Lane Cove grandmother retires after 52 years walking kids to school

A GRANDMOTHER on Sydney’s north shore is retiring after 52 years of taking on the role of neighbourhood ‘Aunty’ and caring for schoolchildren.

GRANDMA

WHEN  ‘Aunty’ Marlene Back first started walking her children to school, kiss-and-ride zones were unheard of, schoolkids walked the streets everywhere and backyards were full of noisy children playing outdoors until dusk.

The year was 1963 and only now is Mrs Back retiring from her before and after school care job.

Lane Cove resident Mrs Back, 81, has been a local legend to generations of children and their parents attending Lane Cove West Public School over the past 52 years.

Mrs Back has enjoyed making sure Lane Cove children get to and from school safely.

When her three sons grew up, she continued looking after other parents’ children, minding them from 7am or so and dropping them at the nearby school, and then doing the reverse in the afternoon.

Her house is full of toys, treats, biscuits and lashings of love. But the last of her two charges, Year 6 students Millie Cole and Hayley Fletcher, are off to high school, so she’s decided to finish up.

“I’ll miss them, I do love my children,” Mrs Back said. “We play board games and we have lots of fun.”

The 81-year-old grandmother has looked after local primary school kids for the past 52 years.

She said the two girls were very lively and intelligent, and loved playing the old-fashioned board games.

“Which is an exception to so many kids now who don’t play with toys any more,” she said.

“It’s quite sad really. So many are just interested in their electronic games.

“What I’ve really noticed over the years are how many 4WDs there are around the school gates, and even people just flinging the doors open into oncoming traffic.

“And nowadays the kids are always being driven around to activities, ballet, gym and so on, whereas in the past the children used to be out on the streets so much more.”