Schools Complaints Procedure
A complaint about an incident or school should be made to the headteacher in the first instance. Guidance (Word 40Kb) has been prepared to assist parents and carers.
If your complaint or concern is in connection with an individual child:
-
Raise the matter with a member of the school staff in the way that is easiest for you, in person, by e-mail, by phone, or in writing. Most concerns parents have are resolved by talking about things at the earliest possible stage. The school will want to know if you have a concern. The sooner you tell them about it the better the outcome is likely to be. In secondary schools a member of the management or pastoral care teams may have responsibility for dealing with complaints.
-
If your concern is urgent make sure you let school staff know this.
-
Complaints and concerns are usually resolved by people coming together, talking and making agreements. However, there are some situations where a complaint will have to be investigated and a decision made at a later stage. If this is the case we will tell you who is investigating the complaint. If they cannot provide an answer within ten working days they will let you know when they will reply.
-
If you are going to a meeting in the school you may want to take someone with you for support.
-
Sometimes it helps to write things down in advance of a meeting or talk things through with someone else.
-
Try to stick to facts and feelings. Expressing how you feel is very important and it will help school staff.
-
It can be helpful to think about what you want as a result of your complaint.
-
Before a meeting with school staff decide if it would be better to have your child with you, or if it is better for you and the staff to discuss your concerns first.
-
If you feel you are not being heard or taken seriously, you can ask to speak to another member of staff.
-
You should tell the headteacher about any unresolved concerns, but if the complaint is about the headteacher and it cannot be resolved, you should contact Education and Skills on the contact details provided.
-
If the Education Authority does not resolve your complaint you can take it forward for external review.
If your complaint or concern is about school policies in general, for example those related to:
-
bullying
-
the curriculum
-
discipline
-
healthy eating
The same applies as with a complaint about an individual child and you should start by talking to school staff. However, you can also raise your concern with the Parent Council. The Parent Council will not deal with the details of the individual case but can address general policy issues. If after discussion with the school and Education Authority, the Parent Council is unable to reach a satisfactory outcome for these concerns, they are able to refer the issue to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIE).
Support for people making complaints
We will do our best to support people with difficulties in making complaints by providing:
-
Support to fill in forms
-
Providing information in Braille
-
Large print, on computer disk or audio tape, or in other languages.
Information leaflets are available on additional support for learning which may involve mediation and dispute resolution.