Can parent with PR remove child from school?

[PoitouSharon]

Quick question for anyone who can help please. Brief background - Both parents have PR but separated due to domestic violence when little girl was a few months old. Child has had no contact with one parent since that time and is now 8 years old.

None resident parent has been to school and tried to pick up daughter. Other parent intervened. Child did not know who the person was trying to collect them.

Whilst resident parent gets the matter back to court, can the school stop the none resident parent taking the child or does the fact that they have PR mean school has to hand the child over? Can the school prevent the none resident parent from taking the child under their safeguarding responsibilities?

The school cannot stop a parent with PR. The school can attempt to delay until the resident parent arrives. The resident parent really needs to be making an emergency application - normal applications can take weeks.

Our school does not allow children to be collected by anyone who is not on the child's contact information sheet, anyone who hasn't been nominated by parent(s).

Badger - the school cannot legally withhold a child from a parent with parental responsibility.

How would the non resident parent prove their PR?

Do I assume that if my STBXH rocked up at the school and the school had no knowledge of him then they would not hand my Dd over? But if he proved his PR then they would?

Yes the NRP would surely have to prove that they had PR before school would hand a child over to someone they'd never met!

A birth certificate...

I had this discussion with DD's nursery due to a similar situation.

They said that if he can prove who he is (which would hopefully provide a delay in itself) their next point of call would be to ring me then each emergency contact in turn while stalling as much as they humanly can.

However, once he's done something like that, I can get an order keeping him away and they'd then be able to say no and call the police themselves.

A birth certificate only has a name. Anyone with that name could turn up with ID and say they are that person. Would a school really be forced to hand a child over to someone with the same name as someone on the child's birth certificate? Having no prior contact with them?

Oh, and my nursery also has a password that anyone who isn't me has to recite when picking up DD. They also said that one of their tactics, knowing my circumstances, would be to ask him if I'd given him the password or if they need to call me to authorise the pickup. They'd bluff it a bit basically and make him aware that I would be finding out he was there almost immediately. It's a secure nursery so he couldn't just go in and grab her.

That's the legal position, Just. How else would anyone prove PR?

The mother in this case needs to be at court tomorrow morning with a C100 form and the appropriate fee for a prohibited steps order.

Have you spoken to the school?

I'm in a similar position myself however my DS is in pre-school they have a code word for DS and if they don't say that word they will not release him, they will ring me and every emergency contact on the form until someone answers (I do currently have a non-molestation order though)

So a grandparent that shared the same name as a parent (common enough occurence) could produce a driving license saying they are mr john smith and a birth certificate saying the child's father is john smith and the school would have to hand child over?

They have LEGAL right but the majority of nurseries and schools would not release a child to anyone they didnt KNOW. Certainly that's been my experience. Even if they rocked up with birth cert, how would the school verify it and just let the child go off? Not possible.

The resident parent is planning on seeing a solicitor ASAP to get matter back to court and hopefully a prohibited steps order in place. It was just the interim measures we were curious about.

Thanks for all the responses though!

Why faff around with a solicitor and applications etc when an emergency hearing could be sorted for tomorrow so no interim plan required as there would be no interim....

I'm a teacher - pretty much every school I've worked in has had the same policy but you must make the school aware of the issue. Our current policy is to discreetly move the child away from the classroom where they are dismissed from, and delay the adult. Our script is to send the adult to the office whilst we contact main carer/parent. We cannot legally stop the parent from collecting their own child but we eill do everything we can to delay/stall them if we believe there is a safeguarding issue.

I agree with titchy. I really wouldn't wait. You're looking at 4-6 weeks at best for a non emergency application. She needs to apply immediately. A completely absent parent suddenly turning up at school and trying to remove the child is serious cause for concern.

I agree Four and Titchy - she needs to get a prohibited steps order asap. This will give her some protection & peace of mind while waiting for it to go back to court. It also gives the school something to work with.