Complaints

Greensand Complaints Policy and Procedure

Responding to Parent's Concerns

Aims

At St John’s School, we aim to establish and promote a close relationship with all parents, in the interests of the children. We recognise that children will feel more secure and learn better when they receive consistent messages from both home/school. Parents’ views about our school are welcomed, including the expression of any serious concerns. At the same time we undertake to inform parents as soon as possible about any issues of concern to the school so that we can work together to resolve them.

We have developed a variety of channels for informal communication which helps keep Parents informed of all aspects of school life and gives frequent opportunities to clarify or ask questions to avoid concerns arising. We have:

• Teachers out on the playground at the end of each day
• Head teacher visible presence at beginning and end of the day
• A bi- weekly newsletter
• The school website
• Parent Forum
• The Home School Agreement
• Termly Parents’ Evenings
• An annual written report for parents about their child’s attainment, progress and effort
• Individual home/school communication books eg reading diaries and homework books
• Parent Notice Board
• Invitations to regular school events

How we respond to a concern raised by a parent

We are committed to responding to a parental concern as quickly and as sensitively as possible in order to resolve the issue promptly. Most concerns are resolved by the child’s class teacher or by talking to the Head teacher. We will try to respond to written concerns within 2 days and keep parents informed at all stages if the matter cannot be resolved immediately. If the complaint is unresolved at school level and becomes formal, the Governing Body will make the final decision.

Surrey County Council’s model procedure for parents who wish to express a concern about their child’s school has been adopted by St John’s. This procedure is detailed in the County’s ‘Guidance for Schools’ and is summarised in the leaflet for parents, ‘Responding to Parents’ Concerns’- both of which can be found on our school website.

Monitoring and Improving

We keep a record of all complaints to track:

• the nature of complaints
• the time taken and measures adopted to resolve each complaint.

The Head teacher and Senior staff will review this record on a regular basis, to enable consideration to be given to any underlying issues which need to be addressed by the school and the governing body.