SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL
GENERAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
FOR PARENTS AND OTHERS
INFORMATION TO PARENTS AND OTHER COMPLAINANTS
| Introduction | ||
| The Governing Body has adopted a set procedure which has been drawn up by the County Council for dealing with general complaints made by parents or others about the conduct of the school or the actions of a member of its staff | ||
| All complaints are covered by this procedure with the exception of matters which relate to: | ||
| - the National Curriculum; | ||
| - religious education and worship; | ||
| - the operation of charging policies; | ||
| - the provision of information. | ||
| There is a separate procedure for dealing with these matters - the "Curriculum Complaints Procedure" - a copy of which is available from the school or the Area Education Office at the address shown below. | ||
| If you have a complaint | ||
| • Most complaints can normally be resolved speedily and informally by discussing the matter with your child's Class Teacher, Form Tutor or Head of Year - whoever is most appropriate | ||
| • If you are unhappy with the response, or you feel that you have a complaint which is best handled by the Headteacher, please contact the Head - either in person or by telephone or letter. | ||
| • The Headteacher will investigate your complaint and either discuss the matter with you or provide you with a response in writing as soon as possible. | ||
| • Sometimes matters can arise of more general concern. These should first be discussed with the Headteacher and then, if necessary, with the Chairman of Governors. He or she can, if it is thought to be appropriate have the matter placed on the agenda of a Governing Body meeting. The Chairman can be contacted directly or through the Headteacher. | ||
| • Every effort will be made by the Headteacher to resolve the matter at this stage | ||
| If you are dissatisfied or your complaint directly concerns the Headteacher | ||
| If you are not satisfied with the headteacher's response or if your complaint is about the Headteacher and you wish to pursue it further, please submit the details of your complaint in writing to the Chairman of Governors who will refer the matter to the Area Education Manager for investigation. Alternatively, you can write directly to the Area Education Manager who will inform the Chairman and Headteacher and investigate your complaint. You will be given the opportunity of an interview with the Area Manager as part of the investigation. | ||
| • When the investigation has been completed, the Chairman of Governors or the Area Education Manager (is whoever was contacted in the first instance) will provide you with a detailed response in writing and also, where appropriate, offer you the opportunity to meet and discuss the situation if this will help to bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. | ||
| • Every effort will be made by the Chairman of Governors and/or Area Education Manager to resolve the matter at this stage. | ||
| If you are still dissatisfied | ||
| • If you remain dissatisfied at this point, you can ask for your complaint to be formally considered by the Hearings (or equivalent) Committee of the Governing Body. | ||
| • This Committee consists of three Governors who have not been involved in the handling of the complaint so far. They will listen to your complaint, and consider all the evidence available to them, as impartially as possible. Details of the procedure to be followed at a formal hearing of the Committee are available from the school or Area Education Office on request. | ||
| Responding to Parental Concerns | ||
| This procedure has been adopted by the Governing Body, an the advice of the County Council, in order to ensure that all complaints and concerns which are drawn to the attention of the school or the Area Education Office can be dealt with promptly and efficiently. Most complaints can be resolved satisfactorily by informal discussion with the appropriate member of staff but there are occasions when more formal arrangements are necessary. Complainants will be kept informed of progress at each stags of the procedure and the main aim throughout the process will be to reserve the matter as speedily as possible. Full written records will be kept for the guidance of those who might need to consider the complaint at a subsequent stage. | ||
| The name and address of the Chairman of Governors is available at the school and in the prospectus | ||
| (The names and addresses are then given of the three Area Education Managers) | ||
| The Governing Body hopes that, if parents do have any concerns or complaints they will discuss them in the first instance with the appropriate teacher or with the headteacher so that efforts can be made to resolve the matter as quickly and as informally as possible. | ||
| January 1994 | ||
SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL
GENERAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
FOR PARENTS AND OTHERS
Notes of Guidance for Schools
| 1. | Definition of a Complaint to be considered under the General Complaints Procedure. |
| Suffolk LEA and its schools have adopted a Curriculum Complaints Procedure, as required by Section 23 of the Education Reform Act 1988. The scope of this procedure is limited by law only to those complaints which relate to the National Curriculum, religious education and worship, the operation of charging policies, regulations about the provision of information and other statutory curriculum Issues. | |
