If you have a child in year 6 do you still collect them from school?

[chickensaladagain]

At my dc's primary you wait in the playground for your dc

Dd1is in yr 6, says hello to me in the playground then goes off with her friends and meets me at home

I have to be there to collect younger dc but I noticed today how many of the yr 6 parents are still collecting their only or youngest dc -they leave in a few weeks,surely they need to be getting used to walking by themselves?

They all live an easy walk from school so is it more about the parents than the dcs?

[lljkk]

Start walking a bit on own from age 8 (so y3).

[Mrsrobertduvall]

Mine walked home from year 4.
Two main roads, but zebras.

I have 2 very independent teens.

[Takver]

DD is year 6 and has mostly walked home on her own this year - she quite likes to be met though sometimes, so I might take the dog out at home time & aim to run into her part way.

She started to walk on her own during yr 4, initially coming round to our office which is only 5 mins from school & the same direction as a couple of friends.

[oddslippers]

My ds1 in y4 walks home twice a week alone when his younger brother is in clubs. He's one of the oldest in the year group and very sensible, the walk is about 5 minutes with one Road to cross. He has enjoyed this little bit of independence and each day is given the option of me coming to get him. I hope the teachers at his school don't think I ' cannot be bothered to collect him' as said up thread

[pointythings]

DD2 is in Yr5 and has been walking to and from school since last September. She walks most of the way with older DD and a friend on the outward journey and walks back with a classmate.

I asked the school whether she needed a permit and they said no, it's fine from Yr4.

I'm a bit about schools that insist on at the door collection in Yr6, that will make secondary a bit of a shock.

I walked to and from school from Yr3 in Holland in the 70s and am a strong believer in fostering independence.

[WhiteWine1nTheSun]

My Y6 DD has been walking on her own since I cancelled before and after school club in Feb. The only exception to this is on Thursdays which is my day off. She sometimes asks me to come with her so we can "chat".

What she actually means is so I can carry her violin and PE kit!

Still - it's nice to feel wanted!!

[junkfoodaddict]

Oh and had a friend who was still being walked to school (down a cycle track - not a road in sight and a mere 2 minute walk) when in Y11! She had an odd home life - not allowed to outside her garden without an adult, was only allowed baths when her mother said it was 'bath time', not allowed male friends and had to go home for lunch.
She was 'allowed' to go to university - but had to be a home university and heard that she 'escaped' to Israel to teach and has never looked back!

[junkfoodaddict]

I walked home on my own when I was in Y2 - crossed a busy road (lollipop lady) and defied my mum's orders of 'not going in the dene'. Consequently, I was approached by two older teenagers of non-school age who tried to persuade me to go with them and look at puppies. I was quite knowledgable on who to trust and not to trust at that age - but that was 1986!
Nowadays as a parent myself, I wouldn't allow my own child to walk home from school in Y2, despite it being closer in distance and no dene in sight! Not even sure when it would be alright for him to walk home - depends on the individual and their savviness at crossing roads, being stranger aware and them knowing what to do in an emergency.
Having said that, I am a teacher and in 'my' school, KS1 children are not allowed to leave their teacher until a responsible adult has collected them. All Y3 children have a parent or adult collecting them, some children in Y4 walk home alone (their is a 'particular' group that do and it is the ones whose parents are at home and cannot be bothered to collect them!). About half of Y5 walk home with an adult still and only a handful of Y6 walk home with an adult and of those who do, it is because parents are there collecting younger siblings. There is one parent who insists on collecting her Y5 & Y6 daughters. They are not the most indpendent of children. I do think it's because they haven't been allowed to.

[Ferguson]

I and another parent took it in turns to collect our DSs from the grammar school gate, into Y7 & Y8 as there was very busy main road to cross, having also shared all through primary. By Y9 we did park in a side road and let them negotiate the road themselves!

I guess it largely depends on the route, distance and location, which obviously vary greatly.

[learnandsay]

We live in a rural area with no bus services to speak of. Parents don't have a choice here.

[Elibean]

I think it depends entirely on the dc, and the parents, involved.

