Welfare, attendance and exclusions

A parent's guide on a child's welfare and attendance at school and information on exclusions.

In this section:
Concerned about your child's welfare at school?

Concerned about your child's welfare at school?

If you have concerns about your child's welfare at school or there has been an incident involving your child, you have a right to raise your concerns with your child's school.

By law, each school governing body (or board of trustees) must have its own complaints procedure and is responsible for investigating and responding to complaints about their school. Ask your child's school for a copy of it, as it explains how the complaints process operates and how your complaint will be dealt with.

Please note: If your complaint relates to services run by the council, such as special educational needs or education welfare, contact the complaints officer.

Steps to take before making a school complaint

1. Get the full picture

Before reporting a matter as a complaint, review the incident or situation. Your child might well be telling the truth; however, their account of the situation may not give you the full picture of what happened.

Arrange an informal meeting with your child's class teacher, so you can get a fuller picture and discuss any concerns and worries you may have.

Staff will make every effort to resolve your problem informally, ensuring they understand what you feel went wrong and asking what you would like the school to do to put things right. 

2. Not satisfied? Arrange to meet the headteacher

If the teacher wasn't able to help or you are not satisfied with the response given, you should approach the headteacher.

Contact the school's office to arrange a meeting or a telephone conversation with the headteacher. If this isn't possible, you may wish to make a written complaint to the headteacher.

3. If you are still unhappy, contact the governors/trustees

If you are still not satisfied, you can approach the chair of the governing body/board of trustees to ask for the matter to be referred to the trustees/governors' complaints panel. Ask the school office to provide you with the name of the chair and address.

Further action

If the matter is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can raise the issue further via one of the following channels.

Academy schools

  • Write to Academies Central Unit (Academy Complaints), Education Funding Agency, Earlsdon Park, 53-55 Butts Road, Coventry, CV1 3BH
  • Telephone the Department's Public Communications Unit on 0370 000 2288

Ofsted

Page last updated: 05 Aug 2024