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Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School we promote a school culture where it is safe to raise concerns and complaints and where we assess and respond to these with due care. This is in keeping with our responsibility to provide a safe environment for students, staff, and the school community (Education and Training Act 2020; Health and Safety at Work Act 2015). This also enables us to monitor our policies and processes and ensure that the school is operating effectively.

Anyone can raise a concern or complaint with the school, including staff members, parents, caregivers, students, the wider school community, and members of the public. The response to any concern or complaint is determined by the nature and seriousness of the matter, and who is involved. Concerns or complaints may relate to a specific or general matter associated with the school, or involve a staff member, board member, parent or caregiver, student, or someone else within the responsibility of the school.

This policy includes the following procedures:

For an overview, see Concerns and Complaints Process.

When responding to concerns and complaints, we meet legal obligations, including employment, health and safety, and privacy requirements, and follow the principles of natural justice.

At Kaurilands School, we:

  • treat people fairly and seek to protect their mana and dignity in line with our inclusive school culture
  • ensure those involved have the opportunity to be heard
  • ensure decision-makers are unbiased and outcomes are not predetermined (e.g. ensure there are no conflicts of interest)
  • take cultural considerations (e.g. tikanga and kawa) into account
  • maintain privacy and confidentiality
  • aim to prevent victimisation
  • communicate with all people involved in a timely manner
  • take steps to resolve the matter
  • implement measures to prevent further concerns or complaints of the same nature
  • keep good documentation
  • may consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice at any time.

Privacy

At Kaurilands School, we expect all parties involved with a concern or complaint to respect privacy and confidentiality. This includes not publicly sharing information about the matter (e.g. on social media). See Privacy Policy.

We follow our privacy policies at all times when managing concerns and complaints. This includes:

  • limiting access to information about concerns and complaints to those who need to know
  • maintaining confidentiality
  • informing all participants in advance if a school meeting (in person, online, or by phone) is to be recorded, and telling everyone how the recording will be used and how long it will be kept for
  • ensuring all participants in a meeting are aware of who is present (i.e. on speaker phone or online).

Record-keeping

Kaurilands School keeps a register of concerns and complaints. This includes employment-related matters. Generally, only concerns and complaints that come to the attention of the principal or board are recorded. This includes documenting the concern or complaint, conversations, steps for resolution, dates of contact with anyone involved (including any external agencies), actions taken (including reasons), and any follow-ups needed.

Any recorded information is stored securely and confidentially and only staff who need to access the register as part of their role are permitted access. The register is monitored and updated by the principal or their delegate. The board reviews the register annually to analyse any patterns or identify measures that could be taken to ensure the school is a safe environment and is operating effectively.

We acknowledge that individuals may wish to access personal information held about themselves in relation to a concern or complaint. See Personal Information.

Information is held securely for the appropriate length of time in accordance with our records retention policies. See School Records Retention and Disposal.

Raising Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School, anyone who wants to raise a concern or complaint should follow this procedure. For an overview, see Concerns and Complaints Process.

  • Concerns or complaints should be raised with the school in the first instance. Serious matters may also be raised with external agencies directly (e.g. police, Oranga Tamariki).
  • If a member of the school community has a concern or complaint about a student who is not their child, they should contact the school. They should not contact the student or their parents/caregivers directly.
  • Anyone with a concern or complaint may seek advice or support (e.g. a friend, relative, lawyer, union, employee assistance programme, counselling or mediation services). A support person and/or a representative may help raise a concern or make a complaint and may attend arranged meetings. A support person and/or representative is expected to respect privacy and confidentiality, as with other people involved in the process.
  • We expect all concerns and complaints to be raised in a respectful way, in accordance with our conduct expectations and inclusive school culture. The school will assess and respond to all concerns and complaints in a timely, fair, and respectful manner.
  • Concerns and complaints should be raised as soon as possible to allow the school to respond effectively. There is no time limit on when a concern or complaint may be raised with the school. A concern or complaint relating to an historic event may require a more complex investigation and response. This includes historic sensitive claims.

How to raise a concern or complaint

Concerns and complaints can be raised verbally or in writing. If a concern or complaint raised verbally cannot be resolved through discussion, the person who receives the information may make a written record of the discussion or ask that the concern or complaint be received in writing.

  • Anyone who has a concern or complaint should raise it as soon as possible with an appropriate person at the school. This is usually with a staff member who is directly involved (e.g. classroom teacher, teacher in charge of a programme). The person who receives the concern or complaint may refer the matter to a more appropriate staff member, which may include senior staff, the principal, or the board.
  • Serious matters can be raised directly with the principal, who may escalate the matter to the board as required.
  • A concern or complaint about the principal should be raised with the board chair.
  • A concern or complaint about the board chair should be raised with another board member.

