Getting everyone and everything ready to go back to school can be stressful. For single parents who are co-parenting with their ex, there are new considerations for your child that you need to arrange.
Some of the common questions that are discussed while preparing parenting plans are:
1. Who is responsible for paying for school uniforms, equipment and school fees?
2. Are both parents able to attend school events or events such as parent/teacher interviews? How do we converse together?
3. How will the school communicate with each parent?
4. How will information be passed between each parent while in the other’s care?
5. Do I need to notify the other parent of school absences?
6. Who is able to do pick up/drop offs?
Communication between the parents
Most of these topics can be resolved through communication with your co-parent. How the issues are resolved relate to the level of conflict between the parents.
For co-parents able to communicate positively, it is important to ensure that clear expectations are set out as to the responsibility of each parent. Agreements can be made informally, through a parenting plan or consent order.
With high conflict co-parents or in instances where direct communication is not safe, apps such as My Family Wizard are commonly utilised to reduce conflict while assisting with organisation.
Even if you have a positive co-parenting relationship, apps can be used as a tool as a tool in effective communication because it keeps a record of everything school related such as calendars that you can both make amendments to.
Let the school know
Schools have policies and procedures around separated parents. It is important to let the school know of your situation and keep them updated on how communication is with your ex.
It is also a great idea to provide a copy of any parenting plan or consent order to the school.
A common topic of frustration between co-parents is some schools only allow one email address to be contacted per child. In high conflict parents, this often means the information is not passed to the other parent and this causes tension. A way around this that some families are utilising is to set up a mutual email that both parents have access to so that they can receive the updates at their discretion.
You can also ask the school for any resources available to assist your child during this challenging time.
I wish everyone a wonderful 2026 year!
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