Complaints and Appeals Procedure

At 2Schools Consortium we take students feedback very seriously because it informs the monitoring and enhancement of all aspects of its operation.
To help you decide whether your query would be an Appeal or Complaint, please refer to the ‘Complaint Flowchart’ (Appendix 1).

The views of students are sought by a variety of means, including board meetings, training evaluations, school based quality assurance, mid and end of year evaluations; we have an ‘open door’ approach to communication and the nature of our provision ensures that any issue is identified and addressed promptly by a strong partnership between teachers, consortium staff and school staff.
 However, we believe that students should be provided with the opportunity to express concerns about all aspects of its operation through making a complaint.
 2Schools will attempt in all cases to resolve any complaints internally in a prompt and timely fashion by providing a three stage approach:

Stage 1: Early resolution. It includes face to face discussions with the student, or asking an appropriate member of staff or mediator or conciliator to deal with the matter. Where appropriate the student should be provided with a written outcome.

Stage 2: The formal stage. It is used where a student is dissatisfied with the outcome of early resolution, or where early resolution is not possible or suitable due to the character, complexity or seriousness of the case. The formal stage should normally be dealt with by people who have not been involved previously (including the 2Schools Consortium Board) and may include mediation, or conciliation where appropriate. Students should complete the 2Schools Complaint form (Appendix 2) and forward to the Complaints Liaison Officer at training@oakthorpe.enfield.sch.uk.

The student should be provided with a written outcome at the conclusion of this stage.

Stage 3: The review stage. If dissatisfied the student can refer their complaint to the OIA (Office of the Independent Adjudicator)
The OIA considers complaints from students who remain dissatisfied at the conclusion of the Consortium’s internal procedures. The OIA is an independent review body external to the Consortium. It looks at issues such as whether the Consortium followed its procedures, whether these procedures were reasonable and whether the Consortium’s final decision was reasonable in all the circumstances.

The OIA’s Scheme Rules and Guidelines are available on the website www.oiahe.org.uk.

If the student does not take the complaint to the review stage within the time limit for doing so the Consortium will close the matter and notify the student in writing. The student will be issued with a completion of procedure letter at this stage, as per the guidance from the OIA.