Policy for dealing with complaints against community schools

Information and advice for people wishing to make complaints about community schools in Enfield.

Head Teachers and Governing Bodies are responsible for dealing with complaints about their school. The Local Authority does not get involved until the complaint has been considered through the school’s own complaint procedure. You can ask the school for a copy of their complaint procedure.

If you have a complaint or concern you should first make an appointment to see the Head Teacher at the school to discuss it informally. Hopefully this will resolve matters but if you are not satisfied following this meeting, you can make a formal Stage 1 complaint by writing to the Head Teacher, setting out why you are not satisfied with their response.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive or the action that is taken at Stage 1 you can ask for your complaint to be considered by the Governors of the school at Stage 2 of the procedure. To ask for Stage 2 you should write to the Chair of Governors either at the school address or care of the council’s Governor Support Services at:

PO Box 56
Civic Centre
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XQ

The Governors will set up a complaints panel and you will be invited to attend to put your case. After the panel meeting the Governors will write to everyone concerned to let them know the outcome.

If, after the governors have dealt with your complaint, you are still unhappy with the decision that was taken, you can contact us for advice on what to do next. If you feel that the Governing Body has acted unreasonably, you can also consider complaining to the Secretary of State for Education.

Although the above procedure must be followed if you have a complaint about a school, if requested the Local Authority has a responsibility to review complaints after Stage 2. The Local Authority review of your complaint will not include a re-investigation of the matter you have complained about but will consider whether the proper procedure has been followed. Following the review, recommendations will be made to the Governors of the school.

Eligibility
Those entitled to use the complaints against schools procedure include parents, guardians and carers, pupils, members of the local community, Councillors, Members of Parliament, or a translator or friend representing a parent or child.

Required Customer Information
Customers need to tell us the name of the school and the student/pupil concerned, if any.

Service Level Agreement and Turnaround
None.

More information about this service

Contact Us

Frequently asked questions

Address:
Planning, Quality and Performance
PO Box 56
Civic Centre
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XQ.
Map

Telephone:
020 8379 3942.

Fax:
020 8379 3928.

Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday
9.00am - 5.00pm.

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