A new year and a new start – for many parents with young children the date of 15 January 2024 will be etched into their minds as the deadline to submit their applications to the Local Authority for which primary school they would like their children to attend.
Deciding which school to send your children to is an important decision for parents. Many parents spend hours visiting each of the schools and considering all the available options to try and ensure that the selected school is the best fit for their child. However, this can often lead to tension between parents, with each favouring different schools.
It is important to be aware that any parent with parental responsibility must agree on which school their child will attend. Parental responsibility means someone that has all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child. Mother’s automatically hold parental responsibility for their child. A father holds parental responsibility if he was married to the child’s mother at the time of the child’s birth or if he is registered on the birth certificate and the child was born after 1 December 2003.
If parents reach an impasse, taking advice early on the available options is important to ensure that any school application is submitted on time. At Rayden Solicitors, we have specialist family lawyers, mediators and family arbitrators who can work with you in order to try and resolve any dispute over your children’s education.
