By Julia Sacco

Solicitor

 

The deadline to apply for primary school places in England is 15^th January 2025. It is important that parents try to agree upon the preferred school ahead of this date, but if they cannot agree it is possible to make an application to the Court for a Specific Issue Order to determine which school a child should attend.

Factors to Consider

Prior to an application to the Court, there needs to have been some attempt at agreeing matters outside of Court, this can be through solicitor correspondence and/or mediation.  (If you are the victim of domestic abuse, you are not expected to mediate or participate in forms of non-court dispute resolution.)  However, if this is unsuccessful and an application to the Court is required, the Court will want to understand why each parent believes that their preferred school is the best for the child.

Travel

The school needs to be practical for both parents that will be taking the child to school. It should not be used as a means to cut down another parent’s time with the child. The child will want to maintain their relationship with both parents and parents should consider the upheaval of attending a school that is not only far away from their current school or nursery, but also from their support network.

When considering secondary schools, thought should also be given to consider a child’s own ability to get to and from school if necessary.

Support Network

Children often have a close circle of people that provide them with emotional security. It may seem to adults that leaving friends behind does not make much difference when considering how adults deal with changes, but children may feel more withdrawn if attending somewhere that they know no-one. There is also the question of who can step in if there is an issue with collecting the child from school. The Court will want clarification that careful thought has been given to this.

Learning Provisions

Most schools have support systems in place for children with educational needs, but it is worth considering whether the educational needs of your own child are dealt with effectively at the chosen school. Children may also have a particular talent for an extra-curricular activity that a school has an unusually good provision for and this would also be taken into account.

What Will the Court Decide?

A family solicitor can help your build your case to present to the Court why a certain school is in the child’s best interests. This will then help the Court consider the application for a Specific Issue Order. This is an order made by the Court to decide upon a specific issue such as a school. It can also be used to specify what will happen in other situations when specific issues that are important for a child cannot be agreed upon.

This is not only applicable when the main deadlines for school applications are near but can also apply if a parent wants to remove a child from a school due to lack of provision for a child’s educational needs, or a child being bullied and extremely unhappy at their school to the point of it being to their detriment.

The main point to consider is, if you are concerned that an important decision is being made concerning your child, that you do not agree with, you can seek assistance from a family solicitor to discuss this further.