Lakeside Primary School

At Lakeside Primary School we are very fortunate to have a supportive and friendly parent body. Our parents recognise that educating children is a process that involves a close partnership between parents, class teachers and the school community as a whole. As part of this partnership, it is essential that parents understand the importance of a good working relationship to not only equip children with the necessary skills for adulthood but to also ensure that they are given every opportunity to thrive and develop. For these reasons we make every effort to welcome and encourage parents/carers to participate fully in the life of our school.

Parents/carers are encouraged to:
• make full use of our ‘Open-door’ policy
• give compliments where they have been particularly impressed with something that has taken place in school or the efforts that a member of staff has gone to for their child/children
• to pass on comments to help us to improve
• to share concerns so that they can be explored in a professional manner
• to be fully aware of the procedures for making a complaint and how such a complaint will be dealt with.

A commitment to our 4 ‘C’s
Compliments We always want to know when we get it right! We welcome compliments and will let staff know when you think they have done a good job. These can be passed on informally to the Headteacher or verbally to the member of staff. At times compliments can also be put in writing.

Comments You may have a comment you would like us to hear which could help improve what we do in school. Again, these can be made informally to the Headteacher or the member of staff. Once more, comments can be shared verbally or put in writing e.g. as part of the parental questionnaire or as feed-back to a particular event. Our ‘open-door’ policy creates many opportunities for this to happen.

Concerns You may have a concern which you would like to be noted and resolved. In the first instance, this needs to be raised with the class teacher. If a concern cannot be resolved, then there might be a need for the concern to be passed on to a senior member of staff or the Headteacher. Very often, once concerns have been aired, they can be resolved extremely quickly. 

Complaints 

Introduction

We believe that our school provides a good education for all our children, and that the Head Teacher and other staff work very hard to build positive relationships with all parents and carers. However, the school is obliged to have procedures in place in case there are complaints by parents, carers, visitors or members of the local community. The following guidance sets out the procedure that the school follows in such cases.
 

Aims and objectives

Our school aims to be fair, open and honest when dealing with any complaint. We give careful consideration to all complaints and deal with them as swiftly as possible. We aim to resolve any complaint through dialogue and mutual understanding and, in all cases, we put the interests of the child above all other issues. We provide sufficient opportunity for any complaint to be fully discussed, and then resolved.
 

The complaints process

How to share a concern about your child / children

If a parent / carer is concerned about anything to do with the education that we are providing at our school, they should, in the first instance, discuss the matter with their child’s class teacher. Most matters of concern can be dealt with in this way. All teachers work very hard to ensure that each child is happy at school, and is making good progress; they always want to know if there is a problem, so that they can take action before the problem seriously affects the child’s progress.

 

What to do if the matter is not resolved through informal discussion

Where a parent / carer feels that a situation has not been resolved through contact with the class teacher, or that their concern is of a sufficiently serious nature, they should make an appointment to discuss it with the Head Teacher. The Head Teacher considers any such complaint very seriously and investigates each case thoroughly. Most complaints are normally resolved at this stage.

 

How to share a concern about a matter not related to children

If a visitor or member of the local community wishes to raise a concern with the school, the school Administrator is the first point of contact. They will then direct the complaint to the appropriate staff member or the Head Teacher who will discuss the concerns with the complainant. Each complaint will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. If this does not resolve the issue the Head Teacher will refer the matter to the Chair of Governors.

 

Sharing a concern about the Head Teacher

Should a parent have a complaint about the Head Teacher, s/he should first make an informal approach to the Chair of Governors, or in his / her absence the Vice Chair, who is obliged to investigate it. The governor in question will do all s/he can to resolve the issue through a dialogue with the school, but if a parent is unhappy with the outcome, s/he can make a formal complaint, as outlined below. To make contact with the Chair or Vice Chair, ask at the school office.

 

How to take the matter further

Only if an informal complaint fails to resolve the matter should a formal complaint be made to the governing body. This complaint must be made in writing, stating the nature of the complaint and how the school has handled it so far. The parent should send this written complaint to Mr David Young, Chair of Governors.

The governing body must consider all written complaints within ten school days of receipt. They arrange a meeting to discuss the complaint, and invite the person making the complaint to attend the meeting, so that s/he can explain her complaint in more detail. The school gives the complainant at least three days’ notice of the meeting. After hearing all the evidence, the governors consider their decision and inform the parent about it in writing. The governors do all they can at this stage to resolve the complaint to the parent’s satisfaction.

 

Child Protection

For any complaint against any member of staff with regards to child protection (this is regarded as a serious complaint), refer to the Safeguarding Policy.

 

Monitoring and review

The governors monitor the complaints procedure, in order to ensure that all complaints are handled properly. The Head Teacher logs all complaints received by the school and records how they were resolved. Governors examine this log on an annual basis.

Governors also into account any local or national decisions that affect the complaints process, and make any modifications necessary.

This guidance can also be found in the 'Policies' Section of the school website.