Compliments, Comments, Complaints

This leaflet highlights how much the school values compliments but also acknowledges that on occasion parents may wish to raise a

concern or make a complaint about some aspect of school life. The procedures for contacting the school are explained below. We hope it provides you with the information you require.

Compliments

Compliments about staff, pupils or the school in general are welcomed. Positive feedback helps people feel that their efforts have been appreciated, makes people feel good about the work they are doing, and enhances the reputation of the school. It is always good to receive such feedback, whether verbally or in writing.

Concerns

We recognise that there may be times when you are unhappy with some aspect of the school’s work. At those times, we aim to resolve issues as quickly and thoroughly as possible, minimising disruption to learning and teaching as much as we can.

Raising Concerns

Your child’s Guidance Teacher is the most appropriate person to progress a concern involving your child.

 If you have a concern, telephone the school (01771 676670) and ask to speak to your child’s Guidance Teacher.

If the Guidance Teacher is unavailable,

office staff will pass on a message and he or she will return your call. In most cases, this will happen soon after your call and certainly within two working days.

The Guidance Teacher will make every effort to resolve the concern you have raised and will report back to you.

Unresolved Concerns

If the concern remains unresolved, you may ask the Guidance Teacher to pass the matter on to the member of the senior management team linked to your child’s year group.

The Year Head will review what has already been done and take any further action if that is necessary. This will be reported back to you. Should you remain dissatisfied with the response, please ask for the matter to be referred to the Head Teacher and put concerns in writing.

The Head Teacher will then investigate your on-going concern and report back to you. Above all, we hope that all concerns can be resolved within the school, by school staff.

If, after this process, you are still dissatisfied with the school’s response, the rector will advise you to contact the appropriate Local Authority representative - the school’s Quality Improvement Officer (QIO) - and will record any complaint on Aberdeenshire Council’s complaints database. The QIO will then assume responsibility for investigating the concern and any further contact you make with the school about the matter will be passed to him or her. It would not be appropriate for us to respond to you directly at this stage unless directed to do so by the relevant QIO.

The QIO will contact you to discuss your complaint and will advise you of the Council’s complaints procedures. The QIO contact details are:

Mrs Olwen Fraser (QI0)

Education and Children’s Services,

Gordon House, Inverurie

Tel: 01467 530777

Concerns not involving your child

If you wish to raise such a concern, you may either telephone the school and ask to speak to a Depute Head Teacher, or contact us via e-mail at mintlaw.aca@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

Your concern will be dealt with and you will be given general feedback about any action taken. Rules about confidentiality prevent us from giving detailed feedback about individual pupils or staff. Again, we would aim to deal with your concerns at school level, but if you remain dissatisfied with the school’s response, you should contact the QIO as before.

Feedback Timeline

Investigating concerns fully and professionally takes time. We aim, however, to give initial feedback on any concern within five working days, whenever possible.

Where a more detailed investigation or more detailed response is required, this will be provided as quickly as possible and usually within 20 working days. If and/or when the Head Teacher becomes involved in dealing with unresolved concerns or particularly complex and/or serious concerns, written feedback will be provided within 20 working days.

All complaints will be recorded and action taken will be noted.

Abusive Complaints

Many people find raising concerns stressful but most do so in a calm and reasonable way. If a complaint is made to a member of staff in an aggressive and/or abusive way, in line with Aberdeenshire’s Zero Tolerance Policy, the member of staff will advise the caller that the call will be terminated if this continues.

Should this happen, the Head Teacher will be informed and appropriate action taken, if necessary.

Home-School Communication

We welcome all communications between home and school and value your interest in your child’s education. By working together,  we can ensure your child’s experiences are as positive as possible.