Defamation

[BankFodder]

In principle what you describe is certainly capable of being defamatory. It would be libel which is defamation in a written or permanent form. A defamatory statement has to be untrue and which is capable of damaging your reputation – and what you describe certainly seems to satisfy that.

The problem is bringing an action for defamation is difficult and risky because if you lose you could be saddled with the other side's costs which could be substantial.

I suggest that a better way forward would be to make a complaint to the school governors and also to the local authority education department. You might find that they are slow to react and that they prefer to drag their feet – but then a subsequent complaint to the local authority ombudsman might move them on.

I would certainly make sure that I had evidence of everything. This means that you should put together a detailed statement about the argument you had with the deputy head teacher. You should also start making a list of all the people who approach you and what they said. Your problem will be that if you then approach any of those people for statements, because they are worried about their own relationship with the school, they will realise that there is a risk that they might themselves find themselves in the middle of a formal dispute and it is likely that they will be very reluctant to help you.

The best thing to do is to start keeping detailed notes of what is said to you by people so that you have evidence of the difficulties it is causing you. In particular, if you find that anything is said to your child about this then I think it is capable of being put down as a form of bullying which is being facilitated by the school – possibly the deputy head teacher

I would be careful about actually pointing the finger at the deputy head teacher – as you have no evidence it is simply a suspicion. You definitely don't want to begin a complaint and then have it look as if the real purpose of your complaint is to have a crack at the head teacher and not really to undo any damage to your reputation.

I think you need to understand what you are asking for here. It is unlikely that you will be compensated unless you went to court – but I think that a full apology and a withdrawal of the allegation which has been suggested in the school magazine would be appropriate. I think it would be reasonable for you to insist on a formal withdrawal of the allegation in the next edition of the school paper.

Whether or not you ever manage to pin the blame on the deputy head teacher, will be difficult. I certainly wouldn't start making that your objective.

 

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you find out the identities of the governors and write a letter to all of them's, sending a copy to each. Send a copy to the head teacher as well. Also send a copy to the Department of education of your local authority.

This is not the kind of thing that a no win no fee solicitor will take on. There are no damages here to speak of – and you would want to get involved with the sister anyway.

Also, it would be worth finding out who took the picture and whether they consented to it being used like that. If they didn't then they could also be a breach of copyright