Interfering?

To start with, you say he told you ‘soon’ so that may be any time in the near future Secondly it really can’t be up to grans it has to be between him and his parents Although you will worry it has to be ......9 is not too young if the parents trust him
I remember when my son was about 10 and started to go to a young kids evening club which was a few roads away and in the dark evenings for the first few weeks I followed at a discrete distance till I saw him turn in at the gates....he never knew
Worry equates love but it’s a love we have to keep to ourselves and never let the child know
Leave it to the parents He will be fine

DGS1 school teachers bring them out and they can't leave till designated person there to collect them. Have to be dropped off in morning and designated person watches till they go in. Infant school P1 to P3 (5 - 7). Not sure what happens in upper campus across the lane but they finish earlier. The starting and finishing times are all staggered just now.
My own DC went with their friends from about 8 but there was only 1 minor road to cross.

My OH caught a bus to primary school on his own and apparently this was normal.
That was from the age of five!!!!

I understand your worry but I think you have to grin and bear it. It really is for his parents to judge re what their son does and when, and no one else.

Oh. Ok I have just had to google this as having to be collected, basically up to 11, seems mad to me. This is what I found on the NSPCC site:

There’s no legal age that your child can travel home from school alone – this is up to you and your best judgement, or your school’s rules and policies.

The NSPCC says that :some schools" say a child generally should be eight but it depends on the individual child's maturity.

So it's obviously a school-by-school thing.

I do know that my close friend (a just retired headteacher) had some children who had to be collected by a specific person. I hadn't realised that it was all under 11s now.

I seem to remember a hoo-hah about this on the news a few years ago where the school reported parents to SS when they let their children walk to school. The parents - responsible and caring - were furious, as they had put a lot of thought and preparation into the decision. I cannot remember what the outcome was.

But anyway......interfere at your peril!!!!

It's ok, I'm still laughing NotSpaghetti
Other Granny takes to school but is not allowed to go right up to the school gate because apparently it's 'embarrassing' when you get to Y4.

But no, they're not allowed out without someone designated to collect them, the children all look happy with that.

Ha ha Calistemon, when I said "somewhere odd" I was really thinking that maybe it was situated on a major junction with flyovers and extremely heavy traffic, or, conversely was a tiny village school situated in a blind spot on a single-track or super-wiggly road. ?

Trust your daughter and your grandson to decide. I think we give our young people too little credit for what they are capable of doing.

GrandmaFrench
There’s nothing like being on a Forum to give you a complex, eh, Callistemon

Unless the roads are devoid of pedestrian crossings and very busy, a nine year old should be able to walk to and from school on his own.

At what age would you consider him old enough?

Stop trying to wrap him in cotton wool. His mum sounds sensible. I don't know what he needs a mobile phone for, though.

Aged 9 he’s presumably in Year 5 unless a September birthday? DGS school where I also taught, expects some yr 5 and6 children will walk home alone. It’s suburban Surrey. They are even allowed to bring in mobile phones which are kept in the office during the school day for extra contact on the walk. It’s never easy to let them go a little I do sympathise.

When my children were small there was a short footpath almost opposite our house which came out by the school gate. All the children in the road, of varying ages, but under 11 used to walk to school together. The path had a slight bend in it so you couldn’t see to the end, so I used to jump in the car when they were out of sight and drive round to ensure they did reach school safely. I did the same thing in reverse in the afternoon The other mothers thought I was a bit odd.

A friend's grandchildren living in Zurich walk to school alone from the age of 4! Noone bats an eyelid. Usually they team up with other children, but not always. It is considered perfectly normal both in cities and villages. My OH went to school from age 5 alone and it meant changing buses twice on the way. What frightens me is children being shielded all the time at primary school and then being expected to be able to cope with the greater freedom of secondary school overnight. If children are never exposed to any risk how will they learn to deal with them as they get older?

The headmistress of GSs school actively encouraged the children to walk to and from school in their last year at junior school. She even had a bike shed put up.

Interestingly they organised themselves in to groups who could walk together from a geographical point of view. GS also got the others to follow what I had been doing with him at a slightly lopsided crossroad junction. Some drivers slalomed across at great speed. Walking into the side road a few yards which would give the speeders time to see you and stop so was safer than crossing the wider part of the road entrance. They obviously observe and understand very much more than we sometimes give them credit for.

Here Primary children are delivered and collected by designated adults, there are 5 plus family for DGS, 2 friends of mine and 3 of DDs and SIL. A lot of the schools here cover from 2.5 yrs to 18 with the different schools in adjoining buildings. DGS went to Maternal 2.5 and is now in Primary in the same school.

The stricter rules came about after the child kidnaps and murders in the 90s.

There’s nothing like being on a Forum to give you a complex, eh, Callistemon ?
I read your post and thought how lovely, and there’s a cut-off point/advisory age so that parents and kids know what’s required.

But yes, in these crazy times and with all the worries that go with that for small children, you probably do live ‘somewhere odd’. Lucky old you!

Up to Y6 the children in my DGDs school are expected to be delivered and collected. Now my Y6 and Y5 DGDs (just 11 and 9) walk to and from school (about 3 minutes and only one main(ish) road to cross on their own. I've noticed a definite confidence and maturity growth at being allowed to do this from both of them. Eldest always double checks that I will be home at 3.15pm. It's all part of growing up (and a bonus as I can stay in my dressing gown until they leave in the morning).

And I'm left wondering if we live somewhere odd

I thought the advice was that primary schools should all do that now.
Some children will be 'looked after children' and it essential that a designated person is sent to pick up the child.

Ooh Jane I think that really would cause ructions! I would have been livid if either sets of grandparents had done that!

Our DSs were walking to school from when they were seven. They weren't main roads though, and they walked with others.

My first time coming home on the bus was with my younger sister. I was aged about 9. When we got to the bus stop our grandparents had hidden round the corner to see we'd made it that far. Then they gave us a lift home which was a bit disappointing as we'd looked forward to the bus journey.
Could you do something similar? Maybe just happen to be round the corner at some spot on his walk home?

I was so much more cautious with my children than my parents were with us. Your worries are understandable, but I imagine his mother would have done plenty of trial runs and primed him accordingly. As others have said, we all managed, 60 or so years ago, albeit with less traffic. I often did a 30 minute walk to and from my school aged 5 with my 7 year old brother and friend up the road aged 6. Previous generations were far more independent from an early age, which in many ways stood us in good stead for the future. I believe children in Germany, Holland and possibly other countries are encouraged to go to and from school from an early age independently.

I've just reread my reply and I must have been having a toothache or something as it was a bit brusque and brutal! I apologise if it sounded that way, although you are very gracious. ?. Of course you will worry but I agree with others who said, if you must raise it with dd, be positive about how grown up he is.