Separated Parents Policy

St Patrick’s Catholic School

Separated Parents and Guardianship Policy

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, not because you must but because you are willing. 1 Peter 5: 2

Rationale:

St Patrick's Catholic School aims to protect the safety, wellbeing and security of all children.

Purposes:

1. To clarify school and parent expectations, roles and responsibilities in shared custody or guardianship matters.

Guidelines:

General

1. Parents are responsible for informing the school of the day-to-day care, pick up, and contact arrangements in place for their child, whether agreed informally, written in an agreement or provided for by court order.

2. Any dispute over the rights of separated parents in regards to education, day-to-day care and communication should be resolved by the parents, or through the courts. It is not the principal’s job to adjudicate these matters.

Guardianship

1. Usually a child’s parents are joint guardians of a child from birth if they are both listed on the birth certificate and/or are in a legally recognised relationship. Separated parents remain legal guardians, subject to any court orders.

2. A child’s guardians have the right to make decisions about their child’s education and have a duty to consult with each other.

3. The Family Court can appoint other adults as guardians. The Family Court may also appoint itself as a child’s legal guardian and ask Oranga Tamariki to act as it’s agent.

Agreements and Court Orders

1. Parents or guardians must supply the school with any written parenting agreements or court orders as soon as possible.

2. Verbally sharing the contents of an agreement or court order will not be sufficient for the principal to act on any instructions, written copies must be received.

3. Such orders will be shared with the child’s teacher, the office staff and any other key staff that the principal deems appropriate.

4. If changes are made to an arrangement, reasonable notice must be given to the school. If reasonable notice is not given, the school may choose to follow the original arrangements or default to the school’s procedures outlined in this policy below.

Rights of Guardians

1. Except when there are court orders in place, both parents and any other guardians are entitled to:

• Receive the school newsletter

• Receive the child’s written report

• Discuss their child’s educational progress with the principal, SENCo and classroom teacher

• Contribute to major education decisions, e.g. which school the child attends

• Vote in Board elections

• Participate in parent groups or meetings or social functions

• See their child’s records, subject to any legal restrictions

1. The school expects parents or guardians to take the initiative in exercising these rights

2. Where possible the school appreciates parents and guardians attending the same parent interview so that each guardian hears exactly the same messages

Contact Rights

1. Any parent, guardian or other person wanting to contact a student during school hours must follow the school’s visitors’ procedures. This means that the person must go to the office and request contact from there.

2. If the school has concerns about the visitor (e.g. custody, identity, legal arrangements) they should:

• Contact a parent or third party to ascertain identity or contact rights

• Ask to see an agreement or court order or contact the person’s lawyer

• Use professional judgement, with the child’s welfare as the main concern

• Supervise the meeting if necessary

1. If a court order says, “reasonable contact”, then the school may refuse contact during schools hours so that the running of the school is not necessarily disrupted

2. If the school suspects that the person may remove the child from the school, the school may act as necessary to protect the welfare of the child, including denying unrestricted access or contacting third parties such as the police

3. A student’s learning should not be disrupted by unnecessary communication throughout the day. This includes texts, phone calls or emails.

Students’ Names

The school will use a child’s name as provided at enrolment. If there is disagreement amongst guardians, the child’s legal name will be used.

Ratified: 22 April 2020