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School being ridiculous about priority contact.

68 replies

Rich1981 · 07/11/2022 20:16

Hello, my son is 8yo he stays with me 6 nights per week. I wanted to apply for child benefit, but first I asked school to put me as priority contact. School knows what days am picking him up and that my son stays with me as he was unhappy with 50/50 two years ago. He was put on SEND program because of his behaviour during 50/50 shared care. The school telling me that, whoever registered child years ago has to be priority contact. I changed them on policy. They said that they don't have one and that's how it is. I spoke to lawyer and was told that school is being ridiculous, am a parent and if child is with me most of time plus I live closer to school than his mother it's only logical to put me as 1st contact. I spoke to principal and he said that,it doesn't really matter,if something happens they will call me as they know am primary parent. So then I said to change it! He told me that unfortunately it has to be the way receptionist says ( older woman sitting there all day) . Guys this is some clown show! What do I do with this? Complain to whom? Or just leave it,as it's not a big deal since they have both addresses?
Am I going crazy or am really being treated unfairly and being discriminated against?

OP posts:
DumpedByText · 08/11/2022 23:15

I'm school student reception, I'm not old but believe me it's the hardest, busiest job I've ever done in my life. I literally do not stop all day. You and his mother can both be priority 1 by the way.

maplesaucewithbacon · 08/11/2022 23:16

Why don't you write a letter to the Principal copied to the Governors? I don't understand why you already haven't OP.

ThunderMoo · 08/11/2022 23:18

( older woman sitting there all day

You what?!!!

user1471457751 · 08/11/2022 23:53

I would write a complaint to the Head teacher and copy in the Chair of governors. Explain the issues factually - the holding incorrect data (and breach of gdpr maybe) and the sexist comment of the receptionist.

Hoppinggreen · 09/11/2022 19:17

Rich1981 · 08/11/2022 09:33

@RelentlessForwardProgress am being discriminated by this woman. Because it seems she makes rules without backing it up with policy. I wonder if u would have this sympathy towards a man who is discriminating against mother? If the roles were reversed.

Maybe she doesn’t like you.
Cant imagine why

Hoppinggreen · 09/11/2022 19:18

Rich1981 · 08/11/2022 12:17

@2boysDad thank you. I know am being discriminated against. When I started conversation with this woman first thing she said " she is a mother,she has priority"
Then she tried to backpedal explaing about who registered child. At this point I knew am dealing with biased person. I wonder what energy would people have on here if there was a guy being stupid and making a mother's life difficult. But ofcourse as a man u need to take abuse with a smile on your face. Which I refuse to.

Yes, men are generally discriminated against far more than women.
Its a woman’s world

cansu · 09/11/2022 19:20

I think arguing about your name being first on a piece of paper is a bit bonkers. Assuming you both have parental responsibility you are both entitled to information about the child. The head has now said you will always be contacted so what is the issue?

Rich1981 · 09/11/2022 19:32

@cansu because I wanted my address to be his address. But they said that they have both parents addresses. Which I don't understand now. If child benefit asked school where is my sons address, what would they say?

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 09/11/2022 19:42

She could be trying to avoid telling the probably quite combative person on the phone that the reason you don't change the contact details on the MIS on the basis of the other separated parent's say-so is that could be a safeguarding issue - as I think it's quite clear that your reaction to that would be quite belligerent and that in turn could put the other parent and possibly the child at risk. And her job isn't to sit there and be berated for following Safeguarding procedures - after all, her life would be far, far easier if she could have said 'oh yes, I'll do it now (tap, tap, tappety-tap, click, click, click, save) - all done', rather than have to deal with you.

Have you had any contact with the DSL at all? If the DSL, knowing full details of the situation your child is living in, is happy for you to be added as an equal 1st contact, they can authorise the support staff to make the change. It's not a legal requirement, but some schools adopt a specific Separated Parents Policy - if you were to contact them school and ask politely, you should be able to receive a copy if it isn't available on the school website itself (again, it's not a legal requirement to do so, but some schools do it so that any caller can see what their policy is). Others deal with acrimonious divorces and issues on a case by case basis.

