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Hi All,
I have three children which all go to the same school, put there has a been a wide range of issues in which the court order has been enforced by the school.
The is nothing on the court order to say i can not pick the children up from school and that i am not a threat.
Problem 1
Sunday
Mum - Ex Partner goes into hospital to have a baby with new partner
Dad - I get told 1 hour before there due to go back to mum's. I say to mum
i will keep the children with me and run them to school the next day.
Mum - No take them home and new partners mum with look after them
Dad - No I will keep them with me
Monday
Dad - Took 2 of the children to school and one stayed off ill.
Spoke with school and told them what was happening. I got told they would
have to check on the court order to make sure of no problems.
I got told a few hours later that mum has arranged for someone to pick them up and i
was advised to no come to school.
Mum stayed in hospital that night and 2 of the children stayed with mums new partners mum.
I kept hold of the ill child until mum was out of hospital next day.
Problem 2.
I have a phone call from the school asking to come in for a chat.
I get told one if my kids had said a few things about me they did not like.
I got told if i did not work with the school to sort it out they would have to call first response.
The things in which my child had said happened months ago and it was based around them being cheeky and using words you would not want coming out of your child's mouth.
I said to the school no matter what i say if they say something different then your going to believe them. I have got nothing to hide so call first response.
First response said it was something we had to sort between our self's and they said they would get someone to talk to the kids about emotions but they said if you can not sort them go back to court.
It was my weekend to pick the children up from school and 1 hour before i get a message from my ex saying that she had been advised by the school which had spoken to first response and that i was not allowed the kids for the weekend and if she let me have them she would be investigated for safeguarding concerns. I called the school and was told i had to come in for a meeting with them and the children and listen to what they had to say and sort it out.
To put it blunt my son did not like being told off and being told to keep his room tidy.
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The questions i have are the following :-
Can a school enforce a court order
Can a school enforce a court order based on living arrangements
Can a school have a copy of the order without my permission.
Sorry its a long one
Thanks
If your ex has told the school you are going to run away with them, I think they can stop you just to be cautious? Take a look at this link, it seems the school should at least write to you to informing you of this
https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/banning-parents-from-school-premises/
My kids school have no issue with me attending, I went to my eldest girls Xmas play and parents evenings and my ex thinks i am the worst person on the planet.
Hello castlesmith,
I am not a lawyer. You do not say what your Court Order states and whether there are any welfare, safety issues or external agencies e.g. Social Services, school etc. involved or mentioned in the Court Order..
The opinions I express are my personal views. In answering your questions I am taking into account there are none of the above issues or agencies involved.
With regard to the three questions you pose at the end of your message I believe:-
1) Only a judge can enforce a Court Order or alter one. Parents can by mutual agreement but there needs to be a text or email to use as proof in case one party denies the agreement was made. A verbal agreement only is not sufficient as there is no written proof that a mutual agreement between the parents was made.
2) Living arrangements, I believe the same applies as I have stated in 1).
3) Whether it be the school, doctor or dentist etc. we have never allowed anyone to have a copy of the Court Order. We have allowed them to see it as proof of having Parental Responsibility but that is all.
I have always held the belief that the family court is a "closed" (cannot think of the appropriate word) court and that a Court Order is private to those involved. I think it may be a breach of court to allow other people to have access to it.
It will be interesting to hear others views on this.
hi,
sounds very messy. basically its your ex that blocked you from picking up kids for weekend and using school as some kind of shield. only way i see is for you to go back to court and address all of this.
What I found is you need to play ball with the school and the staff are more likely to be helpful to you. You should also bear in mind schools have legal duty to do their own safeguarding. So if your child is making claims about you which backs up the [censored] the mother has been saying, and you are not being co-operative with the school then they will believe the kid.
I was told by my barrister that any official party who needed could either know about or have a copy of the Child Arrangements Order. So while it is technically a breach to give the school a copy of the Order if a good argument can be made why it is in my children's best interests for them to, it will be ignored. (My ex has did this with the interim order. Oddly she has yet to do this with the full order probably as it is extensive. It also backs up what I've been saying to the school for the last few years )
Regarding contact if according to your Order you weren't suppose to have them on the date their mother was in hospital then you cannot and should not argue you should have them if their mother had arranged adequate child care.
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