“In all we do, we always strive to treat others the way we wish to be treated.”
Schools are busy, complex organisations. They are all about people – pupils, who are the most important part of our work, but also their families and our staff who are involved in teaching and caring for the children.
Schools are all about learning and learning involves making mistakes. For the vast majority of time, everything goes well. Teachers teach effectively, children learn and progress and all our school community takes pleasure in celebrating success and achievement.
But, every so often, because our job is all about people and people are only human, sometimes things can go wrong, causing upset, disappointment, frustration and sometimes, anger.
This leaflet is to be read with our complaints policy. The leaflet is a quick way to understand the complaints process, but the policy fully explains what you should do, if you have a complaint about us.
We want to know if we’ve got it wrong and we will do all we can to put the situation right. Sometimes that may involve reviewing policy and making changes to procedures. Sometimes it may be a heartfelt apology and a total commitment to making sure the mistake does not happen again.
Give, and expect, both courtesy and consideration.
Hear and value the views of everyone concerned.
Respect confidentiality and keep all aspects of the complaint private.
Understand that communication is the key to solving disputes and disagreements.
Aim for the best possible outcome for our children.
Your school, like all in the Castleman Academy Trust, wants to make sure that successes are the norm and upsets the exception. By following our policy and procedure, we aim to ensure problems can be dealt with efficiently and fairly. As a result, we would hope that all involved in the education of our young people – pupils, staff and governors – can work in partnership and harmony for the benefit.
COMPLIMENTS
Our learners welcome recognition for a job well done. That’s why you will find our schools use a variety of ways to celebrate and reward great work, progress and positive contributions. If you think your school, staff member or the governing body has done something praiseworthy, why not tell them, or us?
We’re sure you’ll agree, a word of thanks or a letter of congratulation can have an enormous effect on motivation and morale and positive feedback can do wonders for developing strong relationships.
Concerns
What should you do?
Raise the concern verbally with your child’s class teacher or tutor or the Headteacher as soon as possible. The sooner we know about the problem, the sooner we can fix it;
Please make an appointment to discuss the matter with your child’s class teacher or tutor. These appointments need to be outside school hours so that staff can ensure learning is not interrupted and they can give you their full attention.
Explain the “what” and the “why” of your concern; your concern will be recorded and staff will investigate. They’ll give you an indication of when they will be able to get back to you. Please understand if this may take a couple of days sometimes – we do need time to speak to people and that can take some organisation.
When does a concern, become a complaint?
- When there is a serious dissatisfaction that cannot be resolved in an informal way.
- When a concern is strong enough to require.
COMPLAINTS
Complaints at this stage become formal and must be put in writing; either in a letter or e-mail using the form in the Complaints Policy Appendix and sent to the Headteacher.
We would really hope that your concern would be sorted out at this stage, but should you still remain dissatisfied, you should contact the Chair of Governors for your school. Their contact details are in the full policy or can be obtained through your school office.
Please click below for a copy of the complaints policy and procedure.
Complaints Policy and Procedure
Please do not hesitate to contact your school office if you require any further information.
