School run with scooters and bikes

[Blou2]

Can I get some other perspectives on this please? Don’t know if I’m over-worrying.
My son is 2.5yrs old and goes to a childminder. She lives about 0.5 miles walking distance from the local school.
My son goes with her on school runs there a few times a day.
Often the mindees who include her own child go by bike or scooter. My son doesn’t. He walks or goes in the buggy. At pick up, there can be up to 5 kids with bikes and scooters with her, all foundation phase age or younger (age 3-6) plus my son and one other pre-schooler. One of the other children who scoots has SEN / hyperactivity. The school road is usually busy and parking isn’t hideous. The road is narrow so cars driving on the pavement to pass isn’t uncommon. They also cross a busy bus route (there’s a lollipop lady) to get home. Am I wrong in thinking this isn’t safe, especially if my son is walking holding her hands? What if one kid scoots it cycles off too far ahead or into the road?

Typo - parking IS hideous!

She can only have 6 under 8s, and only 3 should be under reception age.
I would ask for your child to only go in a buggy to be honest, then you know he is safe.

Thanks. I think I’ll do that.
I’ll check on numbers too.

If she finds them hard to manage on wheels I'm sure she'd make them all walk. Maybe they behave more sensibly like this.

I agree i wouldnt like it at all.

I’d be worried too. I take my own 3 and 6 yr old to school on scooters and that’s nerve racking enough, never mind adding 5 more of age 6 and under into the mix. Also IME kids on scooters behave less sensibly in a group, not more. I’m pretty laid back about risk generally but this would definitely scare me.

Minipie in my experience they'd be less sensible too, but in that case I would be expecting the adult to say they have to walk. I know some who find it easier for their children to scoot, but I've always made mine walk.

I think it's fine. Kids who would scoot off ignoring their parents will listen to another adult.

Thanks for your replies.

It will become tricky as he gets older and may refuse a pushchair and sees all the others on bikes and scooters.
I see the point about kids listening more to others than their parents but one of her children is in the groups described...

Ex childminder here and sounds like too many children to me! I had 3 under 5 and 2 on scooters was enough.

I've got 4 children aged 10, 7,5 and 4 and I don't let them scoot / bike home from school. It's simply not safe. I def wouldn't be doing it with a child in a buggy / needing to hold my hand.

I stopped the children I take to school going on scooters as I felt it was becoming unsafe and I didn’t have enough control over everyone. In the beginning it was fine, but then as I got more children, the situation changed and that’s when I stopped allowing them to ride to school.

could you arrange to meet the cm on the school run one day so you can assess the situation and hopefully reassure yourself that all is well and everyone is safe? Or do you know anyone who does the same school run who you could ask for their opinion on how safe the children are on the school run? I know several people can not figure out how I get all my children to behave so well on the school run, but honestly, they are all really good, even if they don’t walk so nicely with their parents (if anyone is playing up, it’s likely to be my own dd - proving that children are generally better behaved for others than for their own parents).

But in England definitely, a childminder can have no more than 6 children under the age of 8 at any time and this includes her own children if they are with her.

My thoughts, taking the issues separately rather than the whole picture......

I don’t let children in my care go to school on bikes or scooters. I’m sure some would be perfectly safe, but I’m very conscious that it freaks out some other pedestrians who have bad experiences with less careful children.

Whether these particular children with your childminder are under control depends entirely on the children and the childminder. So it’s not for me or any other MNer to judge.

In terms of control/behaviour, the scooters are a red herring. They can just as easily dash off on foot as scoot away. I defy any adult to maintain control if two wilful children decide to run off in opposite directions.

The childminder can’t be blamed for stupid drivers and selfish parking (which IME is the norm on school runs, but that’s a whole new thread.)

Your son's safety on the school run should depend chiefly on how well you've taught him his Road sense. It’s not something parents should think they can outsource to a childminder. If he knows to stay on the pavement, then he's safe. If he thinks it’s ok to run into the road, then he's at risk no matter how good the childminder. What the other children are up to makes only minimal difference.

As mentioned, a childminder can normally care for up to six under-8s, of which up to 3 can be of pre-school age. Exceptions are allowed for the pre-school age group, but the six under-8s is pretty much set in stone.