Significant locations can be hit and miss, for peace of mind with the kids use find my friends. You can even use restrictions to stop them messing with the app.
All of my daughter have a iPhone for this very reason, as both myself and wife work we cannot be around all the time as they are coming and going from school. My daughters grandparents are also part of the find my friends group as they are closer to the kids location most of the time so they can get to kids current location in around 10 minutes.
Our daughters are well aware we use this feature for their safety and our peace of mind and are more than happy for us to use it.