Age children can collect siblings and walk home??

[SJKT]

New to site - need ideas...
I have 2 DS (5 & 8)
My issue is that my Father in law is main carer, recent heart attack and stent - he is doing well and really really wants to keep collecting my DS and my niece. My problem is he has to park quite a distance away (next door to my nieces school), walk to my DS school then walk back again and collect my niece.
I was considering allowing my eldest DS to collect little one - leave the school - cross one main road (lollipop lady) and then just walk to my nieces school. This is not far as I am hoping my nieces school will allow them to cut through it.
This just means whilst my in law recovers he can drive to one school and just wait in the car.

However are there legal ramifications, can my DS school refuse to allow the older one to collect the younger etc?? Sorry for such a long post!

""So they go straight from being picked up by an adult in year 6 to finding their own way home on the bus 8 weeks later? How does that work?""

Our high school is only a couple of streets away from the primary school so nobody will need to take the bus, of course parents can also still take their kids to High school.

I support the fact that they are so strict about this, although its only been brought into place in the last 12 months, probably because we've had a couple of incidents at school. Last year a year 5 pupil was ran over running out of the school gate, and we have also had a bogus social worker trying to collect a child

memoo we had a yr5 child run over outside my sons school earlier this year.right outside the gate- stupid parents parking on the no parking zigzag!(rant for another thread)

personally i wouldnt allow my ds to collect a younger child, not because he isnt sensible but just because its a huge responsibility for him. at my ds school some children from secondary school collect the siblings and have trouble "controlling" (insert more prefereable word here, brain gone dead!) the younger sibling.

In DD's primary school children are not allowed to collect from infants (not sure about the juniour side of school). All children in reception, Y1 NS y2 AT THE VERY LEAST MUST BE MET BY AN ADULT.

So because of one incident the freedom of a whole class of children is taken away? I'm sorry, but I do think this is bonkers. Children will get run over if they never have any opportunity to take responsibility for themselves.

And surely people don't escort their children to secondary school?

I only let my ds's friend's big sister take him home because she has the most amazing ability to mesmerize her brother and his friends into an almost trance like state of good behaviour. I suspect she has a stun gun secreted about her person - I have seen her marching them down the road like a very old fashioned nanny!

I do believe strongly in freedom and independence for children, and my boys started walking home from school (0.6 mile several roads) alone when they were 7 or 8.

But it is a very different thing to give a child the responsibility for another child, particularly a very young one.

DS2 was not allowed to walk home without an adult until he was old enough (IMO) to take responsibility for himself. I did not think it reasonable to give ds1 that responsibility.

I wouldn't be happy with an 8 yr-old picking up a 5 yr-old.

i agree with what roisin says. my ds is in yr 4 and i let him walk part way on his own, just a couple of roads, we live a mile away and feel that it would be irresponsible to allow him to walk the whole way home immediately (although he has asked me too). but there is no way i would allow him to take charge of a 5 year old

My son is nearly 9 and in yeAr 4 . I want him to leave his class room . Walk across the yard . Along the outer edge of school on the path . Not crossing any roads and meet me at his little sisters class would take less than 3 mins . He is epileptic but very well controlled . The school are not keen to let him but others in year 4 leave alone so it's not the school policy to stop them . What does any one think ?