Working in Partnership
Raising a suggestion, concern or complaint about Caldecote Primary School
We work hard to maintain good relationships with our parents and the local community. Sometimes people can see ways we could improve things, and helpful suggestions are valued. Sometimes people want to raise a concern or even complain formally about issues relating to a matter at the school. It is the responsibility of school to manage their own complaints and the Local Authority has no over-riding role other than to give advice.
Every school must have a Complaints Policy and ours is available in the Key Documents area of the website. If you require a hard copy, please ask at the school office.
Many concerns can be dealt with informally. The school will treat the issues you raise seriously and deal with them in a timely and appropriate way. Any concerns should be raised with your child’s class teacher in the first instance. If you are not satisfied you should contact the Key Stage Leaders: Miss Baggaley for Red, Blue and Yellow classes or Miss Martin for Orange, Green, Purple and Silver classes. If the problem is still not resolved you can contact the Deputy Headteacher Miss Snelling and finally then the Headteacher, Mrs. Stanton all via the school office.
Every effort will be made to resolve your problem informally, including the possibility of a conciliation meeting. If you remain dissatisfied, then you have the opportunity to make a formal complaint through the Governing Body’s Complaints Procedure. To make a formal complaint you must follow the procedure in the policy and use the Complaints Form that is towards the end of the policy.
The Local Authority can also give you advice and they can be contacted on 0345 045 5200.
At the end of the School Complaints Procedure, should you remain concerned that the Governors have acted or are proposing to act unreasonably, or that the Governors have failed to discharge their duties under legislation, the final course of action available to you is to write to the Secretary of State for Education at Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, Westminster, London SW1 3BT to ask for your case to be reviewed. You can find out more information on the Department for Education website:
Parents’ expectations of the School
Parents / carers / members of the public who raise either informal or formal issues or complaints with the school can expect the school to:
- Regularly communicate to parents/carers in writing (i) how and when problems can be raised with the school, (ii) the existence of the school’s Complaints Procedure and (iii) the existence of the Persistent Complaints / Harassment Policy
- Respond within a reasonable time
- Be available for consultation within reasonable time limits bearing in mind the needs of the pupils within the school and the nature of the complaint
- Respond with courtesy and respect
- Attempt to resolve problems using reasonable means in line with the school’s Complaints Procedure, other policies and practice and in line with guidance and advice from Cambridgeshire County Council
- Keep complainants informed of progress towards a resolution of the issues raised
The School’s expectations of parents / carers / members of the public
The school can expect parents / carers / members of the public who wish to raise a complaint with the school to:
- Treat all school staff with courtesy and respect
- Respect the needs and well-being of pupils and staff within the school
- Avoid any use, or threatened use, of violence to people or property
- Avoid any aggression or verbal abuse
- Recognise the time constraints under which members of staff in schools work and allow the school a reasonable time to respond
- (in the case of a complaint) follow the school’s Complaints Procedure
Persistent Complaints
The school has adopted a Persistent Complaints policy to deal with rare cases where a complainant’s behaviour is unreasonable or might be considered to be harassment. The policy is available from the school and is on the website.
A persistent complainant is a parent / carer / member of the public who complains about issues, either formally or informally, or frequently raises issues that the complainant considers to be within the remit of the school and whose behaviour is unreasonable.
Such behaviour may be characterised by:
- Actions which are obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific, repetitious and / or
- Prolific correspondence or excessive email or telephone contact about a concern or a complaint
- An insistence upon pursuing unmeritorious complaints and / or unrealistic or unreasonable outcomes
- An insistence upon pursuing meritorious complaints in an unreasonable manner
Harassment is the unreasonable pursuit of such actions in such as way that they:
- Appear to be targeted over a significant period of time on one or more members of the school staff and / or
- Cause ongoing distress to individual member(s) of school staff and / or
- Have a significant adverse effect on the whole / part of the school community and / or
- Are pursued aggressively
Legitimate new complaints, if not pursued in a harassing or unreasonable way, will still be considered even if the person making them is, or has been subject to the Harassment / Persistent Complaints Policy.