To wonder if this was a lot of responsibility for a child?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

I went to a very small primary school in small, very quiet village, we had 50 pupils, 3 classrooms (but only 2 were used as not enough kids) and no hall. Because we had no hall, assemblies, wet playtimes/lunchtimes, indoor PE, school parties etc were all done in the church over the road. When I got to yr5 (so 9/10) I and another girl who was a year younger than me(!!) were appointed church monitors. This meant that every morning we would go to the headteachers office, take the church vestry key, leave school grounds, go over the road, unlock the vestry door then go through the church and unlock the main door ready for assembly. On the odd occasion one of us was off school poorly, we'd simply do it alone instead of taking someone else with us. We had no supervision at all during this, we didn't even see the HT when we collected the key as it hung on a hook outside her office door! We'd be in class for the register then be like "Ok Miss we've got to go and unlock the church now" and that's it.

It was great at the time and we felt so grown up having this responsibility but I think I'd be horrified if my daughter was given a job like this to do. I'm only 28 now so it wasn't really that long ago!

That's interesting. I was also very much of the go out and play, see you at lunchtime' child of the 80s, and I also did stupid stuff. But 99.9% of kids make it unscathed so I choose to go with that until further notice!

Doesn't mean I don't shit myself when my kids go out without me. But I see how good it is for their self-confidence, so who am I to not let them spread their wings? That would be unfair to them.

On the contrary, I think it's a damn shame that more primary age children don't have lowkey independent responsibilities.

My parents, for example, made us almost entirely responsible for pet care. Not just a single pet either.

I got home from school, fed the cats, the chickens, the fish, the rabbit and guinea pig, cleaned out the rabbit cage, played with the cats, shut up the chickens at sunset, and generally went to feed or groom the farm ponies outside as well.

I didn't really see these as chores, they were done unsupervised, and I got to spend a lot of time with my pets that I loved. I'd also do fish water changes, cat fleaing etc.

Teaching, at home, is not about telling kids a list of instructions. It's about letting them experiencing things directly.

My parents, for example, made us almost entirely responsible for pet care. Not just a single pet either.

But...I hardly see that as responsibility, that's just life My children looked after the pets as well, and both worked at riding stables mucking out every weekend from the age of 12 (and are now both heavily involved in animal rescue). It's the child-being-out-of-sight that I wasn't comfortable with.

PuppyMonkey, it sounds more like an arrangement your parents made with the school rather than a school policy thing.