The school complaints policy follows the standard policy supplied by the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It states:-

Catholic schools aim to be places where love of one’s neighbour is obvious at all times. Christ said to His disciples at the Last Supper “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.”

Catholic Schools are staffed by teachers who are not only qualified and expert in their own field but who also, having freely chosen to become teachers in a Catholic institution, commit themselves to care for and help children in every way possible consistent with the Catholic doctrine, principles and the Catholic ethos of the School. Nevertheless, as in any organisation, parents may from time to time raise a concern.

The main purposes of this Complaints Procedure are:

• to resolve problems;
• to give parents a means to raise issues of concern and to have them addressed;
• to show parents the most appropriate person to whom a concern/complaint should be raised;
• to encourage all parties to raise and/or respond to concerns as quickly as possible so that they may be dealt with whilst the matter is fresh in peoples’ minds.
• to stress that at all stages of this policy the discussions, consideration and hearings should be investigatory rather than adversarial in their nature.

Complaints are dealt with in an informal manner in the first instance. The person who has the concern should raise it with the teacher responsible for his/her child, as soon as possible (ideally within 5 school days), so that the matter may be discussed, and resolved (ideally within 10 school days), whilst it is still fresh in everyone’s mind.

Should the person raising the concern be unable to resolve the matter with the pupil’s teacher the concern should be referred immediately to the Headteacher, who will seek to resolve the matter.

If complaints are not able to be settled informally, the parties involved will move onto formal procedures. These procedures are explained in detail in the following full policy.

Click here to view the comprehensive Complaints Policy

Click here to view statement for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff