Complaints
Have you ever had a parent make a complaint about you?
It can be a really unpleasant experience. Especially, if you’re not prepared or supported through it.
With complaints on rise - post covid - and them being increasingly vexatious, it’s vital you are.
This week’s highlight from the We Are In Beta community will help.
One of our research team - the brilliant Louise Turtle (Assistant Principal) - has found 34 schools with a track record managing complaints well and analysed what they do.
We - schools - Are In Beta - always learning (when we manage good conduct well).
✍️ Complaints policies: analysis of examples from 34 secondary schools.
📝 How schools manage complaints - what Louise explores:
the criteria she used to find schools with examples
what the key strategies schools use to manage complaints
how to access 40+ complaints management documents
15 stand out case studies
🔎 2 complaints policy observations.
The full article shares 25+ observations from the 40 documents looked at.
Here are two that might get you thinking about what your school does:
Type of complaints: complaints policies looked at itemise how to manage all manner of common complaints including:
academic
behaviour
wellbeing
school operations
staffing and relationships
Going beyond statutory guidance: 3 themes emerged from policies that went well beyond the statutory requirements to help handle complaints. They:
supported complainants
proactively encouraged good conduct
provided clear frameworks for staff to follow
To read about the other 38 observations and learn about the specifics of how these schools manage complaints….
Want us to research policies and practices for you?
Reply to this email to tell us what policy you’re writing and we’ll do a lot of the leg work for you.
Want do research like this with us?
Join our research team here, especially if you are interest in MAT level practice - we have some new projects live.
6 ways to encourage good conduct
One of the 3 trends Louise uncovered was how schools proactively encourage good conduct.
Here are 6 ways policies she reviewed do it:
Be clear about what constitutes a serial and unreasonable complaint
Create a positive conduct social contract
Reassure complainants of staff positive conduct
Direct complainants conduct
Explicitly ask for no social media comments
Explicitly reference campaign complaints
Curious what these look like in detail?
🗒️ 15 stand out careers case studies.
You don’t have the time to read all the resources, so we’ve done it for you.
We’ve found the most practical bits and organised them into case studies about areas such as:
operating procedures
checklists
template letters
and more
If you want to read more about how they codify these strategies and you are a member of the:
Pastoral Champions Community, read them here.
Recruitment & Retention Research space, read them here
Curriculum Thinkers Community, read them here.
Case studies are a members only resource.
Not a member of Pastoral Champions? Get a trial here.
Not a member of Curriculum Thinkers? Get a trial here.
Not joined Trust Education Leaders? Register your interest here.
On a personal note.
I once had a parent make a complaint* about me at school.
It had a paralysing affect on me.
It completely changed the way I felt about going to work and how I felt in the classroom.
I was nervous, overly cautious, subdued.
It stopped me from being my best for the students I taught.
But three things helped
a classroom teacher in another department who gave me time to talk me through their experience
a senior leader who kept me up dated, outlined how things would unfold, what they will do and what I can do.
the school policy, which reflected exactly what both of them had told me.
The reassurance they gave me was immeasurable.
Where you are school leader or classroom teacher, I highly recommended reading this set of strategies.
*for the avoidance of doubt, the complaint was unfounded.
Thanks for reading.
@NiallAlcock and the We Are In Beta team
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