Can school do this?

[TurnUpTurnip]

A couple of years ago I left dd 9 home alone for half an hour to take my other children to school (dd had chicken pox but was fine in herself) This was a one off as I don’t usually leave her, my son told the school that I had left dd alone and school reported me to ss... anyway nothing came of it but I was a bit surprised to be reported. Anyway my son is now 9 (10 in a couple of months) I occasionally leave him alone to nip to the shops as he hates coming, anyway the other day he was a bit unwell so I left him alone to take the others to school, anyway I mentioned it to my mum and she said you better be careful the school don’t report you again, I don’t see what there is to report? The school is 15 mins walk each way and there is no legal age for leaving a child home alone, my son has his own phone and can contact me if there is a problem. Are school right for reporting this?

Exactly thank you, it’s not at all the same as leaving toddlers, my son is 10 in a couple of months, has a phone, knows what to do in an emergency

I would personally not leave an 11/12 year old for too long at home eg 30 minutes

SS probably thought the school were being utterly ridiculous.

@Nailsbythesea

I would personally not leave an 11/12 year old for too long at home eg 30 minutes

Many single parents don't have a choice. I had to leave DS for two hours a day when he was 11 as I didnt get home at 17:30.

@Nailsbythesea

I would personally not leave an 11/12 year old for too long at home eg 30 minutes

You won't leave a twelve year old in their own home for half an hour?

Perhaps you should have done a better job of raising them if they can't be by themselves when they are secondary school children.

I would personally not leave an 11/12 year old for too long at home eg 30 minutes

That's not an option for most working families.

@TurnUpTurnip

Ok my 9 year old doesn’t play with toys, it’s not illegal to leave a 9/10 year old alone either 🤦🏻

Literally no-one on this thread has said it is illegal.

You asked, can the school report something that they consider a safeguarding concern without getting the parent's permission to do so. Yes they can, and indeed they should - your child is loved and cared for but not all 9 year olds are, unfortunately.

Your response is that you'd better make sure they don't find out that you're doing this, which suggests you have something to hide. Just do it and be honest about it, that is much less likely to raise concerns!

Why would I inform them if they don’t ask? I don’t think it’s wrong, which is why I was surprised they called, I also didn’t try to hide it, I literally said that in my op, it was my mum who said to avoid letting them know.

Its ok to leave a 9 year old home alone (depending on the child, of course), and its also ok for a school to report anything that concerns them. I know its not pleasant to be reported but its better that the line for reporting is set at the insignificant level than at too high a level, to prevent children who do need intervention from slipping through the gaps.

At 11 I looked after my 5 year old brother while my mum was at work during school holidays, she got home about 1.30pm. At 9 or 10 I looked after him for the half hour between my mum going to work on a twilight shift & my dad getting home at 5.30pm.

I left my 9yo at home for half an hour on his own the other day. It's not terribly long didn't move from his computor. Nine feels like the right age to start leaving them for short periods. By the time high school rolls around I'd expect him to be capable of coming home an hour or so before me.

If they do anything at all I would be amazed! Perhaps they could spend less time checking on a child left on their own for half an hour ,on the odd occasion. And a little more time investigating poor children that have already been reported several times for abuse /neglect .If they did their jobs properly, then poor Arthur and little Star might still be here!

They can report it if they want to. But if it's like you say I can't see that SS would be concerned about a 9 year old at home alone for a short time in the day.

All the people posting about bad things that happened to children left at home, there are thousands of serious accidents in the home every year, and most of them happen when the parents are home, but unless you're following your children around all the time they will still happen.
Far worse is children of helicopter/lawnmower/hovering parents who never get the chance of any independence and struggle to be adults.
Age appropriate freedom and sensible risks is what it's all about.
Yes the school can report anyone for anything but SS wouldn't even follow up on something so small, and even if they do follow up it wouldn't come to anything more than a few questions. And even if it did it would basically be some parenting support same other realistic things to help the situation, as opposed to trying to make it worse.
Take care and good luck op. You will be fine and your best is all people can ask for.