Moving up to high school, do they take themselves to school and back ?

[crikeybill]

My DD1 will be moving up to high school ( year 7 ) in September. She will be 11 and 6 months. The school is a bus ride away.
At present I walk her and her sister to primary school every morning on my way to work and DH does pick up.

Its going to be impossible for me to take her to school as I need to take dd2 to primary school, I dont drive and the school is a bus journey in the other direction.

Does she go by herself ? Is it normal at this age ? She has never gone anywhere by herself, let alone on the bus ?
What do I do ? Should I start letting her take small bus journeys as practice ? is she too young ? Aggghhhhhhh Shes my baby !!!

This is an interesting topic - my dd has just started Y6 and now brings herself home most days from primary, after several runs in the summer term in Y5 of me meeting her part of the way home, gradually stopping altogether. I don't know how I'll feel about that once it's dark by 4 (she's signed up to several after school clubs, so most days finish about then), but think I'll just have to tough it out. She's been going to the corner shop for me for about a year. Most of her friends are still being ferried to school, but at least people have stopped treating me like I'm a child-abuser, now that she's in Y6! One of the secondary schools we're thinking about would be a train ride and a walk at the other end - she hasn't done public transport by herself yet. I took a look here to find out how others introduced that.

Next step for us is sending her in alone in the morning - she's not a morning person, so I've been a bit worried about that!

You have to cut them some slack in Year 6 - although DS was happy to walk to school en famille if he had afterschool clubs (which he did three times a week) he usually walked home alone and it's a good 30 minute walk. No probs...

Think he was a little apprehensive about the doing the return journeys on the bus alone but DW and DD went with him on his first day and then I was able to walk with him to the bus stop for the first week... He seems absolutely settled doing the journeys now....

It is really the fear of the unknown which is the issue....once they get into a routine it's perfectly fine. At DS's school they really emphasized that they wanted the boys to come to school under their own steam - it's all part of them gaining confidence and independence....

My 2 started Yr7 in September, and TBH, this time last year, I was in the same position as you! I gradually started them out on little expiditions on their own, ie, walking to and from primary on their own, taking the bus to their nanna's in the nearby market town where she met them, I left them at the local swimming pool and they rang for me to collect them from the town centre 10minutes walk away, etc, etc, and you will be surprised how quickly they become more independant!
It came to a head when they went for 2 induction days at the High School, the first they were taken in by the parents and took the bus home, the 2nd they took the bus there and back. By that 2nd day, they would not have been seen dead with me walking them to the bus stop or meeting them there to collect them!
Don't worry too much. They do seem to grow up quite fast btween the age of 10 and 11yrs!

My dd1 just started at high school in August, age 12y6m.

She leaves at 7.40, gets bus into central Glasgow, changes, gets bus out to school. She usually meets some friends on the journey.

Before this for 2-3 years she had done things on her own. Running to the shops for me. Then round to the chippy on a Friday night! (incentive was everything!!). We moved house in May and she started getting the bus to guides (she wanted to stay at the same company) and her guider brings her home. Over the summer holidays she was allowed to bus into town and meet a friend. She practiced the school run a couple of times with m best friend (I'm disabled so couldn't manage the walk element) and then did it on her own.

She loves the independence: she has a bus pass and it's also valid for her trip to guides but not at the weekend! Sometimes she and her friends will go to the park after school and drink slush puppies!

She has a bb and texts me once she's changed buses and again when she gets to school. I assume that will eventually die out but for now it makes us both feel secure.

Thanks for that idea weegiemum - texting me at certain points en route would make me feel a lot happier for a while! Bubby64, I've got a bit of a problem finding intermediate points to leave her, but I'd be happier if she was with a friend in any case (as long as both of them were paying attention to traffic, at any rate). She's our one and only, lovely as she is! I have no family local at all. Oh well, guess I'd better try and find someone else who's prepared to let their kid keep mine company at the pictures or something, so that we can let them travel alone together on the bus

Mobile phones are brilliant but...

You may need to introduce the concept of stopping in one spot to text and returning phone to safe place. Walking and texting is not a good multi-tasking arrangement at any age. With my younger child to put the point across we regularly play a 'Spot the Idiot' game in the car when DC is a passenger an dhas to find people who are not being vigilant and just being careless with their mobiles. Naturally as I am driving I don't particpate as I am watching the road...

Children need to be able to function by themselves!! I know they are your babies but they have to grow up!! I can totally understand your concerns but you need to step back and allow them to grow up. I suppose it all depends on where you live as to how you do it. If you live in a large city then it must be very difficult for you. We are lucky we live in a medium size village and so it was easy to let our children walk to and from school. One of my DC's is disabled and it is really hard to let them go and find their own way in the world but you have to let them do it!! Good luck in doing this. When my DC was in hospital when all of my children were growing up the other two often found me out of the house when they woke up (my husband was at home!) and they had to get ready for school and they walked themselves to school bags ready and everything else, they knew the routine better than my husband did!! They had to get on with it!! My youngest was about 6 years old when they were able to sort themselves out for school and sort their bag etc - they had to if I was in hospital with my other DC - the school were very good too, they knew the situation at home so did not put too much pressure on my DC's if something had been forgotten!! Hope everything worked out for you!!