Parental Responsibility Guidance

Please find below a link to updated guidance for Schools on Parental Responsibility from the Department of Education, this is the latest guidance that the school will refer to and follow:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-issues-relating-to-parental-responsibility

DfE - Parental Responsibility Guidance excerpt below:-

General principles for schools and local authorities
School and local authority staff must treat all parents equally, unless there is a Court
order limiting an individual's exercise of parental responsibility. Everyone who is a parent,
as defined under education law (whether they are the resident parent or not, with or
without parental responsibility – see, Defining Who is a Parent) has a right to participate
in decisions about a child's education and receive information about the child (even
though, for day-to-day purposes, the school's main contact is likely to be a parent with
whom the child lives on school days).
Individuals who have parental responsibility for, or care of, a child have the same rights
as natural parents; for example:
• to receive information, e.g. pupil reports;
• to participate in statutory activities; e.g. vote in elections for parent governors;
• to be asked to give consent; e.g. to the child taking part in school trips;
• to be informed about meetings involving the child; e.g. a governors' meeting on the
child's exclusion.


All parents also have legal obligations; for example: to ensure that a child of compulsory
school age receives a suitable full-time education.

Where a parent's action, or proposed action, conflicts with the school's ability to act in the
child's best interests, the school should try to resolve the problem with that parent but
avoid becoming involved in conflict. However, there may be occasions when a school
needs to decline requests for action from one or more parents.


In cases where schools cannot resolve the conflict between separated parents, they
should advise the aggrieved parent to pursue the matter through the Family Court.