Complaints Procedure for St George’s CE controlled Primary school

Aims;

To encourage resolution of problems by informal means wherever possible.

To be easily accessible

To be simple to understand

To be impartial

To be non-adversarial

To allow swift handling and keeping people informed

To ensure full and fair investigation by an independent person if necessary

To address points of issue and appropriate redress where necessary

To improve services

Complaints are referred to the Headteacher. If complaints are made to a governor, the complaint is referred to the Headteacher in the first instance.

Governors do not act outside these procedures.

Stages of complaints

1 complaint resolved informally

2 complaint heard by headteacher

3 complaint referred to chair of Governors for them to resolve

4 Complaint heard by Governing Body’s Complaints Panel under formal complaints procedure

Investigating Complaints

The investigation will establish what happened

Clarify the nature of the complaint

Meet with complainant or contact them

Interview those involved

Conduct the interview in an open mind

Keep notes

Resolving Complaints

Complainants will be encouraged to state what actions they feel would resolve matters.

Formal Procedures

The complaint should be put in writing, stating that it is a formal complaint.

 The Headteacher will investigate the complaint and produce a written response

If the headteacher is unable to resolve the issue, it will be dealt with at Formal Stage 2 .

Formal Stage 2

The Chair of Governors will conduct an investigation and produce a written response.

Formal Stage 3

If not satisfied, the complainant should write to the Complaint’s Panel which comprises of 3 independent governors.

The complainant will be invited to attend the meeting to state their case. The Headteacher will be invited to state their case. 

The complaints panel will consider if the investigation was conducted properly and whether the outcome was reasonable.

The complaints panel will reach a decision and may suggest an alternative outcome.

The panel can decide appropriate action to resolve the complaint or recommend changes to procedures or systems to ensure the problem does not reoccur.

The decision of the Complaints Panel is Final.