Rules on children walking home from school

DS4215

In the late 70s I was walking about .5 mile through the town were we lived both ways by myself from starting juniors at 7. My sister was at the infants which was .5 mile in the opposite direction and we didn't have a car (dad was working shifts so only mum could take us). I usually got there in one piece, but did have my nose broken once and my cheek broken once in 2 years before we moved away.

the_cat

Sounds to me like the school are making it up as they go along in order to cover themselves for the unlikely event that a child is hurt on the way home (not yours necessarily but they will have to offer the same rule to all and not all will be mature enough/live near enough/have only quiet roads to cross etc) Legally I very much doubt if their 'rule' is enforceable as they have no resonsibility for him after hours but for the sake of the next few months, is it really worth the aggro to your son for you to get your own way.

If you are on maternity leave you are availalable anyway and it would be an opportunity to make sure he is safe - you could let him travel well ahead of you and keep an eye from a distance. Then you can be sure he has good habits established by the time Sept comes along

galvanizersbaby

I find this an interesting thread as I could have found myself in a somewhat similar position to OP.

My son starts in Year 4 this September (he will be nearly 9) - he has asked to walk home alone which may have been possible were we not temporarily moving out of walking distance from the school.
Sadly for him I will be having a baby in June so will also be on maternity leave so available to collect him everyday from school.

I had planned to find out the schools policy on walking alone as I thought that the first year of Middle school seemed a bit early but DS protests and is insistent that others are going to be doing the same apparently.

I didn't drive until DS was 6 years old so I think due to walking everywhere he is as road safety aware as he could be for his age - just don't know if he's old enough to walk alone - it is interesting to see others differing views on the subject.

Kimberley82

My children are begging to walk to school on their own, they are 7 and 8, I have said when my oldest is in year 5, he is in 3 now.

alwayspuzzled

Well I've spoken to the head and apparently she does have the right to decide that they are not allowed to leave the premises unless physically handed to a carer and this was announced in a newsletter a month or so ago. Obviously I missed this whether I skim read it or just didn't get the newsletter (always a possibility as his dad reads them and forgets to put them back in his bag). Apparently I am not alone in complaining as the head said she has had to speak to several other parents regarding the same matter.

TBH I'm probably overreacting being hormonal and in constant pain but I have found it shocking that the school are allowed to insist that I collect my y5 child from the playground. 10 year olds are not even allowed to walk out to the parents waiting in the car outside!

galvanizersbaby

Kimberley82 wrote: »

My children are begging to walk to school on their own, they are 7 and 8, I have said when my oldest is in year 5, he is in 3 now.

Same ages as my 2 - DS is 8 and DD 7 but I'm not sure when DD would ever be sensible enough to be trusted on her own tbh - her and DS are chalk and cheese.

DS is definately trying to exert his independence which I guess is a normal part of growing up - I like the following him from a distance idea as that could be a compromise for us.

elvis86

alwayspuzzled wrote: »

TBH I'm probably overreacting being hormonal and in constant pain but I have found it shocking that the school are allowed to insist that I collect my y5 child from the playground. 10 year olds are not even allowed to walk out to the parents waiting in the car outside!

Goodness, how positively dreadful for the poor parents! Heaven forbid they should have to park their car, walk through the school gates and socialise with the other parents!:eek: Or, even more outrageously, be forced to ditch the car and walk to collect their kids!:cool:

andrealm

I'm amazed by that, you actually have to go into the playground to collect them, even at 10?
At my dd's school, they all come out the gate and parents wait outside for them. With the younger children, they make sure that someone is there to collect them before letting them out the gate, quite rightly. I'm not sure what their rules for older children are, but some of them seem to walk home on their own at about 9, with a couple of roads to cross.

Kimberley82

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Same ages as my 2 - DS is 8 and DD 7 but I'm not sure when DD would ever be sensible enough to be trusted on her own tbh - her and DS are chalk and cheese.

DS is definately trying to exert his independence which I guess is a normal part of growing up - I like the following him from a distance idea as that could be a compromise for us.

My two have just started to go tot the shop together on their own, though the shop in on our road. Scares me silly but they are mainly very sensible.

galvanizersbaby

elvis86 wrote: »

Goodness, how positively dreadful for the poor parents! Heaven forbid they should have to park their car, walk through the school gates and socialise with the other parents!:eek: Or, even more outrageously, be forced to ditch the car and walk to collect their kids!:cool:

I took the OP more to mean that the kids could not be independent/trusted enough to walk through the playground alone.