specific issue order

Hi there,

This is a long story so i''ll try to give the minimum info. Ive posted on here before and found it really helpful so, here goes!

My partner applied for a specific issue order to prevent the mother of his son from changing his school for september 2012. The mother had denied contact for three months in summer 2011 and my partners daughter was due to start secondary school in september 2012. There were court proceedings happening during the year and after contact was re-instated at the first hearing in October 2011, the contact order in March 2012 gave my partner 10 nights in every four weeks with the children, with 4 of those nights being at the weekend, a week each at christmas and easter holidays, and two full weeks with each parent during the summer holidays.

The mother applied for the son to change schools (to begin a new school the same time as the daughter started secondary) in 2012. The mother went through the whole process which without my partner knowing or being involved and the son didn''t know about her plans until the summer holidays of 2012. The mother told my partner of a vague possibility in February then at the end of June she suddenly told him that a decision needed to be made that week (which she apparently didn’t “feel comfortable” making “herself”. It turned out that the mother had actually applied, accepted the place and gone through many interviews and conversations with both schools regarding the transfer. The son does NOT want to change schools and his current school has been his only source of familiarity and stability through all the changes and conflict after his parents divorce in 2009.

My partner applied for a specific issue order in July after trying other means to discuss the matter, including mediation. At the first hearing in August the mother was not permitted to move the son to the new school.

Cafcass was ordered to write a report which was writen in mid december. The office wrote an appalling report which criticises my partner for all sorts of things and uses half truths and details out of context and it even contains complete falsehoods. The officer basically ignored the son''s views in all this (he is 7) and said that the mother makes good decisions and there is no reason why a move for september 2013 should be a problem - as if a move for september 2013 was always the plan.

The final hearing was also appalling. The mother was self representing and due to a lost form for legal aid, my partner had no access to full legal advice and ended up paying for a barrister on the advice of his solicitor (who saw him 4 days before the hearing). The hearing was less that two weeks after the CAFCASS report. The mother gave a statement on the day of the hearing and my partner (and his barrister) asked for the hearing to be adjourned.
The basis for adjournment was that there was no hurry: 1.) the cafcass report discusses the son starting in september 2013, 2.) statements had not been prepared or served appropriately and 3.) the cafcass officer could not be cross examined as she wasn’t present. Also, 4.) the sons wishes and feelings had not been adequately reported and the barrister suggested a wishes and feelings report be made.
The judge ignored my partners barrister completely, the mother claimed she wants to move the sons school next term and the judge gave her permission and rejected my partners request to adjourn and specific issue order.
Once the adjournment was denied the judge would not even hear a position statement regarding the actual topic - ie school change - from the barrister and with half an hour left of the hearing passed the judgement.
The barrister asked for leave or something - basically to appeal - and the judge denied leave without a reason.

My partners son is receiving really good support at his current school in the form of one-to-one sessions and also counselling and he really doesn’t want to (or need to) move. The other school received outstanding Ofsted status in 2008 but it is a school which has strengths of supporting and helping ‘low achievers’ improve and also has a strong focus on teaching english to pupils with english as a second language. 97% of the school are from ethnic minorities, 70% speak ESL of which 40% have ‘basic’ english. The school is probably very good in many ways but it’s strengths would not benefit the son. His attainment is average in reading and writing and literacy and is a 2a in maths, which is pretty good.

We really don’t know what to do, it looks like we are stuck with an appeal, but I am worried that its going to look bad on my partners legal ‘record’ if you like, with it being really bad if we would lose the appeal. I don’t have any faith that we will win and I am resigned to my stepson going to a school that does not suit him and will cause a big and unnecessary disruption in his life.
The mother previously coached the daughter regarding school choice during the time we weren’t seeing them and the daughter suddenly hated her then current school (the one her brother is at) and said she would run away if she was forced to go to the same secondary school as her classmates.
She is now struggling to settle in or fit in at her new school (a similar change of environment to what the mother wants for the son) and she really misses her old friends (now she doesn’t need to ‘hate’ them for her mothers purposes). Luckily the son is much younger and not as close to his mother as the daughter is. The mother doesn’t have time to have such an intensive relationship with both the children and is thoroughly caught up with her daughters life.
I try to think that, if the mother wants the change so much, it could be better for the son, but so far things aren’t looking good for the daughter and I am really worried about the son going through the same problems.
The mother excludes and denies large parts of the children’s lives and I don’t think a change in school is going to help the underlying issues.
Another thing is the complication it will make for my daughter who is due to start school in september 2013 and she will be in a different school than the son if the son changes school for September 2013 too. That would mean 3 different schools for the children and practically speaking it means it will divide us up and cause difficulties for me and my partner doing school drop off, events and parent evenings etc.

I’m feeling really down about the whole thing and my partner seems to feel even worse!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I am struggling to understand the motive behind changing schools? has mum moved? are the new schools a more logical choice as a result of a move?

There will be no importance placed whatsoever on your daughter going to a 3rd school and that being inconvenient.
The father becomes an Absolute irrelevance in the eyes of the law when it comes to decision making on what school kids go to or any input into decisions in the kids lives.Of course they won''t ever right that in the law it''s all lovely and fair and they have a right to have a say supposedly.
But the law will side with the resident mother every single time.Your lucky she ain''t moving 200 miles away because the cour6ts do feck all to stop the mothers doing that an all.
Best advice I can give you and your fella recognise the fact that in reality divorced fathers have next to feck all say in any decisions for kids unless the ex misus chooses to let him.So there really is no point at all in dragging it all to court.
You''ll never win the appeal the judge has already told you that.
All the best
HRH x