In accordance with Section 29 of the Education Act 2002, all local authority (LA) maintained schools must have and make available a procedure to deal with all complaints relating to their school and to any community facilities or services that the school provides.

We recognise the need to be clear about the difference between a concern and a complaint. A ‘concern’ may be defined as ‘an expression of worry or doubt over an issue considered to be important for which reassurances are sought’. For example issues related to: the setting of homework, marking and setting arrangements. This list is not exhaustive. A complaint may be generally defined as ‘an expression of dissatisfaction however made, about actions taken or a lack of action’.

The complaints policy should not be used for the following reasons, for which there are separate

• (statutory) procedures:  
• Admissions 
• Statutory assessments of Special Educational Needs
• Matters likely to require a Child Protection Investigation
• Exclusion of children from school
• Staff grievances and disciplinary procedures
• Complaints about services provided by other provides who may use school premises  

We aim to ensure that concerns are handled, if at all possible, without the need for formal procedures.