Information for Parents

Parents looking for schools

The Find a School section of this website gives information on the schools in our membership. This information includes the contact details for each school. Please contact schools directly to discuss your requirements. You may also like to check the ISI website for the most recent inspection report for a school in ISA membership, though please keep in mind that inspections are a snapshot of a school as seen by an outside agency and the school may have changed since its last inspection.

Parents looking for grants or help in times of hardship

ISA provide the Deakin Scholarship Fund, which makes pupils at ISA Members’ schools who are already in receipt of a significant means-tested bursary towards core fees potentially eligible for a financial grant.

The Deakin Scholarship Fund provides support towards additional costs to ensure an equal provision of education to pupils. ISA Members can apply for the grant on the student’s behalf, in liaison with the family. The grant can contribute towards additional costs such as school trips, uniform costs, exam fees, extra-curricular activities, school transport and much more.

To see full details on eligibility requirements and the application process, visit this page.

Also, this is a list of some charities and organisations that may be able to help parents in times of unexpected hardship, or even contribute to school fees in some circumstances.

Parents wishing to complain about a school

ISA is an Association of Headteachers who are our Members. We support our Heads and their schools, offering a range of services to help them lead excellent schools. They are bound by our Articles of Association and we accredit our schools on the basis of the quality of education that they provide.

If a parent wishes to complain about a school, they should first contact the Head and try to resolve the issues amicably. ISA Heads are always keen to help and so parents should not be concerned at contacting them directly. Often this is preferable to contacting other members of the school community, though a Head of Year or Pastoral Deputy may be another person who can help in the first instance. Such an approach tends to resolve most problems, but if this initial dialogue does not result in satisfaction, please ask for a copy of the school’s published complaints policy. Schools have to make this available to parents (and prospective parents) under Part 6 of the Independent Schools Standards Regulations.

Parents are strongly encouraged to follow the stages outlined in the school’s complaints policy, as this is designed to engineer a mutually agreed solution. If parents feel that their complaint has not been handled correctly and to their satisfaction, they may then complain to the Department for Education and the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI, who inspect the vast majority of our schools). Details of how to go about this are on the ISI website. In a few cases, Ofsted inspect some of our schools and the school itself will be able to confirm this.

In our experience, following the published policy brings a result in the vast majority of cases. With any complaint, we believe that dialogue is best and our Heads are always happy to talk to any parent who may feel dissatisfied. In such a way, ISA Members’ schools retain their extremely high parental satisfaction figures and reputation in their communities.