At what age did your child walk to school?

[Happygolucky009]

I have 2 children aged 8 and 10. 10 yr old is a nervous sort and likes lots of reassurance, youngest is more able and confident.

Many parents at school drive then walk the kids into the playground where the kids remain under the care of parents until the bell rings and they go in.

I want to be able to drop the kids close by and for them to take themselves into school. The youngest is happy with this, the eldest is not and the school have suggested the youngest isn't old enough to be left without parental responsibility!!!

I want to give then the confidence and independence, but the school seem to be supportive and then the helicopter parent whispers I am terrible for considering and presenting the what if scenario s😬

Sorry school is unsupportive !!!

Do you mean unaccompanied? Thread title is misleading.

walking into the school themselves from about 8 and doing the mile walk to and from school themselves (often collecting a friend along the way) from age 10. depends where you live though too and what the area is like.

DS 10 is just starting now. We are too far for him to walk all the way, but I want him to gain some independence. I drop him about half a mile from school and he walks the rest of the way. He can see the school from where I drop him, so he has his bearings. As time goes on I'll make the walk longer. He grumbles sometimes but I'm insistent that he does it, otherwise he'd still be expecting lifts when he's 16.

Yes I meant unaccompanied, I would still take them but I want them to be unaccompanied from me dropping them on a nearby road, they wouldn't have any roads to cross and its a small village school tucked away!

I am struggling to see the dangers other than them skipping school (which I doubt) or being kidnapped (which again I doubt)

Our school allow it from year 5 (and DC don't have to be picked up from the door then either, at the end of the day.) Our school is massive with 600 pupils so it can be a pain dropping multiple DC on multiple playgrounds. I think 8 (assuming older 8 but still only middle of year 4?) is a little young yet but 10 is ok - however no point stressing DC out if they're not keen.

At 10, my Dd locked up and walked to school 2 mornings per week.
3 afternoons per week, she would walk home and use her key to let herself in.
We can see the school from our house, the field backs onto our garden.
If we'd lived further from school, I would not have taken my job as it wouldn't have been right for either of us.

Mine do now age 7&8 but we only live next door. I still have to collect them as school won't let dc leave unaccompanied until year 5.

Is the ten year old at high school next year? How will they get there?

He walked to school by himself from the start of yr5

Ok so I want to drop them off at the top of the road and them walk themselves into school. But most of the parents seem to be waiting in the school until the bell rings, even the y6 parents. Is this normal?

You aren't allowed to accompany any junior children into the yard at my dc school. You have to drop them at the gate no more than 10 mins before the bell goes

Sometimes I drop my 5.5 yr old to school for 8.25 (they wait and play in the yard) closed off by a gate, school starts at 8.40. Parents don’t generally enter the school unless they need to speak to a teacher etc. then again it is a village school in the middle of nowhere and a teacher comes to the yard at half past and doors open soon after that.

Parents aren't allowed in the playground at DS school in the morning so he has went in unaccompanied since he started at 4 years old. I watched from the fence for the first few weeks and have left him to it ever since. There are plenty of staff in our playground though.

Year 5, age 10. It's a 15 min walk with several roads to cross.

Blondie thats a bit different to being dropped of on a road and walking to school by themselves though isnt it? Youve accompanied him to the gate/drop off point.

Im glad ours dont do that until year 3 though and we can handover to a teacher yrr-yr2.

Cant walk home until year 5 amd even then most are picked up nearby i think.

Our school don't officially let them out alone till year 6, so i'd take that as the age they think kids can come and go on their own. So I kind of agree with your school, 10 is okay, 8 a bit young, and not fair to ask 10 yr old to supervise 8 yr old. It's not what they do on a normal day that's a worry so much as whether they'd react sensibly if something unexpected happened. Children walking alone have been approached by strangers in cars in my area in the past year, nice normal town, it's not bogeymen unfortunately, stuff does happen.

A supervised playground is a different thing, in that case the gate is the handover point and they are then supervised by school. In OP's situation the school door is the handover point so the question is about what age they can go unsupervised for a short period.

DS2 will probably walk with friends from the start of yr6, some as his brother.

But I will no doubt go to the end of our street to watch him across the road that runs though our estate as it does get a bit busy at that time of day. Just for the first few weeks. With DS1 I let him go but I was only a matter of metres behind with his younger brother.

Might let him start walking home from school and walking some of the way to school after Easter.

So you question isn't really about walking to school, but leaving them in the playground before school? Pretty much no one stayed with their child at DC's junior school past the first term of year 3. Children started going to school (all the way from home) from year 5.

Dropped off 400m away from age 7, walked 1km to school by himself from age 9. What you have suggested sounds very reasonable.

Our school don’t let them leave alone till year 5 but I have seen children younger than that dropped off on the road next to school and they go in by themselves.
It’s a quiet road and the school is in a cul de sac and there are teachers patrolling the street to stop crappy parking.