School - complaints procedure
Schools
If you have a complaint about a school issue, it is the
responsibility of the school, and not the Local Authority, to
investigate most complaints. Each school will have a complaints
procedure which will tell you who to direct your complaint to and
when you could expect a response by. You can find the schools
contact details in the online schools directory.
Online schools directory
This page explains the usual procedure that you should follow if
you have a concern or a complaint about a school issue.
Dealing with concerns and complaints informally
If you have a concern or complaint you should make contact with
the appropriate member of staff. This may be the class teacher or
the Headteacher if they are immediately involved.
They can then investigate your complaint or concern and
give you a response, making clear any action or monitoring of a
situation that may be necessary. At this stage, misunderstandings
can usually be cleared up. Everyone benefits from the speedy
resolution of difficulties and from suggestions for
improvement.
If no satisfactory solution to the complaint has been agreed you
should be informed of your option to take the matter further.
What do I do next?
If you want to take the matter further, you should put your
complaint, in writing, to the Headteacher. If your complaint is
about the Headteacher, you should put your complaint, in writing,
to the Chair of Governors.
Your complaint should be dealt with in an agreed timescale as
part of the school’s Complaints Procedure. You should ask for a
copy of the school’s Complaints Procedure which should tell you how
the school will investigate the complaint. An investigation into
your complaint should be carried out by the appropriate person (the
Headteacher or the Chair of Governors).
When all the relevant facts have been established, you should
receive a written response.
If I am unhappy with the response, what do I do?
You should be advised that if you wish to take the matter
further you should write to the Chair of the Governing Body.
A further investigation of your complaint should be carried
out:
- by the Chair of Governors if they have not had any previous
involvement; or
- by the Governing Body’s Complaints Committee.
If the matter is dealt with at this stage by the Chair of
Governors, and you are unhappy with the outcome, you should be
advised of your right to take the matter further to the Governing
Body’s Complaints Committee.
The Complaints Committee should carry out a detailed
investigation into the complaint.
A meeting should be arranged, and everyone involved should
receive copies of all available documentation about the complaint.
You should be invited to attend the Committee meeting to put your
case (you may bring a friend or someone to represent you). The
Headteacher should also be invited to put the case for the school
(the Headteacher will be able to bring a friend or professional
representative). You and the Headteacher will be invited to speak
to the Panel (which will have three governors on it) and to ask and
answer questions. The Panel normally allows witnesses to attend
part of the meeting.
What happens next?
You should be informed in writing of the Panel’s decision. There
is usually no appeal mechanism to the Governing Body.
The Local Authority cannot investigate a complaint, it can only
investigate the process followed by the Governing Body.
Is there any further course of appeal?
The Local Government Ombudsman investigates
complaints about ‘maladminsitration’ ie cases where the recognised
complaints procedure has not been properly used. However, the
Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about internal school
matters and is not empowered to overturn the decision of a
Governing Body Complaints Committee that has correctly followed
procedures. You can write to the Ombudsman at:
Local Government Ombudsman
Beverley House
17 Shipton Road
York YO30 5FZ
Telephone: 01904 380200
If you are still unhappy, the final resort is the
Secretary of State for Education and Skills who
will investigate complaints where a governing Body has acted
‘unreasonably’ or illegally in coming to their decision. It should
be noted that in this sense ‘unreasonably’ is used in a strict
sense and means acting in a way that no reasonable school could act
in the circumstances. The secretary of State has the power to issue
directions to the Governing Body but you should be aware that this
power is very rarely used and that the investigation can take up to
6 months or more.
You can write to the Secretary of State at:
The Department for Education and Skills
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London SW1P 3BT
Finally, the Education and Inspections Act 2006 gives Ofsted new
powers to investigate complaints from parents about schools.
The new powers to consider parental complaints come into effect
in April 2007. They relate to complaints by registered parents and
carers about their child’s school as a whole. For example that:
- the school is not providing a good enough education;
- the pupils are not achieving as much as they should, or their
needs are not being met;
- the school is not well led and managed or is not using its
resources efficiently
- the pupils’ personal development and well-being are being
neglected.
Ofsted will usually suggest that parents use the schools
complaints procedures first. They are not in a position to judge
how well a school investigated or responded to a complaint or to
mediate between a parent and a school to resolve a dispute.
What is the Role of the Local Education Authority?
Most concerns or complaints are of a general nature and are
dealt with by the school under their own complaints procedure.
However, concerns or complaints about any of the following issues
should be made in writing to the Local Authority.
These are specifically concerns about areas where the authority
has a statutory duty:
- the provision of the National Curriculum (contact the School
Improvement Service);
- the provision of religious education and collective worship
(with the exception of church aided schools) (contact the School
Improvement Service);
- school admission appeals (contact the Legal and Democratic
Service)
- exclusions (contact Pupil Welfare and Inclusion Team, Learners
and Young People Service);
- special educational needs assessments (contact Special
Education Needs Team, Learners and Young People Service); and
- child protection issues and allegations of child abuse (contact
the Education Welfare Team, Learners and Young People
Service).
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 also places a duty on the
Local Authority to consider representations from parents about
school provision in their area. This relates to the opportunities
of choice and the diversity of schools in the area. The Local
Authority must consider what action to take in response to such
representations and provide a statement to the parent setting out
any action which the authority propose to take in response or,
where relevant, their reasons for taking no action, in each case
having regard to guidance from the Secretary of State.