Hi,

My son is a Year 12 student at a large college in Hamilton. He was formerly in my custody but has been in his mother’s custody since 2008. The mother and I don’t get on and as a result of this she is quite obstructive and won’t send me copies of my sons school reports.

This being the case I contacted the deputy headmaster of the College and asked him if he would send me a copy. The deputy head told me that although I am on my sons birth cert as his father there was no proof that I am a legal guardian so he won’t send me a copy of my boys report. I have no document which actually states that I am a legal guardian and this seems to be what the deputy headmaster wants.

I’m in a Catch 22 situation with this deputy headmaster because he is saying that I have to give him a document which doesn’t exist before he will release the report. The deputy head is also saying that I am basically a third party so I am not entitled to a copy of the report. He has suggested that I hire a lawyer if I want to continue with my attempt to get this report. My daughter’s teacher doesn’t seem to have any problem at all giving me information about my daughter’s progress at school including end of year reports and she is also in her mother’s custody.

Does anyone out there know if I have any actual rights that are being breached here and how I can redress this situation? My feeling is that the mother of my children has given the deputy head some sob story about what a terrible man I am but there is nothing in the Court records to suggest that I have been anything other than a good father to my children. Has anyone got any suggestions about how I can go about getting a copy of my sons report? Thanks very much.

Had_Enough