Can I share court orders and CAFCASS reports with the school admissions team?

[rodentattack]

I am sole-parenting my 2 kids, and their abusive father is not in our lives and not in contact with us at all, except for being allowed to send the kids cards twice a year.

My kids are both at primary school, and I want to ensure (in plenty of time!) that I will be able to apply for their secondary school places without any involvement from their father, and without their father being provided with any information about where we live, which school the children end up going to, etc.

I contacted the School Admissions team at our local council to ask if there is anything I need to do to ensure that my ex will have no involvemnt in this process. I explained that there is a court order specifying that my ex is allowed only 'letterbox' contact with the children, consisting of being able to send them xmas cards plus cards on one other occasion per year (i.e. birthdays).

The admissions team responded by asking me to send them the court order, plus documentation from anyone else I've dealt with in relation to this. So, I could send them the court order plus the CAFCASS reports, which recommend that my ex has no contact with the children.

I would be happy to send these documents to the council, but I am worried about the confidentiality aspects. During the court case my solicitor impressed upon me the importance of not sharing CAFCASS reports outside the court. I want to ensure that I will not get into trouble for sharing these documents. And I would also like to avoid having to pay a solicitor's fees to discuss this matter! (Unsurprisingly my ex doesn't pay maintenance, except for the pittance that the CMS occasionally manages to squeeze out of him.)

If anyone with some legal knowledge would be able to advise, I'd be very grateful.

Do not share the cafcass report.

The court order doesn't mean he has no say on the school.

Thanks Collaborate. Yes, I realise that the court order doesn't automatically mean he has no say, but I want to take whatever steps necessary to ensure he is not involved, and the council has advised that this is the first step.

There will probably be a warning on the CAFCASS report about how it’s a contempt of court to disclose it to third parties.

You would have to get permission from the court to disclose the CAFCASS report. Also unless his parental responsibility has been removed by the Court or it specifically states in the Order, he has the legal right to have a say in which school they go to and receive school reports etc

You can show the school the order and I’m sure they’ll understand he can’t collect the children from school but he’s entitled to attend parents evenings and have school reports.

You can show the court order but absolutely not the CAFCASS report!

Gosh why can't you share a CAFCAS report? (Nosy). No advice op as I was going to suggest asking your solicitor to write if they want an official note but obviously that would mean a cost.

Thanks everyone. I've decided to play it safe and contact the solicitor I used before.

Noeuf I assume that the reason a CAFCASS report is confidential is because it has a lot of information in it about the children, their welfare, as well as (IIRC) things like the criminal records of the parents (my ex turned out to quite quite a colourful history!)

Good luck - can you not just omit him from any forms?

Just wondered because any health reports etc on my kids I've just assumed I could share as it's their/my information even if other people are mentioned:

Noeuf I would love it if it was as simple as omitting him from the forms - perhaps it really is, but I'm afraid to leave it until the application stage in case I run out of time to sort things out if the applications team insist on him being involved! I might ask the advice of the headmaster at the kids' current primary school - he has always been sympathetic and happy to exclude ex.

As Collaborate says, there is likely to be a warning on the CAFCASS report saying that it is contempt of court to disclose it to third parties. Health reports that are not part of court proceedings are another matter. You can generally do whatever you want with them within reason.

Thank you for clarifying - so it's CAFCASS reports that have special treatment? Just interested as I don't know much about it.

I hope you get it resolved op, it's very stressful when you have this kind of thing.

Do you have contact with your ex? Does he know your address or what schools the DC will likely attend?

Noeuf any document within any court proceedings cannot be shared, ss reports, police reports ect ect

My ex is a difficult man and was living in another country when I did the school application. I didn't put his name on the application and never mentioned him. They never asked and it all went smoothly.

I never put my ex s details on school admissions. Its usual for only one person to fill them in. However, unless his or has been removed he is within his rights to request copies of school documents, reports etc. My ex contacted the school for this.

THANK YOU ALL

I haven’t seen my ex in 8 years . I don’t mention him on anything.

I spoke to primary school and they agreed if he ever turned up they would contact me to collect Ds. ( there were safeguarding issues but he does have pr)

Secondary he has never been mentioned.

Only time it has ever been pushed was when he was in hospital and I refused.

I recently completed the application form for dd's secondary, and there was no requirement on the form for exH to sign or consent or anything. It all went smoothly with no reference to him.