Is your child starting high school next year?

Are they travelling by public transport or having to walk/cycle further?

Have you discussed this new independence and how to stay safe?

Going to high school in the new year is exciting and can mean lots of new experiences, like how your child is going to travel to and from school.

Towards the end of year 6 help your child to become more independent by:

• giving them more responsibility to learn how to manage their own safety when travelling to and from school
• encouraging them to focus on what is happening around them in the traffic environment and not just rely on you
• reinforcing the importance of not rushing to cross the road, catch a bus or train
• insisting they always remove headphones and put their phone away when crossing the road
• practising together how to use a timetable and public transport, if it's new to them.

Together plan and practise walking routes to their new high school:

• identifying safe places to cross
• using crossings and footpaths, where possible
• if no footpath is available, face oncoming traffic and walk as far away from the edge of the road as possible
• watching out for vehicles entering or leaving driveways, and for cars reversing in car parks
• avoiding heavy traffic areas, if possible.

Discuss back-up plans

What happens if they're running late, miss the bus or train, lose their travel pass, feel unsafe travelling to and from school, or it's wet weather?

Practice a few excuses they could use if encouraged by others to act unsafely. e.g. I'm not going to do that. If my parents found out I'd be grounded.?

More information available:

When can I let my child travel to and from school independently?