Complaints

We believe that children and parents/carers are entitled to expect courtesy and considered attention to their reasonable needs and wishes. We welcome suggestions on how to improve our setting and will give prompt and serious attention to any founded concerns or complaints about preschool.

We aim to bring any concerns about our setting to a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved. We would hope that the majority of concerns can be brought to the staff in an informal manner and anticipate that most will be resolved quickly by this informal approach. If this does not achieve the desired result, we have a set of procedures for dealing with complaints.

Informal concern procedure

Parents/carers have the right to voice any concerns they may have about the running of the Fledglings or a matter concerning it
Please report any minor concerns to a member of staff, if required they will then discuss with the management team
Staff must always be receptive and respectful of parent/carers concerns or complaints and deal with the situation in a professional and courteous manner
There will probably be some discussion to follow, between staff, management and parent/carer, usually done in private
Any action needed following this will be reported back to the parent/carer unless the matter is confidential e.g. a serious safeguarding concern
If the issue becomes a safeguarding concern the DSLs will deal with the situation and follow procedure
All concerns and outcomes will be recorded on a communication form, shared with the parent and both parties should sign in agreement

Should parents wish to make a formal complaint they should follow the ‘How to complain’ procedure below.

Procedure

How to complain

Stage 1

Any parent/carer who has a serious issue about an aspect of the Fledglings provision should, where possible, put their complaint in writing via an email
If they do not have this opportunity they should ask to see a manager to report their complaint
The manager should take the parent to a private space and write out the complaint on a Communication form and ask the parent to read and sign the complaint if they agree with what has been written
The managers will then discuss the concern within the management team (and other staff if necessary) to decide on an appropriate response
The owner or manager will then talk with the parent/carer to discuss their concerns and offer an appropriate solution once again recording the outcome

Stage 2

If this does not have a satisfactory outcome, or if the problem recurs, the parent/carer will be invited to a meeting with members of the management team to discuss further to see if we can reach a satisfactory conclusion
The outcome of this meeting should be recorded on a Communication form and signed by The Fledglings and parent

Stage 3

If there is still an issue, the parent/carer will have another meeting with the Fledglings management team, an external mediator will be invited to help to settle the complaint e.g. Fledglings Child Development Officer. This person should be acceptable to both parties, listen to both sides and offer advice
An agreed written record of the discussion is made once again on a Communication form. All of the parties present at the meeting sign the record and receive a copy of it

Stage 4

If there is no conclusion, the managers will then undertake further investigation into the matter where external agencies may be contacted with parental consent, (unless this is a safeguarding issue where consent is not required).
A further meeting is then held by all above parties including any agencies requested by Fledglings or parents (with consent). The purpose of this meeting is to reach a decision on the action to be taken to deal with the complaint.
A record of this meeting, including the decision on the action to be taken, is made. Everyone present at the meeting signs the record and receives a copy of it.

All Communication forms recording all stages of the process should be filed in the Complaints Folder.

If the parent/carer is not happy with the outcome of Stage 4 they may then take the matter to Ofsted. (Parents/carers may approach Ofsted directly at any stage of this complaints procedure although Fledglings would hope to be able to resolve any issues before reaching this stage.)

The address and telephone number and email of Ofsted are:

The Complaints Manager OFSTED National Business Unit Royal Exchange Building St Ann’s Square Manchester M2 7LA

0300 123 4666

enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

Nov 25