| The General Complaints Procedure is intended to cover complaints from parents and others concerning the conduct of the school or the actions of any member of staff in relation to any matter which falls outside the scope of the Curriculum Complaints Procedure. | |
| 2 | Aims of the procedure: The general aims of the General Complaints Procedure are to ensure: that most complaints am resolved as swiftly and readily and as close to the source of the problem as possible; that there is a defined procedure for dealing with complaints remaining unresolved; that lessons learned from the investigation of complaints can be used for institutional improvement. |
| 3 | Main Features of the Procedure |
| 3.1 | The formal procedure should not normally be activated unless and until the Headteacher and appropriate members of staff have been given the opportunity to resolve the complaint Informally, as part of their day-to-day management of the school. |
| 3.2 | The complainant must put the complaint into writing before the formal investigation proceeds |
| 3.3 | Once the formal process has been initiated, every effort should be made to ensure that the complaint is dealt with promptly, effectively, objectively and professionally. |
| 3.4 | Complainants should be kept informed of progress at each stage of the procedure |
| 3.5 | The aim at every stage should be to ensure that the complaint is settled or that a decision is taken promptly to proceed to the next stage. |
| 3.6 | Full written records should be kept at every stage for the guidance of those who might need to consider the complaint at a subsequent stage. |
| 3.7 | Staff must be advised before any interviews are carried
out as part of the formal investigation that they have the right, if they so
wish, to be accompanied by a friend or trade union representative |
| 4. | The Process in Operation |
| 4.1 | All complaints must be referred in the first instance to the Headteacher for investigation unless they concern the Headteacher directly, in which case they must be referred to the Chairman of Governors . |
| 4.2 | When a school governor receives or has a complaint, he or she must inform the Chairman of the Governing Body who in turn will inform the Headteacher. |
| 4.3 | If the complaint cannot be investigated objectively by the Headteacher, or the complainant is dissatisfied with the Headteacher's response, the Chairman of the Governing Body must be informed so that he or she can refer the matter to the Area Education Manager as a formal complaint to be investigated under this Procedure |
| 4.4 | The Area Education Manager will arrange far the complaint to be investigated, and will report back to the Headteacher and/or Chairman of the Governing Body (as appropriate) with recommendations far dealing with the complaint. |
| 4.5 | Where a formal complaint is made directly by parents and others to the LEA, the Area Education Manager will inform the Headteacher and Chairman of the Governing Body before starting the investigation and before reporting on the outcome to the complainant. |
| 4.6 | When the investigation has been completed, the Chairman of Governors or Area Education Manager (is whoever received the complaint in the first instance) will provide the complainant with a written response. An offer will also be made to meet with the complainant where it is felt that this might assist in bringing the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. |
| 4.7 | Governors who are members of the Hearings (or equivalent) Committee of the Governing Body need to be cautious about their involvement in complaints in order to demonstrate their impartiality should there be a subsequent hearing. Other governors too who serve on disciplinary, grievance and appeals committees need to distance' themselves from complaints in case they result ultimately in disciplinary or grievance proceedings. |
| 4.8 | Complainants who remain dissatisfied following a formal investigation of their complaint by the Area Education Manager can, if they wish, put their complaint to the Hearings (or equivalent) Committee of the Governing Body. The Area Education Manager's report will be made available to the Committee and he may be asked to attend the hearing as a witness. |
| 4.9 | The Committee's decision will normally be regarded as final and at that stage the complainant will be advised of any further recourse available (such as the Secretary of State far Education and Employment) should he or she be dissatisfied with the outcome. |
| 4.10 | Information sheets are available for parents and others which explain both the procedure and the arrangements for a hearing before a committee of the Governing Body. |
| 5 | General Complaints or Concerns |
| There may be more general matters causing a degree of unease in the community which might best be handled through discussion at a Governing Body meeting. Such matters should be put on an agenda, with the consent of the Chairman of the Governing Body, and not raised under Any Other Business. Governors will need to exercise some caution in dealing with such matters (for the reasons described in 4.7 above) but advice in individual cases can be obtained from the Area Education Manager. | |
| DJ PEACHEY, County Director of Education | |
| January 1991 |