Letting a 14 year old Take a 7 year old to and from school

valk_scot

meritaten wrote: »

Valk - if his doctor has advised against driving he may not be able to get insurance cover.

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I didn't mean he should drive against doctors advice, perish the thought! But he could take or pick her up on the bus, no?

valk_scot

moomoomama27 wrote: »

Check the school policy also, at my youngest twos primary schhol, only people over the age of 16 are allowed to collect children from school.

What happens when children walk home on their own then??? At our school they suggest that your child is collected up till the end of P2, after that (which is about age 7) the child can walk home on their own as far as the school is concerned. My two used to walk together when the elder was in P7 aged 11 and the younger was in P2 come to think of it, no-one batted an eyelid. (We only live a few minutes walk away though, no buses required.) After the elder one moved on to big school the younger one just walked by themselves.

Spendless

valk_scot wrote: »

What happens when children walk home on their own then??? At our school they suggest that your child is collected up till the end of P2, after that (which is about age 7) the child can walk home on their own as far as the school is concerned. My two used to walk together when the elder was in P7 aged 11 and the younger was in P2 come to think of it, no-one batted an eyelid. (We only live a few minutes walk away though, no buses required.) After the elder one moved on to big school the younger one just walked by themselves.

At the Infants school mine attended the children weren't released into the school playground for that to happen. Each class lined up at a door (several different doors) with their class teacher and one by one they were let go when teacher and child spotted parent or other adult picking up child eg childminser. This is quite common where I live. The junior school has no such rule though.

Emmarillo

My situation is identical to valk_scot. Mine walked home together from junior school as for about two years, and when the older one left, the younger walked with friends. We live very close to school but a lot of my neighbours still picked up their children at the end of year six when they were off to secondary school a few months later. You can see the school from out houses, that's how close it is.

I definitely think that, if she's happy to do it, your 14 year old should be allowed to take in your younger one, and you should be very proud of your eldest for suggesting it. She sounds very mature and is obviously aware of how difficult the situation at home is and wants to do her bit.

meritaten

valk_scot wrote: »

I didn't mean he should drive against doctors advice, perish the thought! But he could take or pick her up on the bus, no?

OH sorry! I thought you meant drive! silly me!
depends on whether he can also use public transport. I don't know details of his disability and assumed that public transport would be too difficult for him.

maman

Apologies if he's a young thing who's had to take ill-health retirement but if DH is retired maybe he has a bus pass so picking up DD2 in the afternoon wouldn't be a problem. That way she wouldn't have to do any more clubs than the breakfast one.

I think this arrangement is perfectly acceptable or, at least, worth trying.

Savvy_Sue

aliasojo wrote: »

If your elder one is sensible then I'd allow it.

If your elder one is an airhead or the type of kid who messes about a lot, then I wouldn't allow it.

All down to type of kid rather than age imo.

Does also depend on the younger one's temperament as well: DS3 delighted in winding his older brother's up, so entrusting him to their tender care wasn't a happy experience for them!

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

I don't see it as a problem but for me it is more about whether your younger daughter will listen to her older sibling and do as she asks.

Exactly.

aliasojo

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Does also depend on the younger one's temperament as well: DS3 delighted in winding his older brother's up, so entrusting him to their tender care wasn't a happy experience for them!

Indeed.

If I was the 14 year old, I'd get my little sis up against the wall and say through gritted teeth...[STRIKE]'you mess me about just once and I'll leave you in a cold lonely dark forest miles away where the troll who lives under the bridge will hunt you and eat you for breakfast'[/STRIKE] please be good for me otherwise Mum and Dad will worry and we don't want to upset them do we? *insert sweet smile*

My bad. :rotfl:

valk_scot

Spendless wrote: »

At the Infants school mine attended the children weren't released into the school playground for that to happen. Each class lined up at a door (several different doors) with their class teacher and one by one they were let go when teacher and child spotted parent or other adult picking up child eg childminser. This is quite common where I live. The junior school has no such rule though.

We don't do Infants, Junior etc in Scotland so I'm not quite sure of the ages you mean here, but up till the end of Primary 2 here (that's age 7, more or less) the teachers did as you describe, though it was perfectly acceptable to let the younger child go into the care of an older sibling of 10 or 11, like mine. I don't know how old the collecting sibling had to be, I don't think our local council (they're almost all council run in Scotland, very few private schools) had a policy on it.

I do think restricting pick up to a 16 year old or over is utterly daft tbh, it must really mess up a parent's life to be trailing up and down to the school twice a day when they've got a competent older child in the same building who could do it. But how about drop off? Do the school care about the over 16 rule here, or are they merely covering their own backs when releasing the child?

Prothet_of_Doom

aliasojo wrote: »

If your elder one is sensible then I'd allow it.

If your elder one is an airhead or the type of kid who messes about a lot, then I wouldn't allow it.

All down to type of kid rather than age imo.

If she is an airhead then the responsibility is what she needs, plus after a few trips, the 7 year old will be quite capable themself. (I walked 1 mile to and from primary school from age 7, much to the teachers disapproval)

I'd probably go with them the first time, and I'd make a point of discussing the day, and anything that happened that they want to discuss.

The main thing I'd want to have is a back up plan. What happens if Bus 1 is late, and they miss bus 2? What happens if child 1 is ill, what happens if child 1 gets detention, what happens if....Nothing major, but

My daughter (aged 17) gets the bus 10 miles to 6th Form college, and her back up plan is "Get the bus she has to pay for if the free bus isn't there by half past" .... and then the free bus overtakes them later :rotfl: