Rules on children walking home from school

milliebear00001

At my school (I'm a primary teacher) we don't release children from the classroom, without physically handing them to a parent, until they are in Key Stage 2 - so Year 3. We don't keep tabs on them after that.

I would say this is your choice to make. You know your child and what they are capable of. I teach Year 5 and lots of the kids in my class begin to be allowed to walk into town or the local park with their friends on a Saturday towards the end of this year.

I have no idea how any of my Year 5's get home after school, but they all know exactly what to do if they have a problem - come back to me or go to the office. We occasionally have a delayed parent etc and we've never had a problem. I think most children of 9 and 10 are perfectly capable of managing the risks of a ten minute walk - provided they are given the opportunity to do so.

moomoomama27

If it's school policy, it's school policy!

My DD was about 10/11 when she started walking to and from school, and she was very sensible and mature for her age, but I would not have allowed it any younger. It's the traffic, other children etc etc that is another worry. It's not just how sensible your child is.

At my childrens school, they have a policy that children must be collected from school until the last term of year 5. I wholeheartedly agree with this policy.

Zziggi

GobbledyGook wrote: »

There seems to be a real mix of points being made to parents now. On one hand you are told they are your children therefore your responsibility and it's about time parents took responsibility for their children and especially their children's behaviour; yet at the same time you are not allowed to make decisions about your children's capabilities yourself that is up to the school.

This is so true!! Schools wish to usurp the role of parents right up until it all goes wrong and then they turn round and blame parents.

Spendless

moomoomama27 wrote: »

If it's school policy, it's school policy!

My DD was about 10/11 when she started walking to and from school, and she was very sensible and mature for her age, but I would not have allowed it any younger. It's the traffic, other children etc etc that is another worry. It's not just how sensible your child is.

At my childrens school, they have a policy that children must be collected from school until the last term of year 5. I wholeheartedly agree with this policy.

These sort of comments always make me smile. When my Grandmother was at a Grammar school in London in the 1930s she wasn't allowed study period, though the rest of her classmates were. The reason? She was the only left hander in her year. She had to spend study periods practising writing with her right hand and then study at home. She's still alive aged 87 and is still left-handed. Sometimes you just have to question the 'rules is rules'.

moomoomama27

Spendless wrote: »

These sort of comments always make me smile. When my Grandmother was at a Grammar school in London in the 1930s she wasn't allowed study period, though the rest of her classmates were. The reason? She was the only left hander in her year. She had to spend study periods practising writing with her right hand and then study at home. She's still alive aged 87 and is still left-handed. Sometimes you just have to question the 'rules is rules'.

I agree you do. but when the policy is there to protect children, then I don't see why you'd need to question it. The policy is yr 6, that's age 10+ when it's perfectly acceptable to start giving children some responsibility. The school probably err on the side of caution, because although some 8/9 yr olds are probably ok to walk down the road to school, some won't be. So it would be a nightmare to be able to go case by case. The school has to cover themselves, and unforunatly with all the health and safety rules and regulations they probably have no choice but to have a blanket rule.

milliebear00001

moomoomama27 wrote: »

I agree you do. but when the policy is there to protect children, then I don't see why you'd need to question it. The policy is yr 6, that's age 10+ when it's perfectly acceptable to start giving children some responsibility. The school probably err on the side of caution, because although some 8/9 yr olds are probably ok to walk down the road to school, some won't be. So it would be a nightmare to be able to go case by case. The school has to cover themselves, and unforunatly with all the health and safety rules and regulations they probably have no choice but to have a blanket rule.

They obviously do have a choice because most primary schools don't feel the need to have such a rule. The fact that some 8/9 year olds are more capable than others is not relevant. Nobody is denying that is the case, but it should be a parent's job to decide which category their child falls into.

GobbledyGook

moomoomama27 wrote: »

I agree you do. but when the policy is there to protect children, then I don't see why you'd need to question it. The policy is yr 6, that's age 10+ when it's perfectly acceptable to start giving children some responsibility. The school probably err on the side of caution, because although some 8/9 yr olds are probably ok to walk down the road to school, some won't be. So it would be a nightmare to be able to go case by case. The school has to cover themselves, and unforunatly with all the health and safety rules and regulations they probably have no choice but to have a blanket rule.

Why do the school have to cover themselves? Once the school day is over and the children leave what happens to them is not the responsibility of the school. Why on earth are the school - who see children for a few hours a day in a closed environment - better judges than a parent to decide when a child is able to walk home alone?

What schools with policies like this are doing is firstly working to the lowest common denominator - some children might not be able to walk home alone until Y6 so we'll ban them all. There would be an outcry if schools taught Maths or English in the same vein so why are they allowed to have other policies which do this. Secondly by trying to dictate what happens as a child is leaving the school they are taking away the rights of a parent to parent. I know my child, her behaviour when she's unsupervised and her road sense much, much better than any of the people who see her for a number of hours a day 39/40 weeks of the year in a regulated environment do. I also know where we live and her route to and from school much better than any of the staff because I live here and they do not.

I, as the parent, should decide when my child is of the age to take the responsibility to walk home alone because, as much as schools know children well, I know my child and her capabilities better than the school do. As much as they should have free reign from me to teach her the things they are better placed to I, and other parents, should not have to answer to them for things that are our job.

moomoomama27

milliebear00001 wrote: »

They obviously do have a choice because most primary schools don't feel the need to have such a rule. The fact that some 8/9 year olds are more capable than others is not relevant. Nobody is denying that is the case, but it should be a parent's job to decide which category their child falls into.

Yet the parents would still come back to the school and blame them should something happen! Why one would want a small child walking home alone is baffling, at age 8/9, no matter how sensible, they are not mature enough to deal with certain scenarios that may arise. If you don't like the school policy, by all means challenge it, but if they explain their reasons being a safety issue, then as a parent you need to teach your child to follow the rules!

There are plenty of rules that may seem a little OTT in life, but something like that is not worth getting your knickers in a twist over IMO.

peachyprice

moomoomama27 wrote: »

The school probably err on the side of caution, because although some 8/9 yr olds are probably ok to walk down the road to school, some won't be. So it would be a nightmare to be able to go case by case. The school has to cover themselves, and unforunatly with all the health and safety rules and regulations they probably have no choice but to have a blanket rule.

Oh yes, you couldn't possibly let parents make the decision as to whether their own child is capable of walking themself to school in year 5, that would be outrageous.

moomoomama27 wrote: »

The policy is yr 6, that's age 10+ when it's perfectly acceptable to start giving children some responsibility.

The majority of year 5 children are 10+ by summer term, not 8-9 as you seem to think.

milliebear00001

moomoomama27 wrote: »

Yet the parents would still come back to the school and blame them should something happen! Why one would want a small child walking home alone is baffling, at age 8/9, no matter how sensible, they are not mature enough to deal with certain scenarios that may arise. If you don't like the school policy, by all means challenge it, but if they explain their reasons being a safety issue, then as a parent you need to teach your child to follow the rules!

There are plenty of rules that may seem a little OTT in life, but something like that is not worth getting your knickers in a twist over IMO.

9-10 year olds are not 'small children'.

The parents would have no recourse to blame the school if something happened to the child while walking home, with parental permission, outside of school hours.