Help with complaint to school governors needed:

[barbara65]

Hi

I'm a new member of mumsnet, and I've joined because I would like some advice.

My husband and I are complaining to the board of governors at our child's school about the behaviour of a teacher. Does anyone know where we stand legally when we make our allegations about the teacher to the board, please? We are concerned that we won't be able to present our case properly if we can't speak freely. Surely there is some sort of legal protection for parents who appeal/complain to school governors?

I presume you are concerned that the teacher might sue you for libel? If so, you are protected by qualified privilege. That basically means the teacher would have to show that you made your allegations out of malice in order to sue you successfully. Malice is very hard to prove so it is very unlikely the teacher would sue.

The school may well have a complaints policy or even a whistle blowing policy. These should be available to all parents so worth asking. You may also want to get advice from your Local Education authority as to the best way to proceed.

Agree about the proving malice - be very careful with all electronic communication like Facebook so that there is nothing that can be misinterpreted.

As a former governor, I would suggest that you make sure that you have exhausted the complaints procedure before writing to the governing body.

The usual format for problems is speak to the teacher first, if not resolved then seek an appointment with the head teacher. Only then, if you are still not happy - write to the chair of the governing body saying that you are making a formal complaint.

If you have not followed the school's complaint policy, the governors are likely to bat you back to the first stage, or back to the head teacher.

be warned, I know governing bodies where letters from parents just get ignored and head teachers who will cover their arses. If you are really unhappy the best option for your own mental health is to find a different school.

After looking on-line I was about to try and look clever by writing a long and detailed reply ...

Anyway, this one sums up things the best and gives some examples

Best Wishes

I'm a school governor, and snow is right. You should take this up with either the Head if Dept or Headteacher, and only approach the Governors if you get no satisfaction there. The school will have a complaints policy.