What can I do if I have a complaint?  A pupils’ guide.

 

1. If you have a complaint we hope that you will speak to your form teacher, house parents, Head of Year or other member of staff. You can also raise complaints at Food Committee and School Council.

 

For example, you may have a complaint about breakfast; you should take this to Food Committee through your form representative.

If you have a complaint about the facilities available within the boarding house you could take this to your House parent. They may refer some matters to Health and Safety Committee.

A complaint about another pupil can be taken to your form teacher, or any other member of staff.

If you have a complaint about a medical issue this can be taken to a member of House staff, your form teacher, or any other teacher.

If you have a complaint about a member of staff this could go to an Assistant Head, or any other teacher who will help you take the complaint to a more senior member of staff.

 

If you are not happy that your complaint has been acted upon, you can go to a more senior member of staff, or the Head. You may wish to raise an issue at School Council or at a meeting of the Boarding Committee.

 

2. If you would prefer to take your complaint to somebody less closely connected to the school, you may contact one of the following.

 

i) Our school doctors Dr Clive Paul and Dr Cathy Cowley will investigate such complaints and can be contacted at The Rectory Practice, Saffron Walden. Tel. 01799 522327 or when they take a school surgery on a Wednesday 2.00 - 3.00pm.

 

ii) Marion Crawley, retired housemistress at Friends’ School, can be contacted at her house Tel. 01799 524486.

 

iii) You may wish to contact the Social Services Department Tel. 0845 603 7627. This is most likely to be appropriate in the case of suspected child abuse. You can also contact the Commission for Care Standards Inspection on 01206 715630. e-mail: Enquiries.Colchester@csci.gsi.gov.uk

 

3. Any complaints made to one of the people in section 2, whether formal or informal, will be followed up. They will make a written record of what you tell them and ask you to check that you agree with their understanding of your complaint.

 

If you wish to make a formal complaint, or if one of the named persons above judges the complaint is of such a serious nature that it must be dealt with through the formal procedure, a written report of the complaint must be made.  One of the named persons will help you to complete a complaints form. They would then contact the Head and oversee subsequent investigations. You will be given a response within 3 days.

 

4. You are welcome to take a friend for support when going to see one of the people named above.

 

The school recognises and acknowledges your entitlement to complain

 

GW June 08