Complaints Policy

Complaints Policy

St Patrick’s Catholic School, Te Awamutu

“My dear brothers and sisters, listen to this, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.” James 1:19

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” Matthew 18: 15

Rationale

St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School is committed to promoting school community satisfaction by encouraging feedback from parents, caregivers or students, including complaints. St Patrick’s views a complaint as a useful tool for receiving feedback about school related activities, as well as an opportunity to improve and maintain confidence in the school’s activities.

St Patrick’s is committed to resolving complaints received, and recognises the rights of complainants to have their complaint dealt with fairly, effectively and efficiently.

The complaints handling procedures recognise the need to be equitable, objective and unbiased to both the complainant and the school or personnel against whom the complaint is made.

St Patrick’s will ensure that all persons who may be the first point of receipt of complaints are made aware of the school’s complaints-handling procedures, and of their roles, responsibilities and authority in respect of complaints.

Purpose

The purpose of the policy is to ensure:

● that complaints are dealt with at the lowest level if at all possible, that is, as a concern.

● that there is a clear framework that guides complainants to seek resolution of a concern or a complaint.

● that open communication is encouraged to reduce the risk of concerns or complaints not being notified to the relevant parties.

● opportunities are identified, through analysis, evaluation and review of complaints, to improve the quality of St Patrick’s school related activities, as well as the complaints-handling process.

● that matters of concern or complaint are resolved as per policy.

Guidelines

● all concerns and complaints are treated in a highly confidential manner

● as a general “rule of thumb”, a complaint or concern should always be raised with the person concerned first before it is further escalated

● the Principal, as the Complaints Manager, has the main responsibility for deciding what course of action is to be taken to resolve complaints

● any complaint relating to the Principal should be directed to the Board Presiding Member.

● It is imperative that the process is followed to give the best possible opportunity for natural justice to take place, by managing conflicts of interest, not predetermining and ensuring a fair process for all parties concerned. 

Concerns and Complaints Process

If you have a concern or complaint with regard to your child or about the school, then you are encouraged to express that concern. A concern should first be discussed with the person responsible or the person whom will have the

best knowledge. This may be a teacher, leadership team member, sports body representative, or whomever is

acting for the school. The following steps should be followed:

1. Email or telephone the school with a view to making a time to discuss the concern with your child’s teacher or the staff member concerned. Indicate at this time what your concern is about so that the staff member has time to prepare any information needed.

2. Meet with the relevant staff member to discuss your concern (two way conversation). An action plan should result from this meeting.

3. Is the problem resolved? If not, then approach the relevant Team Leader to discuss your ongoing concern. The Team Leader will attempt to resolve the issue.

4. Is the problem resolved? If not, then an appointment with the principal should be made. Your concern will now be escalated to a complaint. It will be recorded on our Complaints Register which is shared with the School Board, in-committee, twice a year.

5. The Principal (or delegate) will complete a full investigation based on the complaint details. This may include, but not be limited to, interviewing other parties that are seen as relevant to the complaint.

6. Meet with the principal and discuss your complaint. An Action Plan will result from this meeting.

7. Is the problem resolved? If not, then a formal letter of complaint should be written to the School Board through the Presiding Member.

8. The Presiding Member will seek NZSTA support and guidance and ensure the insurance company has been contacted.

9. The Presiding Member will table the complaint in public-excluded business for the Board to convene a Complaints Committee, taking into account any conflicts of interest and appropriate to the issue concerned. The committee will have at least two members, including one proprietor appointee and one elected member. If a conflict of interest prevents this representation then the board will decide on an alternative committee make-up, seeking the advice from NZSTA if necessary. 

10. At any stage the board may decide to use the services of an external investigator. 

11. The Complaints Committee is deemed to have authority to investigate complaints and conclude findings on behalf of the Board, unless otherwise determined by the board. 

12. The Committee will undertake a full investigation in a timely manner, with the right to use an external investigator to gather the information and give recommendations to the committee if deemed necessary. Any funds required by the Complaints Committee to conduct a full and fair investigation must go through the board to seek approval. 

13. The complainant may be asked to provide further information at this point, or may be asked to meet with the Complaints Committee to discuss the matter further.

14. The complainant will be given a written response outlining the Board’s decisions on the matter.

15. The details of the complaint, the process followed and the outcome will be shared, in-committee, with the Board at the next scheduled Board meeting

16. On-going resolution issues may be referred for mediation, or to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Anonymous Complaints

● The Board and the principal do not answer anonymous complaints.

● Anonymous complaints (written or verbal) will not be tabled at Board meetings or kept on file.

Support and Representation

● All details of the complaint must be shared with the person who the complaint is about. It is not fair or good practice to withhold information which would stop this person from being able to defend themselves adequately.

● If a complaint is about an individual staff member, that person will be advised that they have the right to Union support and advice.

● It is desirable that a complaint about a staff member is handled in a timely manner so as not to cause undue stress.

Verbal and Unplanned Complaints

● If a verbal complaint is made to a Board member, the Board member should encourage the complainant to put their complaint into writing and address this to the correct person, as per the procedure above.

● Board members should not bring verbal complaints to a Board meeting.

● If a complainant turns up at a Board meeting unannounced and asks to be granted speaking rights, this will be turned down.

Complaints Register

● The principal’s Complaints Register will be shared with the Board, in-committee, twice a year

Supporting Document: Protected Disclosures Policy

Review

This policy will be reviewed annually.

Ratified: 18 November 2020

Reviewed: 25 October 2023

Appendix 1: Flow Chart