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While schools are focused on providing the best possible service to students, there may be occasions when practice does not meet certain standards or expectations, and a parent or others wish to complain. The following may be useful.
Obligations when managing complaints
Complaints can come from students, staff, parents and even members of the public. They might be about students, staff, the principal, the board, your school policies or events at or involving the school.
Complainants can question the operations of your school and can request information to be provided. If a child or parent requests additional information about a stand-down or suspension decision, the board must carefully consider it. You are obliged to provide information under the Official Information Act 1982 and the Privacy Act 2020. Under both Acts, a full answer must be provided to the requester within a specified timeframe.
The Education and Training Act 2020 and the rules that regulate stand-downs and suspensions also specify timeframes and procedural requirements that must be followed. When these are not followed, the board puts itself at legal risk. It is good practice to ensure you meet these timeframes.
Complaints procedure
Complaints will vary from minor to major, and may escalate rapidly from one to the other if they are not managed in a manner that is both timely and appropriate.
Note
It is good practice to ensure that your school (both governance and management functions) has a clearly articulated complaints procedure, and that you follow it. This will make it easier to manage a complaint, should one arrive.
It is important that parents, students, teachers, school staff and board members know how to access the school complaints procedure easily.
Ask these questions of your school
Is there a copy of this procedure in enrolment information or on our school website? Is it available at our school office? Are all our school staff aware of our complaints procedure?
Complaints to the principal
The principal is responsible for the day-to-day management of your school and student discipline. Parents may ask to meet with the principal to make a complaint about a staff member, another student, an incident that occurred or a school event. It is good practice for the principal to treat all complaints seriously and make time to meet with parents, if possible.
It is a good idea to have somebody else, other than the principal, attend a complaint meeting. They can help take notes of the key points discussed and record a course of action and/or any agreed outcomes. A copy of these notes can be given to the parent at the end of the meeting. A copy should also be retained by your school as they may be needed at a later time. Refer to Section 3: 11. Documenting processes.
It may be appropriate to take some time to consider the nature of the complaint and speak with other relevant parties. Refer to Section 1: 3. Involving other people when managing student behaviour. It is good practice to let parents know when you will get back to them. Remember that ‘a few days’ is preferable to ‘a week’ in terms of timeliness.
Involving other people when managing student behaviour
All complaints should be investigated and the principal will decide the next steps. Refer to Section 2: 6. Investigation and interviewing. This may include recommendations for future action. It is good practice to document this decision and send a copy to parents. Refer to Section 3: 11. Documenting processes.
Complaints to the board of trustees
The board is the employer of school staff and responsible for the school operating within the law. Boards of trustees are committed to making school the best learning environment possible for students. Parents have the right to have their concerns listened to and addressed.
Note
Complaints to the board of trustees should be in writing and addressed to the chairperson of the board. A discussion with the board chairperson or a board member is NOT a formal complaint.
If a principal has managed a complaint and parents are not happy with the outcome, parents are entitled to complain to the board of trustees.
It may be appropriate for the board to obtain legal or industrial advice to inform their response to some complaints. Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa (formerly New Zealand School Trustees Association) helpdesk is the first point of call for schools to obtain free advice in these situations.
In some situations, your school may decide to engage a lawyer, as appropriate.
It may also be appropriate to consider appointing an independent person to investigate the complaint.
Complaints about school processes
Parents may complain to a school or the Ministry of Education about the school’s complaints process or process for managing stand-downs and suspensions.
Schools are advised to seek advice and support from Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa (formerly New Zealand School Trustees Association) in these situations.
When parents or students are unhappy with a stand-down or suspension decision, they may wish to make a complaint. Complaints about boards of trustees can be directed to the Office of the Ombudsman.
Role of the Ministry of Education
In some instances, parents will complain to the Ministry of Education about an incident involving their child that occurred at school.
It is common practice for the Ministry to direct all complaints back to the school in the first instance. The Ministry upholds the school’s ability to self-govern and follow their own policies and processes for managing complaints.
Examples
Examples of situations where parents have complained to the school.
Example 1
A student was stood-down following an incident at school. When the principal telephoned the parent, the parent was not happy with the decision to stand-down her son and wanted to meet with the principal to discuss the situation. The principal met with the parent and discussed his reasons for standing-down her son. The principal’s personal assistant took notes of what was discussed at the meeting.
The parent was upset by the principal’s decision because she thought the school could have dealt with her son differently. She explained that there had been a death in the family and that her son was very upset and that he could have acted badly as a result. The principal listened to the parent and decided that, under these circumstances, he would shorten the stand-down for the student. He told the parent that her son would have a warning this time and that he may face a stand-down if the behaviour recurred. All actions were recorded and the parent was given a photocopy of the notes taken at the meeting. The principal then wrote a letter to the parent as a formal record that he had shortened the stand-down. Copies of all documentation were saved on the student’s file.
In this situation the principal met with the parent to hear what she had to say. This helped prevent the situation escalating to a formal written complaint.
Example 2
An angry parent rang a school office demanding to speak with the principal. The parent wanted to make a formal complaint about an incident during which his son was beaten up on his way home from school. He wanted the principal to expel the student who had beaten up his son.
The principal was away for the next 3 days and had left the deputy principal with delegation to manage complaints in her absence. The office administrator calmly informed the angry caller that the principal was away and that she would put his call through to the deputy principal for response. The parent had become more enraged hearing that the principal was away and refused to speak with the deputy principal. The parent said he was coming down to the school to talk to the boy who attacked his son and hung up the telephone.
The deputy principal telephoned the parent back after a few moments and calmly spoke to him about his concerns. The parent calmed down and agreed to come into meet with the deputy principal within 1 hour.
In this instance the school proactively contacted the parent and managed to calm him down to a level where he agreed to meet with the deputy principal to progress his complaint.
Useful links
Clear and open communication between students, parents and schools ensures that matters are addressed promptly.
Parents or students with concerns may seek advice from a lawyer, YouthLaw, the Student Rights Service or the Office of the Ombudsman.
Student Rights Service – Citizens Advice Bureau
Ombudsman
Information about the Ombudsmen, who are independent Officers of Parliament who investigate complaints against central and local government agencies, is available on their website.
Ombudsman New Zealand | Tari o te Kaitiaki Mana Tangata
Teaching Council | Matatū Aotearoa
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand website is about conduct and competence of teachers. It includes information about making a complaint and how complaints are dealt with, and a set of frequently asked questions to assist teachers and employers/professional leaders.
Conduct concerns – Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand Legislation
The New Zealand Legislation website has the online version of the Official Information Act 1982 No 156 (Version as at 1 May 2023) and the Privacy Act 2020 No 31 (as at 1 July 2024).
Official Information Act 1982 – New Zealand Legislation
Privacy Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission
Information about the Human Rights Act can be sourced from the Human Rights Commission.
Contact Us – Human Rights Commission
High Court
Information about the High Court is available on their website.
High Court – Ministry of Justice
Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa (formerly NZSTA) New Zealand School Boards Association
Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa (formerly NZSTA) is the voice of school boards in New Zealand, providing services to New Zealand’s 2,500 state and state-integrated schools and kura.
Advice and support – Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | NZ School Boards Association