If a person feels their concern or complaint has not been resolved after receiving a response, they may escalate the matter to the principal or board.

We encourage staff to raise employment-related concerns with senior staff in the first instance. Staff may raise a personal grievance if the matter meets the requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000. See Personal Grievance.

If a person has a concern about certain types of serious wrongdoing and fits the definition of a discloser they may choose to instead make a protected disclosure. See Making a Protected Disclosure.

Anyone who wants to raise a sensitive claim at the school should raise this with the board. The board may need to refer the matter to other agencies, as appropriate (e.g. police).

Providing information

Information provided as part of a concern or complaint should be as complete as possible, including the names of people involved and dates of events, if appropriate, and any steps taken to resolve the matter. Contact details should also be provided.

In circumstances where a person does not want to disclose their identity, they should indicate this and explain their reasoning but should be aware that it may not be possible for the school to maintain their anonymity, or to effectively investigate and respond to anonymous concerns or complaints. The school is likely to be restricted in the actions and responses we can take in relation to matters that are raised anonymously, and may consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice.

What happens next

The school aims to acknowledge and respond to concerns and complaints promptly. For information about how the school will respond to a concern or complaint, see Assessing and Responding to Concerns and Complaints.

If a complaint is raised about a specific person, we inform that person at an early stage to ensure fairness and meet the requirements of natural justice, unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. safety concerns).

It is likely that a school representative will meet with the person who raised a concern or complaint and any person who is the subject of their concern or complaint.

We expect parties involved to:

  • respect privacy and confidentiality
  • allow the school to follow our procedures
  • not communicate with each other until next steps are agreed and/or notified (this applies both in and out of school).

If a person who has raised a concern or complaint decides to withdraw it, the school may need to consult with NZSBA or seek legal advice, as the matter raised may still require consideration and response.

Assessing and Responding to Concerns and Complaints

At Kaurilands School, we act to understand and resolve concerns and complaints in a timely, respectful, and fair manner. We use the procedures below to assess matters brought to our attention and decide what response is appropriate according to the nature and seriousness of the concern or complaint, and who is involved. For serious concerns (e.g. physical or sexual violence), we may need to involve external agencies such as the Ministry of Education, police, or Oranga Tamariki. Our decision-making complies with legislation, regulations, employment agreements, and school policies.

Receiving a concern or complaint

As anyone at the school may receive a concern or complaint, all staff are informed about our Concerns and Complaints Policy and associated procedures.

  • The person who receives a verbal or written concern or complaint may refer it to another staff member and/or escalate it to a more senior staff member, the principal, and/or the board. Serious and sensitive matters (e.g. misconduct, safety concerns) are immediately escalated to the principal and/or board as appropriate.
  • If a concern or complaint is raised verbally, the person who receives the information may make a written record. We may also request that the matter be put in writing if it cannot be resolved at the time through discussion.
  • If a concern or complaint is received in writing, the school acknowledges that it has been received.

When we receive a concern or complaint we:

  • determine roles and responsibilities, including:
    • who will oversee the school response
    • who will contact those involved
    • who the decision-makers will be and the level of board involvement
    • how to manage a conflict of interest (including identifying anyone with a conflict and excluding them from any investigation or decision-making process)
    • if external agencies need to be consulted or informed (e.g. legal advisors, insurance provider, NZSBA, WorkSafe, Employment Mediation Services, Oranga Tamariki, police)
  • seek information from the person who raised the concern or complaint
  • seek information from others, including any person who is the subject of a concern or complaint
  • consider if the matter needs to be managed alongside other school policies (e.g. finance, health and safety, employment, behaviour)
  • take cultural considerations into account (e.g. tikanga and kawa).

The school notifies the person who raised the concern or complaint about how we plan to manage it and takes steps to resolve the matter. Due to privacy and confidentiality requirements, there are likely to be restrictions on the information the school can share.

Kaurilands School considers all reasonable and legitimate concerns and complaints in good faith. However, in some circumstances the principal and/or board may determine that it is inappropriate to take any further action. In these circumstances, this is communicated to the person who raised the concern or complaint. If required, the school may seek legal advice or involve an external agency or mediator to help resolve the matter.

Managing the concern or complaint

We manage the matter according to the nature and seriousness of the concern or complaint. For how we manage the matter according to who is involved, click on the headings in the bullet points below.

Matters involving students

To manage a concern or complaint involving students, we may:

If it is necessary and there are reasonable grounds, we follow our policy for Stand-down, Suspension, and Exclusion.

