Complaints

If you have a concern or complaint about any aspect of your experience with Kingham Primary School you should arrange to discuss the matter with the relevant member of staff as soon as possible. This will generally be the class teacher. An appointment can be made to discuss any issues that you wish to raise. If you feel that your concern has not been resolved, then you may speak with or write to the headteacher. This also applies to any concerns about the provision of support for children with special educational needs. This informal approach is almost always the quickest and most effective way of addressing your concerns. It is also helpful to identify what actions might resolve an issue.

Formal complaints

Our school aims to meet its statutory obligations when responding to complaints from parents of pupils at the school, and others.

When responding to complaints, we aim to:

· Be impartial and non-adversarial

· Facilitate a full and fair investigation by an independent person or panel, where necessary

· Address all the points at issue and provide an effective and prompt response

· Respect complainants’ desire for confidentiality

· Treat complainants with respect and courtesy

· Make sure that any decisions we make are lawful, rational, reasonable, fair and proportionate, in line with the principles of administrative law

· Keep complainants informed of the progress of the complaints process

· Consider how the complaint can feed into school improvement evaluation processes

We try to resolve concerns or complaints by informal means wherever possible. Where this is not possible, formal procedures will be followed.

The school will aim to give the complainant the opportunity to complete the complaints procedure in full.

Throughout the process, we will be sensitive to the needs of all parties involved, and make any reasonable adjustments needed to accommodate individuals.

If you are not satisfied with the response of the headteacher you should write stating your complaint to the Chair of Governors or the Clerk of the Governing Body at the school address. The governors are responsible for overseeing the management of the school  and for ensuring that appropriate processes are in operation. The Chair of Governors will endeavour to seek a satisfactory resolution of the issue, either through mediation or if necessary a formal complaints panel hearing.

Further information about how formal complaints will be handled and the complaints panel process is provided in the school Complaints Policy.