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Listen
Resolving disagreements
No matter how good communications are, there will be times when there are disagreements or misunderstandings. Using some of the ideas in these guidelines can be a way of helping parents to communicate their concerns/complaints.
Guidelines for parents
If your complaint/concern is in connection with an individual child:
- Raise the matter with a member of the school staff in the way that is easiest for you, by talking, email, phone, or in writing. Most concerns parents have are resolved by talking about things at the earliest possible stage. The school will want to know if you have a concern. The sooner you tell them about it the better the outcome is likely to be.
- If your concern is urgent make sure you let school staff know this.
- Complaints/concerns are usually resolved by people coming together, talking and making agreements. However there are some situations where a complaint will have to be investigated and a decision made at a later stage. If this is the case the education authority will tell you how long that will take.
- If you are going to a meeting in the school you may want to take someone with you for support.
- Sometimes it helps to write things down in advance of a meeting or talk things through with someone else.
- Try to stick to facts and feelings. Expressing how you feel is very important and it will help school staff.
- Decide whether it would be helpful to have your child with you, if you are meeting with school staff, or if it is a matter which would be better discussed among the adults first.
- If you feel you are not being heard or taken seriously, you can ask to speak to another member of staff, have someone from the education authority to support you, or an independent advocate or mediator.
- The headteacher should be made aware of any unresolved concerns, but if the complaint is about the headteacher and it cannot be resolved, you should contact someone from your education authority. Your education authority will have a complaints procedure. If you contact them they will tell you about it.
- If your complaint is not resolved by the education authority you can bring it to the attention of the local authority Chief Executive or the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
If your complaint/concern is about something general:
An example of something general might be bullying, discipline, healthy eating or the curriculum.
The same applies as in a complaint about an individual child and you should start by talking to school staff. However, you can also raise your concern with the Parent Council.
If, after discussion with the school and education authority, the Parent Council is unable to reach a satisfactory outcome for these concerns, they are able to refer the issue to HMIE.
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