My eldest is only Y4, and we live a fair walk from school with several roads to cross, so not tried it yet. I think I'll let her walk to and from school when its light, in Y6, with a friend - but she only has one friend who lives anywhere near us, so it will depend on his parents letting him walk too!

After clubs, or in the dark, I think not. We're not that close to school.

[EllenJanesthickerknickers]

I still pick DS3 up, but it's for my benefit, so I get a chance to chat to my friends. We often go to he park and chat, and sometimes DS3 goes home first! I will miss it in a few weeks. Now all 3 will be in secondary I'll start a 9-4 job in Sept, currently do a term time only 9 - 1 job.

[mumofthemonsters808]

DD for the last couple of weeks has walked to and from school alone, in preparation for secondary school when she will have to cross the main road and get on a bus.

[peeriebear]

DD1 has been walking or cycling home alone occasionally since y4, and full time since y5. I bought her a mobile phone for Christmas primarily so I can call her if she's late, or she can call me and ask to go to the park/town.

[Mintyy]

No, but I can see the school gate from my front garden. Walk is 3 mins max.

[VonHerrBurton]

At ds's school there's a mum (who's lovely!) with a son in same class as mine. Y5. She's not overly friendly so its not a social thing, its much nearer a walk for her son than mine, maybe 10 mins, no major roads. She has two older dc, one in Y7, one in Y9.

All of them are chauffeured to and from school by her each morning. She parks her huge car right outside school, legally, yet will not let her son walk over to her. There's supervised road crossing, lollipop man.

She moans about the school run, tells me how many years she's done it for bla bla.

She must just simply want to do it. My ds and his little group of friends he walks with loves the independence and by the time high school comes I think he'd be embarrassed if I was parked opposite waiting for him every day. Maybe her son wants his mum there? Who knows.

[Flyonthewindscreen]

I have just started letting my Yr4 DD walk home on her own. DS (Yr6) walks ahead of us to school so makes his own way in both directions. It would be unusual for a child in Yrs 5 or 6 to be collected by a parent unless they were there to collect a younger sibling. Pupils at my DC school can walk home on own from Yr3 if they want. I usually make an excuse to pick up at least once a week anyway so I can chat to my friends!

[Periwinkle007]

I think though there is a difference with walking home literally on their own if it is after a club or noone lives that way and if they are walking as part of a group/at the same time as 200 parents and children. Our school they have to have a walking pass authorised by their parents, think they can have one from yr3/4ish which gives them the ability to walk round the corner to where parents have parked or to go home with older siblings or walk down to the infant department so they can meet parents there collecting siblings etc.

[IShallWearMidnight]

I collect DD at her request mainly because I might be coming straight from work so therefore can drive home, but two days a week she has after school clubs and I'd rather she didn't walk home by herself. On other days there's always loads of people walking our way, so she's not totally by herself.

Not sure why I worry about her tbh, as we live in a pretty safe area, and there's only one tricky junction to cross. Probably cos she's my baby .

[Bramshott]

Our Year 6s have to be collected by an adult from the classroom door

[DowntonTrout]

If my DD were still at her previous school I would still be collecting, as it was a car journey away for us.

At her new school, central London, she walks herself some days and some days I meet her. Our friends at the old school would be horrified! Still she needs to learn to be safe and street wise as she will be doing it by herself from September anyway.

[lydiajones]

Think I will still be collecting in year 6 due to a busy main road without any crossing being part of our route to school. If we lived on the other side of the main road I wouldn't have a problem with it though.

[Frikadellen]

In the primary my children are in they do not release the children unless an adult is there to collect.

Having said that they go to a small village school and only 1 child lives in arguable walking distance and that is down past a road with a nasty bend that "I" would not wish to walk past (right by the local tourist attraction - a Castle)

DD1 walked home alone from Y4 (with a friend) However that was across small suburb roads

[littlemiss06]

Yes I do still pick my year 6 child up, I am there any way picking up my year 2 but my older daughter loves having a chat about her day while we walk home, im enjoying the last few weeks of her company walking home, a lot of our year 6 kids are still picked up :-)

[cory]

Ds made his own way home from the end of Yr 5.