Our concerns and complaints procedures enable us to:
- maintain a safe environment for our students and staff
- treat all people fairly and with dignity and respect
- resolve matters of concern early and at the lowest level, if possible
- respond to feedback and concerns constructively
- deal with complaints fairly, effectively, and in a timely manner
- take into account individual circumstances
- maintain privacy and confidentiality
- preserve and enhance school and community relationships
- check that solutions have been implemented and are working, including feeding back to the person who raised the issue where appropriate
- monitor and record concerns and complaints about student safety and wellbeing
- meet our legal and ethical obligations.
We foster open communication and encourage our school community and members of the public to contact us promptly when issues involving the school arise. We advise people with concerns or complaints to raise these with the school in the first instance, rather than sharing concerns with other people or online.
Most concerns can be resolved informally through discussions with the people involved – see Raising Concerns. If informal discussion doesn’t resolve the issue, see Making a Formal Complaint or Serious Allegation.
For an overview of the process, see our Concerns and Complaints Process flowchart.
Sometimes parents contact the Ministry of Education about an incident involving their child at school. The Ministry upholds the school’s ability to self-govern and follow their own policies and processes for managing complaints and will usually direct complaints back to the school in the first instance.