St Thomas a Becket Catholic Primary School

Complaints Procedure

The majority of concerns or complaints received will be from parents or carers regarding issues relating to an individual child or children. These should be dealt with, in the first instance, by the class teacher.  However, there may be occasions where concerns or complaints are received about the school’s management of wider issues.  In nearly all cases, communicating face to face, between the appropriate member of staff and parent/carer is the most effective way to address concerns or complaints.  A good discussion, when all parties are listening to each other and seeking resolutions, will frequently be the most effective and quickest way of resolving issues.

If, however, a resolution is not reached and/or the person with the concern is dissatisfied with the outcome then they may wish to escalate the complaint to Stage 1 of the complaints procedure.

Stage 1 Headteachers Investigation.

The Headteacher will advise the complainant of how to escalate their complaint if they believe it has not been fully addressed at this stage.

Stage 2 Governor Investigation.

If the complainant does not believe that their complaint has been fully addressed at Stage 2 and wishes to take the matter further, they can escalate the complaint to Stage 3. This consists of a Panel hearing with at least three governors who were not directly involved in the matters detailed in the complaint or any previous investigation.

Stage 3 Bosco Catholic Education Trust Panel Hearing

Resolution Timescales

It is to be hoped that most concerns can be expressed and resolved on an informal basis, within 10 school working days.

Stage 1: Acknowledgement of receipt of complaint to be sent within 3 school days of receipt of the complaint. Complaint to be investigated and written response to be received by complainant within 15 school days of receipt of the formal complaint.

Stage 2: This request must be made within 10 school days of the receipt of the outcome letter at stage 1. Complaint to be investigated and written response to be received by complainant within 15 school days of receipt of the stage 2 formal complaint.

Stage 3: This request must be made within 10 school days of the receipt of the outcome letter at stage 2. Hearing to be held within 30 school days of receipt of request to go to stage 3. Outcome letter from panel to be received by complainant within 10 school days of the hearing.

Next Steps

If the complainant believes the school / Trust did not handle their complaint in accordance with the published complaints procedure they can contact the ESFA after they have completed Stage 3.

The complainant can refer their complaint to the ESFA online at:

www.education.gov.uk/contactus, by telephone on: 0370 000 2288.

Anonymous complaints

We will not normally investigate anonymous complaints. However, the Headteacher, Chair of Governors, CEO or Chair of Trustees, as appropriate, will determine whether the complaint warrants an investigation.

Vexatious, Persistent or Unreasonable Complaints

Most complaints raised will be valid, and therefore we will treat them seriously. However, a complaint may become unreasonable if:

• The complaint has been made before and has been through the complaint’s procedure.
• The complaint made is obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific, defamatory, repetitive, or knowingly false, or is designed to cause disruption, annoyance, or excessive demands on school time.
• The complainant makes unjustified complaints about staff who are trying to deal with the issues. Uses threats, abusive, offensive, or discriminatory language or violence.

If the complainant continues to contact the school in a disruptive way, we may put communications strategies in place. We may:

• Give the complainant a single point of contact via an email address.
•  Limit the number of times the complainant can make contact, such as a fixed number per term.
• Ask the complainant to engage a third party to act on their behalf, such as Citizens Advice.
• Put any other strategy in place as necessary.

If the behaviour continues, the headteacher will write to the complainant explaining that their behaviour is unreasonable and ask them to change it. For complainants who excessively contact St Thomas A Becket Catholic Primary School causing a significant level of disruption, we may specify methods of communication and limit the number of contacts in a communication plan. This will usually be reviewed after 6 months.

In response to any serious incident of aggression or violence, the concerns and actions taken will be put in writing immediately and the police informed. This may include banning an individual from St Thomas a Becket Catholic Primary School.