Moving childs school without notifying ex

[Shipahoyf23]

My daughter has not been happy at her state school for a while, bit of bullying ect. She has been offered a place at a good independent school where I think she could be happier. I intend to pay all of the school fees. I have a difficult relationship with ex-husband, he tends to be obstructive for the sake of it, and I think if I consult him on moving her he may refuse. The school distance would not affect him.

My question, is can I move my daughter and sign her up at the new school without consulting him ? to be clear, he will not be responsible for any of the fees. This may sound heavy handed, but this is against a backdrop of repeated behavior just like this from him, that I think does not give me much option.

Any advice much appreciated.

If he has PR, he must be consulted. If he won’t agree, you’ll need to apply for a Specific Issue Order.

You can only take such a step with the consent of the father, assuming he's either on the birth certificate or you were at some point married to him.

Do you think he would do anything when he finds out? DH is on his son's birth certificate but the mum has chosen schools etc without notifying DH without consequence. The school dont care. I guess he could drag her to court (pointless as she just ignores everything) but in terms of actually getting DC into the school he couldn't do anything if he doesn't know about it and I doubt anyone will check what dad thinks.

What missmalice says

@blackcat86 If you familiarise yourself with the DforE guidance to schools - www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-issues-relating-to-parental-responsibility/understanding-and-dealing-with-issues-relating-to-parental-responsibility#dutiesundereducatonlaw

Section 9 of the Education Act 1996 says that schools have a duty to educate a child in accordance with the wishes of the child's parents (note plural) www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/9

Note in the guidance it states School and local authority staff must treat all parents equally

Any school that takes on a new pupil without checking that all those with PR consent are in breach of the law.

Thank you for your replies

Thank you for your replies