Defamation

[Ethel Street]

Obviously I have no way of knowing the specific circusmtances of where your car was parked, why, or for how long so I don't know whether you were blocking the road or parking illegally. I do know that in general around schools this a major source of community tension.

 

Parents in my area regularly block the roads, park illegally, preventing access by the emergency services and local residents are unable to get into their own drives. Requests by residents to parents to move are often met by torrents of abuse from parents. Local councils frequently impose local no stopping zones at the beginning and end of the school day, deploy traffic wardens at those time (as seems to have happened here) and most recently in my area are blocking streets near the schools at school start/finish times preventing anyone without a resident permit getting within a half a mile or so of the school.

 

To be clear, I am not saying you personally did any of this, just giving some context as to why schools regularly send out requests to parents of the type your school has done. Did you find out who took the photo? Usually one of the senior staff goes out with the smartphone and takes the pictures. As a matter of interest did it show either your vehicle registration number or an identifiable picture of anyone sitting in the vehicle?

 

You also say the picture shows a traffic warden standing by your car. Did the warden ask you to move? Did the warden give you a parking ticket?

 

The next step you take is make a formal complaint about the contents of the school newsletter.  Every school has a statutory Complaints Proedure and it must be on the school's website. Download a copy of it and follow the procedures in it. There is no point in sending a complaint to every individual governor. You will just be told to follow the schools Complaints Procedure. Schools' complaints procedures can vary in detail but most are fairly standard. First your complaint will be considered by the Headteacher. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of that you can appeal to the governing body and a panel of governors (usually 3) will review the Headteacher's decision.

 

You cannot appeal to the Local Government Ombudsman because schools are outside the Ombudsman's remit. The Ombudsman has no power to consider complaints about schools and their internal management decisions.

 

Neither does the local council.

 

I am not a lawyer but for what it is worth I do not believe you would stand any chance of bringing a successful claim for defamation. You would have to prove that the newsletter had caused "serious harm" to your reputation. I cannot see how you have suffered such a high level of harm.