If you were to obtain an order stating where the child is to live, that would be of assistance (your ex would still have Parental Responsibility and the right to be equal #1/have all correspondence and messages/right to attend appointments/consent to things, but your child's address would be changed to yours) - the decision where to pay Child Benefit is not dependent upon that, though, as they can decide without needing a Court Order on residence.

If, however, Child Benefit do not feel that it should be paid to you despite their lower standard for decisionmaking and you have not ingratiated yourself with any member of staff who has encountered you, then your chances of enforcing this through sheer belligerence and some rather unpleasant attitudes that I suspect are made very clear whenever you call, are minimal.

Essentially, don't be a dick to people who a) are experienced and do a lot more all day than sit about waiting for your call to give them something to do, b) have your child's interests and safety as their priority, c) would far rather not have to deal with your attitude in the first place and d) if you were to give them what they need, rather than have a go at them, would be perfectly happy to give you equal contact ranking.

IncessantNameChanger · 09/11/2022 19:48

parietal · 07/11/2022 22:31

have you written to the school governors? set out clearly what has happened and why the wrong registration disadvantages your son.

Yes look on the school website for the complaints policy and follow it

cansu · 09/11/2022 19:57

Is this then about the child benefit? If so just write to the school informing them that your son resides with you for six nights out of seven. If they are asked then they would refer to this letter when responding. I think this would only ever happen if both parents claim. Is this the problem? I think schools try to stay out of parental rows when the parents are separated.

Rich1981 · 09/11/2022 20:56

@NeverDropYourMooncup what are you talking about? I never said I was arguing or unpleasant to admin. I took what she said and contacted solicitor. Then I only spoke to head . Never with her again. What's with the assumptions and feelings all over the place???

OP posts:
NeverDropYourMooncup · 09/11/2022 21:32

Rich1981 · 09/11/2022 20:56

@NeverDropYourMooncup what are you talking about? I never said I was arguing or unpleasant to admin. I took what she said and contacted solicitor. Then I only spoke to head . Never with her again. What's with the assumptions and feelings all over the place???

Well, if you're polite and unassuming in real life, I'm sure you can calm down, appreciate that Safeguarding comes first, which she was trying to ensure was maintained, as was the Head when you politely contacted him (and didn't let any of your attitude towards him come out over the phone), access the separated parents policy if they have one and see that making you equal #1 contact is acceptable and legal.

And then you can re-read the bit about speaking with the DSL (might be the Head), then the address can be changed and everything will be sorted.

Rich1981 · 09/11/2022 21:56

@NeverDropYourMooncup she knows situation. My son was put on SEND program because he doesn't want to stay with his mother. He had emotional problems at school so psychologist was involved etc. Since then he is with me. That's why I asked receptionist to even call my ex and confirm that this arrangement is still on. She replied " I know,but shes a mother and she registered child at the school". At this point I wasn't sure what to think of it. I called solicitor and confirm it. Then went to head and told him about my conversation with solicitor. Head replied
" yes we know your situation and your son ,an am glad u stood up for him ,so he can be with u, but receptionist says that his mother registered him few years ago. But why u worried? We have your both addresses and we will call you as we know he is with you . So don't worry ".

That's when I came on here and asked parents how to handle this because it seems like a clown show.

OP posts:
Rich1981 · 09/11/2022 22:12

@NeverDropYourMooncup so the only reason am fuming about it now is, because I don't know if current situation at school can actually be used as my evidence that I have my son with me. Otherwise I wouldn't care. Trust me.

OP posts:
Sushi7 · 10/11/2022 06:39

@Rich1981 it’s really awful that the Head and receptionist are still prioritising the mother when you have your ds 6 days a week. It’s also awful that you still don’t receive child benefit. Could you raise this with the school governors and SENCO (as your child has SEN)? You could say that you feel prejudiced against because they don’t believe that a father could have their dc full time on their own.

Rich1981 · 10/11/2022 10:49

@Sushi7 I always knew they were treating me like second class parent. But i didn't know it was on this scale. I only found out when booked parents evening, and 10 minutes later email arrived saying my appointment was cancelled. I called school and this 'bigot' receptionist told me that I can book another slot for next day. I asked,so what happened to the one I booked. She said " mother called and she has priority"'. That's when the whole issue with priority started. Otherwise I wouldn't even know how they really see me as.

OP posts:
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