Raising concerns

Concerns and complaints

Introduction

Bungay High School is committed to providing the best education for our young people and wants our pupils to be healthy, happy and safe, and to do well.  We recognise the importance of establishing and maintaining good relationships with parents, carers and the wider community.  We are aware that there may be occasions where people have concerns or complaints and the following procedure sets out the steps that should be followed in order to resolve these as quickly and informally as possible.

A concern may be defined as ‘an expression of worry or doubt over an issue considered to be important for which reassurances are sought’.  A complaint may be defined as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction about actions taken or a lack of action’.  There may be occasions when complainants would like to raise their concerns formally.  In those cases, the school’s procedure will be invoked through the formal stages outlined within this procedure.

A Trust-wide policy can be found in the ‘Policies’ section of this website which provides full details of our approach, principles, process and timescales relating to how we deal with concerns and complaints.

Summary of procedure for concerns and complaints

Informal

STEP 1: Discuss concern with member of staff concerned

Resolved - no further action
Unresolved - refer to STEP 2

STEP 2: Meet with Headteacher, member of the Senior Leadership Team, Head of House or Form Tutor
Resolved - no further action
Unresolved - refer to STEP 3

Formal

STEP 3: Write a formal letter of complaint to the Headteacher or Chair of Governors as appropriate

Resolved - written response, no further action
Unresolved - refer to STEP 4

STEP 4: Formal Governors’ Panel Hearing

Resolved - written response, no further action

Unresolved - refer to STEP 5

STEP 5: Formal Trust Board Panel Hearing

Resolved - written response, no further action

Unresolved - contact the Department for Education

An illustrative version of this process can be viewed in the Trust’s Complaints Policy:

Scope

Please note: There are separate procedures for dissatisfaction with a decision regarding admissions, exclusions, school reorganisation, statutory assessments of Special Educational Needs, a Child Protection investigation, whistleblowing, and for a complaint raised by a member of staff or their representative.  Please refer to the school website for full details in the relevant policies. We would, however, encourage you to talk to us directly to attempt to resolve concerns through working together.