Matters involving staff

We observe relevant employment agreement provisions for dealing with concerns or complaints about staff members (including the principal), including protecting their dignity and mana, advising them of their right to seek support and representation, advising them in writing of the specific matter(s) causing concern, and giving them a reasonable opportunity to provide an explanation.

If our initial assessment of a concern or complaint involving a staff member determines that a formal investigation is necessary (or likely to be necessary), we may consult with NZSBA and/or seek legal advice. We investigate the matter according to New Zealand employment guidelines – for example, see Investigations (Employment New Zealand).

To manage a concern or complaint involving staff (including the principal), we may:

We comply with any reporting requirements, including mandatory Teaching Council reporting. See Conduct concerns (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand).

Matters involving board members

To manage a concern or complaint involving board members, the person managing the concern or complaint may:

  • discuss the concern with the board member
  • reinforce mandatory code of conduct requirements – see Board Responsibilities
  • apply sanctions, including:
    • censuring a board member by board resolution and recording this in the board minutes
    • requesting in writing that the Minister of Education remove them from the board for significant or persistent breaches of the code
  • take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
  • decide not to take any further action.

See If a board member fails to comply with the code (Ministry of Education).

These sanctions don't apply to the principal. Matters involving the principal are managed through our procedures for matters involving staff.

Matters involving other members of the school community

To manage a concern or complaint involving members of the school community, we may:

  • meet with the person who raised the matter
  • arrange a meeting or mediation (this may be facilitated by a third party)
  • reinforce community conduct expectations – see School Community Conduct Expectations
  • notify the person who is the subject of the concern or complaint of any actions required to resolve the matter, and the possible outcomes of not completing these
  • manage the concern through other appropriate policies (e.g. Smokefree and Vapefree)
  • issue a trespass notice – see Trespasser on School Grounds
  • seek a restraining order
  • take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances
  • decide not to take any further action.

In some instances, it may be appropriate to refer behaviour to a third party for resolution (e.g. if unacceptable behaviour occurs at a sports event or sports venue, then it may be appropriate to involve the governing body of that sport, event, or venue).

Sensitive claims

Sensitive claims relate to mistreatment, neglect, or physical, sexual, or psychological abuse.

All sensitive claims raised with the school are managed by the board, who may need to refer the matter to the police or other agencies, consult NZSBA, and/or seek legal advice as needed.

We seek to minimise further harm to those raising sensitive claims, and encourage claimants to involve a support person.

To manage a sensitive claim, the board (or its delegated committee) may:

  • refer the person who raised the claim to the Ministry of Education if it meets the sensitive claim criteria for lodging with the Ministry (i.e. the abuse occurred in a primary or specialist school prior to 1989 and has harmed them in some way)
  • request further information from the person who raised the claim (e.g. names of people involved, dates and location of events)
  • refer the person to the police or another appropriate agency
  • review and collate relevant information held at the school and request information from Ministry records (if relevant)
  • engage an independent assessor (e.g. to conduct interviews or an investigation)
  • consider whether a mandatory report to the Teaching Council is required
  • take another action that is appropriate in the circumstances.

The school establishes how the person who raised the claim would like it to be addressed by the school. We ask for consent before sharing information with external agencies if required as part of any investigation. At the conclusion of any investigation, the board decides on any actions in consultation with the person who made the claim (e.g. an apology). As part of any investigation into a sensitive claim, we consider how we can prevent further harm from occurring at our school.

Other matters

To resolve matters that do not fit into the above categories (e.g. a concern about our school procedures or someone who is not part of our school community), we may:

  • meet with the person who raised the concern or complaint
  • notify the person/organisation that is the subject of a concern or complaint (e.g. another school, a contractor or external provider)
  • investigate the matter
  • take any other appropriate action relevant to the circumstances, at the sole discretion of the school
  • decide to take no further action.

Closing the concern or complaint

After assessing and responding to the matter, we consider the concern or complaint closed. Subject to privacy, confidentiality, and other considerations, it may or may not be possible or appropriate for the school to advise the person who raised a concern or complaint of the actions taken to address the matter, but they will be notified when the matter is closed. The school implements any follow-up actions, including updating policies and procedures to prevent further matters of the same kind. If a person feels their concern or complaint has not been resolved after receiving a response, they may escalate the matter to the principal or board. After the board has dealt with a matter there is no further avenue for consideration of the matter at the school. Individuals can consider contacting an external agency (e.g. Ministry of Education, Teaching Council, Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsman, or Human Rights Commission). Staff may also wish to consider whether they have grounds to raise a personal grievance. See Personal Grievance.