result of leaving him unsupervised

Going back to my earlier post...We're now at 509 posts and not one person has said about their 9yo having a terrible accident because they were left with other children in the playground for 10mins. Also, people seem to be forgetting that OP is not asking if she should do this...she's already doing it and her DC has been absolutely fine.

Going back to my earlier post...We're now at 509 posts and not one person has said about their 9yo having a terrible accident because they were left with other children in the playground for 10mins.

That doesn’t matter in the slightest. It could happen. What’s to stop it? And an accident doesn’t need to be major to inconvenience the staff. A cut knee, a sting, a sprain, a football kicked too hard, a poke in the eye with a stick. I’ve seen kids have lots of accidents, as have we all, I’m sure, so we know we’re talking unicorns here.

*not talking unicorns

The OP doesn’t seem to know or care.

She obviously does care and has weighed up the risks. However, given the children will be in the same school in September and they will have at most 1 week left before breaking up for the holidays I'm not sure why you are even still arguing its cheeky or unreasonable.

What's done is done and the child was fine when left and no staff appear to have minded him being left at the school. The only people concerned are her family members and its not their child so their opinions shouldn't matter.

herculepoirot2

I'm not even going to bother replying to you anymore. I don't agree with you and that's that. I don' have to agree with you. You are all through this thread, going after people that have different viewpoints to you like a dog with a bone.

Rainonmyguitar

You certainly don’t have to agree, no.

@HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone @Willow2017 @WillLokireturn and others thanks for sensible replies and opinions

There are some bizarre opinions here.

I let my 10 year old walk to school on her own and at aged 9 she was going to the shops alone. I guess I shouldn't have let her because if she somehow broke her leg in the co-op the staff would have to take responsibility for her!

What a ridiculous argument.

My 12 year old walks to school. She is in high school. If she had an accident outside the school gates I am sure teachers would come out and help. Maybe I should stay with her too, in case ,god forbid, a teacher has to help out in the rare event of an emergency.

It is completely fine to leave a 9 year old at school alone for 10 minutes and if an accident did happen and staff had to intervene, well that is life. That's just a part of living in society.

I walked to school aged 9 in the 2000s I don't think it's an issue unless on a busy road or something

@nzeire almost every salaried adult I know works late at least 3 days a week it's hardly an extra hour is it? If schools started earlier so people could get to work at 9 this wouldn't be an issue

YANBU Absolutely fine!!

hercule, your point about parental responsibility applies just as much to a 15yo as to a 9yo. Given that you (presumably?) wouldn't feel that a teenager needs to be walked to the door of the school and waited with until the teachers' official responsibility starts, at what age would you be comfortable leaving them to their own devices for a few minutes?

If you have - or have had - a 9yo, do you genuinely never ever leave them alone for ten minutes? Watching TV while you pop to a neighbour's? Reading in a bookshop while you get the groceries?

Our school has a very strict policy against doing this. Your child is not supposed to step foot on school grounds unless accompanied by an adult before the published time.

I hope to goodness I don't ever accidentally employ some of the dc of the posters on here. I know without a shadow of doubt that these snowflakes will be absolutely useless.
A 9 yr old can be responsible for themselves for ten massive minutes. That's 600 seconds. And in the nearly zero chance that they break a leg, any passing stranger can deal with it in the same way they would with any other stranger.
As to the poster way up thread who said you wouldn't leave a 9 yr old at home for ten minutes. Of course you can. Jesus.

AppropriateAdult

Another person missing the point. She isn’t leaving her 9 year old alone. That isn’t my issue. She is expecting the school staff to step in for her in the event of a problem.

Reading in a bookshop while you get the groceries?

And doing what? Reading the new books on the shelves in a bookshop? No, I don’t, because I’m not a cheeky fucker. 😂

Deary me, quite a few paranoid parents on here. Do these kids get left alone to play in their bedroom? garden? Anything could happen there, it’s unhealthy these attitudes of never leaving them or teaching them how to cope/ be resilient, they grow up to be useless needy adults, pity the poor person that marries these inept lumps with godawful mothers.