We ask the classroom to hold what happens between two homes
On 6 July, One Family, The Separation Network and the Department's WHAT WORKS programme opened a national survey asking parents and teachers how primary schools can better support children through separation and family change. It is a warm, welcome step, and it is squarely about the child.
But a child spends far more of the week moving between two homes than sitting in any classroom. The steadiness that carries them, the same bedtime, the school bag that is where it should be, the note home that reaches both houses, is won or lost in the gaps between the two adults. That is the part no school can provide.
Sort the September details while the summer is still calm
The back-to-school run-in is where two homes quietly fall out of step: uniforms and book lists sorted in one house, the school portal login sitting with the other, and nobody quite sure who tells whom about a note home.
Agree it now, in July, while things are calm. Write down which home holds what, who has the logins, and how school news reaches both parents. A shared plan you can both see beats a scramble in late August.
A child settles when the ground feels the same in both homes.Not identical rules. Just a rhythm they can count on, wherever they wake up.
Consistency is the support that travels home
Schools can do a great deal, and this survey is a step worth taking. But the steady bits, the calendar, the handovers, the school news reaching both homes, live with the two parents, in the ordinary run of a Tuesday.
ParenThing gives separated parents one calm, private place to keep that coordination clear, so a child's week holds together across two homes.
Start free at parenthing.ieSources
- Barnardos, Acrimonious separation impacts one in ten children in Ireland (survey of almost 650 parents) https://www.barnardos.ie/news/barnardos-acrimonious-separation-impacts-one-in-ten-children-in-ireland
- One Family, The Separation Network and WHAT WORKS, national survey on how primary schools support children through separation, launched 6 July 2026 (reported on Newstalk) https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-hard-shoulder/new-national-survey-to-help-schools-support-parental-separation-family-change