Mossbourne Federation parents ‘afraid to complain’

Three complaints have been made to Ofsted about the Mossbourne Federation, which runs Mossbourne Port Side School, Mossbourne Fobbing Academy and Mossbourne Herd Lane – previously Hassenbrook Primary School, Gable Hall School and the Corringham Academy.

Thurrock Council has also received a complaint against the federation.

Since taking over, Mossbourne has been accused of leaving a child to sit in wet clothing after refusing a toilet visit and a lack of support for a child with mental health difficulties which resulted in self-harm.

Speaking at a Thurrock people overview and scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, chairman Neil Speight acknowledged progress over the complaints.

However, he said: “This situation has not gone away. I’m regularly getting phone calls. I know colleague councillors at Stanford and Corringham are continuing to get calls. The common theme among the calls is that parents are sceptical and scared to go through the system of complaints.

“I got a phone at 9.25am on Sunday morning. I ended up with a very upset lady who had spent the weekend stewing over a situation concerning a child. It was very distressing and it related to the behaviour of a particular teacher.”

Mr Speight added: “The complaints procedure that Mossbourne has is that you do have to go to the school and that teacher is your first point of call. This lady was in two minds whether to invoke the complaints procedure. In the end she did and it actually went quite well, which is good.

“I just feel we should at some point have an alternative system for parents who are scared and who are worried and do feel, for want of a better word, intimidated. Progress is being made but it may be not as quick as some people want.”

Giving an update on the complaints to councillors, Vikki Hartstean, councillor responsible for children’s services and education, said: “There have been a total of three complaints made to Ofsted since the Mossbourne Federation became the academy trust. Two have now been closed with no further action or concerns after being thoroughly investigated. The third, the latest complaint continues to be investigated. Ofsted has not raised any concerns.”

Ms Hartstean said the federation’s chief executive, Peter Hughes, continues to have regular meetings with parents.

Ms Haststean said a barrister had been appointed to review the Federation’s complaints procedure.