discharge of junior children at hometime

[quill]

Hi
Was just wondering what others opinions are on this and if all junior schools are the same.
My ds has just moved up into junior school and a couple of the other moms were talking to me about how surprised they are on how they simply let the children go without actually checking that a parent is there first.

While alot of children are actually old enough to come out themselves and even walk home themselves some parents at the school think that for the younger ones age 7 that teachers should be making sure there is a parent there for them first.
I myself think that maybe its not necessary although I would be a bit anxious if I was running late on getting there however I do think that 7 is mature enough to know to stand and wait by the school.
Its so different from the infants where they came out class by class and the teacher only let each child go once they had seen their parent waiting for them if the parent was not there they would take them back into school and would even check up on the identity of anyone not familiar coming to get them.
Just wondering if this was normal practice at junior school as it seems to have surprised alot of parents whose children have also moved up from infant school.

No big deal surely. Are they let outside the school grounds or just into the playground?
Perfectly fine at 7 IMO. I would be worried if they were kicking the kids out of the playgroudn though.
At DS' school the playground is supervised for 15 minutes after the bell goes. After that anyone still waiting has to go to the school office to wait. I presume that eventually the office calls someone ...

They actually let them leave the grounds altogether.

There doesn,t appear to be any real organisation its chaos they come out of a single door and your breaking your neck trying to catch your dc coming out with all of the heads in the way.

Normal practice here.

Most kids are met by parents, but some walk home with older siblings from the same school. By the end of the year ds did walk on his own on a couple of occasions.

But even if parents think they're too young for that, surely a 7-year-old should be mature enough to make his own way to reception and tell the people in charge if a parent fails to turn up? I think that is a sensible thing to tell your child to do.

DS1 is in juniors which is a separate building to the infants and walks round to the infant playground where I'm waiting for DD. I was really worried about it last year but he had no problems, we kept reminding him if I wasnt there (or his dad) to go and find DD's teacher

Ds1 has just gone into 'juniors' (though the difference is that he is upstairs not downstairs!). He will come and wait for me by dd's classroom (she is Y1, and downstairs). It wouldn't be practical for a teacher to see if a parent was there, as it would mean all the parents crowding into the upstairs corridor...

At my dds school the year 3 parents are allowed to wait in the playground(rather than the school gate) for the first few weeks and the teachers come out with them so they can meet their parents.

After that it is assumed they know where to go to meet their parents and are just let out.

The children are al drilled that if their parents ae not there they must go back into the school and wait by the office.

Ours are just let out. There are always staff wandering around chivvying children and rounding up the loose ones.

When I was at primary school no one made sure I went to a parent.

both DSs know where I'll be standing, it's always in the same place.

Children in the junior school are allowed to go home by themselves. The teachers generally wait around though in case of any problems. Ds1's Yr3 teacher used to unofficially keep an eye on him for me if I was late from waiting for ds2's class to be let out.

At our school Yr 3 and 4 kids are brought out by their teacher and they check that parent is there before letting the child go.
Yr 5 and 6 then they just leave school at the end of the day and I assume it is up to them to go back into school if somebdy is not there to pick them up as expected.

at the infants parents stood on the playground waiting and the teacher would lead out each class in turn then look for you on the playground.
I suppose with junior children it is about more independance.

Same here - I just made sure my dd knew where I would stand and wait, if I wasn't there for any reason she was to go back inside and wait and not to leave the playground.

DS1 just gone up to Junior school - to start with (I think it's this term only?) they are brought out of the classroom and have to see whoever is picking up before they're allowed to go.

However, once they're settled then they'll be allowed to go - with or without parents (DS1 will be going "alone" once he's settled as it's only a very short walk home).

At the infant school the parents stood on the playground near the classroom doors (all of them have a door that opens out onto the playground at some area of it) and the teacher sends each child out as they see their parents.

Once they are in the juniors they are old enough to go back into the office and tell someone that no one is there to meet them.
Some of them will be walking home alone anyway. All you need to do is make sure that your DC knows what to do if you should be late. They need to start taking responsibility for themselves.

This is what the prospectus says about our junior school collection (dd is in infants)

Hometime - Pupils exit by the same gate they entered in the morning, parents are asked to wait on the pavement. xxx street is very narrow and parents are asked not to cause any obstruction that would annoy local residents.

The payment outside the front of the school is about 3 foot wide and only about 15 foot long as school expands backwards and I am still trying to figure out how parents of around 320 are supposed to stand on a small pavement without standing in the road and without causing an obstruction AND be able to see their child in order to collect them.

so we cant even go inside the school gates to collect!

I though OP was being a bit precious in expecting to have her DC handed over like a parcel at the end of the day, however all squashing on the pavement seems hazardous. I can't see what is wrong with standing in the playground. I am sure you could all band together and insist upon it for health and safety reasons alone. There will be a teacher in charge of Healthy and Safety, I should speak to them before your DC gets to the juniors.

We have nearly 400 in our junior schol. Teachers accompany their class to the main door and then wait for ten minutes in case any child has not been collected. Headteacher always checks outside for stray children before closing the doors. It is just not practical for teachers to be sending that many children out one at a time even if they could spot individual parents!

Ours don't check. It's not feasible. Children of 7 should know to go back to the teacher if they're not collected.

There are about 550 children at my daughter's school. Teachers hand each child over individually to the person carrying the card with a child's photo on that allows an adult to collect a child from school.

quill

DS2 is 7 and his class are only released when the teacher or classroom assistant sees a parent/carer that they recognise for that child. He's in Year 3.

However, for Year 4 and older, they are not discharged into the care of a parent/carer and can leave the school premises (except, rather bizarrely, following After School Club, when they still have to be collected).

Ours are let out without a parent waiting. It would be impossible for me if they weren't because next week DS2 starts the infants in the school next door and I can't be in two places at once without leaveing DS1 hanging around for ages. DS1 will come across and meet us in the infants playground.

I think the OP is right that it isn't necessary so long as the child knows what to do if their parent doesn't turn up in time. Some of the older children walk home by themselves anyway.

Your child will eventually get to know where you usually stand and then look for you. It isn't really a case of having to keep an eye out for them after a while, you just end up magically coming together!

A 7 year old should know exactly what to do at the end of the day and what to do if things go wrong. They should start taking responsibility for themselves.

AbbeyA - I would agree with you if it was a small village primary (say the one near my parents house in England) with under 100 children.

But in a huge inner city primary like ours, it would be really dangerous to let a 7 year old get on with it (there is a severe paedophile problem in the local park, just for starters; a huge dangerous road outside school, etc).