Ringmer Primary School
At Ringmer Primary School, we like to be told about how we are doing, whether well or badly. If you have a concern or complaint we always try to deal with it helpfully and reasonably. If we need to, we try to put things right as quickly as possible. If you have a concern or complaint about Ringmer School you need to take it up with the school itself. The local education authority would not usually get involved in a complaint about a school unless the school had completed its own procedures first.
This complaints procedure is for general complaints. The school must follow other procedures for complaints or appeals about the curriculum; special educational needs provision, exclusions and admissions. Staff disciplinary action, child protection issues or criminal investigation will also need to be handled differently. We shall tell you which is the right process when you discuss your concern with us.
The complaints procedure has four stages. You will be told what to do at each stage if you wish to take your complaint further.
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Stage 1 of the process is informal: |
STAGE 1 |
If you have a concern about the school, try to talk to someone at the school, preferably the person who is most closely involved. If you get in touch with one of the governors first of all they can give you only general advice. They may need to ask you to take up your concerns with the member of staff best able to help you, or with the headteacher. Your concern can usually be settled quickly and without fuss by contacting the right person in the school. This could be your child’s teacher, another member of staff or the headteacher. |
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If your concern cannot be sorted out in this way or you are not happy with the way it has been dealt with you should take it to stage 2: |
STAGE 2 |
You should complain to the headteacher who will investigate your complaint. You would normally do this in writing. If your complaint is about the headteacher you can complain directly to the chair of governors (see Stage 3). The school will let you know that it has received your complaint within 5 school days. You will be given the results of the headteacher’s investigation in writing within 15 school days. |
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If your complaint has still not been resolved to your satisfaction you may take it to stage 3: |
STAGE 3 |
You can complain in writing to the chair of governors care of the school. You should make it clear why you are complaining, whom you have already spoken to and what you want to happen as a result of your complaint. The chair of governors will let you know that he or she has received your complaint within 7 school days and will then investigate it. You will be told about the outcome of the chair of governors’ investigation in writing within 20 school days. |
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If you are still not satisfied after receiving the chair of governor’s report, you can ask to have your complaint referred to a complaints committee of the governing body at stage 4: |
STAGE 4 |
You can write to the clerk to the governors care of the school. You should say exactly why you are unhappy with the chair of governors’ findings and ask that a complaints committee be set up to look at the complaint. The committee will meet between 12 and 20 school days after the clerk to the governors receives your letter. You will be told in advance about the process and what will happen at the meeting of the committee. You will be told in writing about the committee’s findings within 5 school days from the date of the meeting. |
What you can do if you are still not satisfied with the Governing Body’s decision
You may believe that your complaint was not handled fairly according to the school’s own complaints procedure. In this case, you can ask the local education authority to investigate:
You can write to the LEA’s complaints officer at this address.
Education Department, East Sussex County Council
PO Box 4, County Hall
St. Anne’s Crescent, Lewes
East Sussex, BN7 1SG
You should explain your complaint and say why you think the school did not follow its complaints procedure properly. Wherever possible you should give evidence for why you think this.
The department’s complaints officer will let you know that he has received your letter within 10 working days. The complaints officer will look at your evidence and then decide if he should investigate. He cannot do anything until the school itself has finished considering your complaint.
The complaints officer will investigate whether the school had dealt with the complaint properly according to its own procedures. The complaints officer will not investigate your original complaint all over again. The LEA cannot make the school come to a different judgement on your case if the governing body has considered your complaint in a reasonable way.
The complaints officer will tell you the outcome of his investigation in writing. If he concludes that the school did not follow its procedures properly, the matter will be referred back to the chair of the governing body. The governing body should then re-investigate the complaint.
If you believe that the LEA has acted unreasonably you may appeal to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills:
The Secretary of State for Education and Skills
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
The Secretary of State could step in if a governing body or a LEA had not carried out its legal duty or had acted unreasonably. The Secretary of State would not do anything until the school and the LEA had finished looking into the complaint.
If you feel that that there has been a fault in the way your complaint has been dealt with, you can take this to the Local Government Ombudsman:
The Local Government Ombudsman
21 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9BU
The Ombudsman will only investigate where there has been a fault in the way the process was handled by the school or LEA. He can investigate complaints about how something has been done. This could be giving the wrong information, not dealing with letters or taking too long to do something. He cannot question what has been done just because someone does not agree with the result. The Ombudsman cannot investigate how schools and colleges are run. The Ombudsman could not do anything until the school and the LEA have finished looking into your complaint.
The complaints process