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Complaints Procedure for Council-run Schools

All school governing bodies are required to have a complaints procedure. This should be published and made available to you upon request.

Academies and free or independent schools are required to have their own complaints procedures

If your complaint is about a school

Please follow Step 1 below and contact the Headteacher.

Details of schools in Wandsworth

If your complaint is about the Headteacher

Please go directly to Step 2 below and contact the governing body of the school.

If your complaint is about the governing body

Please go to Step 3 below.

Step 1

If you make a complaint, the Headteacher will investigate it and contact you with a reply.

Step 2

If you are unhappy with the way the Headteacher has dealt with your complaint, or if your complaint is about the Headteacher, you should contact the Chair of Governors at your school. The school governors will look into your complaint or arrange for a clerked governor's panel to look at your concerns and will write to you with a reply.

Step 3

If you are unhappy with the way the Governing Body has dealt with your complaint, or if your complaint is about the Governing Body, please first check whether your school includes a mediation step in it's complaints policy.  If it does, you may refer to the Local Authority (see below).  If it does not, you will need to send your complaint to the Secretary of State for Education

Wandsworth Mediation

Although the Local Authority no longer has a formal role to play in school complaints; it will offer to mediate between a complainant and a school, if both parties agree to this. The Local Authority will work with both parties to agree a satisfactory outcome.

Secretary of State for Education

Making a complaint to the Department for Education should only happen after other routes have been followed. The exception to this may include such matters as child protection, or where a child is missing education.

Legal advice

You can get free legal advice on matters relating to children's education at Coram Children's Legal Centre

Who to contact

Contact Name
Complaints and Information Team, Department of Education and Social Services
Telephone
E-mail
Ccomplaints2@wandsworth.gov.uk
Website
www.wandsworth.gov.uk

Last updated: 24 Aug 2023