The following pages will ask you for information about your family.
The definitions below are meant to be a guide to help you understand the variations within families at your school. They are by no means definitive or exhaustive, but rather provide a broad picture of the different family units you may encounter at the school.
CASES21 recognises family groups by their family ID key. Siblings are defined as those students that share a primary family record.
The primary family (Adult 1 / Adult 2)
The primary family is defined as the ‘family or parent the student mostly lives with’ although some students live within a shared custody or dual living arrangement, the primary family may consist of only one adult.
• Adult 1 is defined as the primary carer
• Adult 2 is defined as the other carer
In some families, there will only be one adult carer, in which case Adult 2 is left blank.
In certain situations, the status or identity of Adults 1 and 2 may shift due to changes in the family’s circumstances, for example if there is a change in family status (either Adult 1’s or Adult 2’s relationship breaks up), custody (either Adult 1 or Adult 2 takes over the full-time care of the student after their relationship breaks up).
The Additional Parents/Carers (Adult 3 / Adult 4)
The Additional Parents/Carers is defined as the ‘family or parent the student lives with some of the time, or who they have regular contact with’. Some examples of Additional Parents/Carers may include, but are not limited to, a biological parent and a step-parent, a biological parent living alone, a relative/s the child sometimes lives with, or a foster parent.