Information for Parents

Lewes Old Grammar School Complaints Procedure

Stage 3 – Panel Hearing

• If parents seek to invoke Stage 3 (following a failure to reach an earlier resolution), they will be referred to Chairman of the Trustees, who has been appointed as the convener of the Complaints Panel by the trustees. The convener’s responsibility is to call hearings of the Complaints Panel.
  
  
• The matter will then be referred to the Complaints Panel for consideration. The 3 members of the panel will not be directly involved in the matters detailed in the complaint. 
  The Panel will consist of two trustees and another person who is independent of the management and running of the school. The convener will then acknowledge the complaint and schedule a hearing to take place as soon as practicable but certainly within 10 days.

• If the Panel deems it necessary, it may require that further particulars of the complaint or any related matter be supplied in advance of the hearing. Copies of such particulars shall be supplied to all parties not later than 3 days prior to the hearing.

• The parents may be accompanied to the hearing by one other person. This may be a relative, teacher or friend. Legal representation will not normally be appropriate.

• If possible, the Panel will resolve the parents’ complaint immediately without the need for further investigation.

• Where further investigation is required, the Panel will decide how it should be carried out. After due consideration of all facts they consider relevant, the Panel will reach a decision and may make recommendations, which it shall complete within 3 days of the Hearing.
  The Panel will write to the parents informing them of its decision and the reasons for it. The decision of the Panel will be final. The Panel’s findings and, if any, recommendations will be sent in writing to the parents, the Head, the Governors and, where relevant, the person complained of.

Parents can be assured that all concerns and complaints will be treated seriously and confidentially. Correspondence, statements and records will be kept confidential except in so far as is required of the school by paragraph 6(2)(j) of the Education (Independent Schools Standards) Regulations 2003; where disclosure is required in the course of the school’s inspection; or where any other legal obligation prevails.

A written record of all complaints and their outcomes is kept by the Headmaster and reviewed annually. Each record indicates whether the complaint was resolved at the preliminary stage or if it proceeded to a panel hearing.

The number of complaints dealt with in the previous school year is available to parents of current and prospective pupils.

Chairman of Trustees is : Mr R Mead, care of Tyne House, Lewes Old Grammar School

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No of Complaints received during last academic year 0

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back to - Complaints Procedure - Introduction

Stage 1 - Informal resolution

Stage 2 - Formal Resolution

Stage 3 - Panel Hearing