Year 7 parent nervous about son commuting to school alone.

[caramelchic]

My son will be starting Year 7 in September and, if I'm honest, I'm feeling quite nervous about him travelling to school on his own. He is my only child and I don’t drive.

The school is an all-boys secondary school. The journey is relatively short: either about four bus stops or one train stop followed by a 9-minute walk. On paper it doesn't sound far, but he's only 11 and the thought of him commuting independently every day feels like a big step.

He's a sensible and fairly mature child, but I'm still worried about things like getting lost, missing his stop, dealing with strangers, or just managing the journey confidently when things don't go to plan.

For those whose children started secondary school and travelled independently, how did it go? Did you do practice runs over the summer? At what point did you feel comfortable letting them travel alone?

Am I overthinking this, or is this a normal Year 7 parent worry?

One stop on the train and a short walk at the other end sounds pretty good, too. When DS1 and DD were at a school three stops and a 10-15 minute walk at the other end (7 minutes actually on the train, less than 5 minutes' walk from home to the station), we were able to get discounted scholars' season tickets which were brilliant for meeting up with friends in town at the weekend. I don't know whether they're avaliable now (here or anywhere else), but it's worth investigating whether there is a local scheme.

An obvious time for a school journey trial run is transition day, if you get an accompanied trip or two in beforehand?

@caramelchic if you don't drive, do you literally have everything thing you ever need within walking distance? Do you never make journeys by bus or train with your DS normally, so that he has a 'feel' for making sure get off at the right stop etc?

My DD starts secondary school in September. We've already done practice runs. We've been building her independence for years so this feels like a natural if big step. Unfortunately she can't walk to primary school as it is significantly further away but she's been making progression bigger walks to the postbox, shop etc since she was 8. I'm happy for her to walk and I would be happy with a bus or train if it was further away but there isn't a particularly safe cycle route so I've said she needs to get a bit bigger and better at cycling before she cycles.

I agree with others @caramelchic, it will be fine and many secondary-age DC make their own way to school. Has he had any independence already – so does he walk to primary (if not, I would start now, or at least drop him a short distance away so he can walk the last bit), does he go to the park to play with friends, walk to the local shop? How is his road sense? Start any or all of these now, with emphasis on good road sense (but I imagine he has this already as if you walk everywhere you will have taught him). I bet he will love the independence.

I worried so much! But you do get used to it gradually. Do practice runs - one where you show him what to do, then one where you shadow him from a distance. Track him on your phone if you’re worried.

There will be hundreds of kids around during the school run time doing the same or much longer journeys.

I don't drive either and yes my child went on the bus first time by herself to high school. Hers is a lot further than 4 stops!
It was fine. yes we did a couple of practice runs in the summer holidays both of us. When school started i did go with her to school and picked her up from school on the bus i think that was probably for the first few weeks. Although to be honest it didn't take long for me to feel like i was a bit surplus to requirements anyway as she was just chatting to her friends!
You might well know this anyway as you don't drive so i'm presuming you use buses anyway but i always use to Moovit app for buses to check when buses are and also if i'm going anywhere new cos it tracks your journey realtime and tells you when to get off. so i've shown her how to use it too a couple of times when i'm with her. and put it on her phone. so if she's stuck somewhere new she can use it to get to where she needs to be or use it to see when the next bus is etc.
But 4 stops doesn't sound like he'll get into much trouble anyway,

As others have said, I did a couple of practice runs and then my DS refused to let me come along again! They get used to it very quickly and it’s a valuable life skill.