Our values
At Drayton State School, we work together with honour, for success. With pride and effort, we are safe, respectful and responsible learners. We are committed to fostering a school environment that is supportive, respectful, compatible with human rights and provides all students with opportunities to engage in quality learning. Effective partnerships with parents, carers, students and school staff is an essential part of us achieving this goal. We want to know what we are doing well, but also if there are any areas where we can improve or do things differently.
Purpose
Drayton State School appreciates and acknowledges that parents, carers, students and community members have a right to make a complaint. This document outlines how Drayton State School will manage these complaints.
What is a customer complaint?
A complaint is a customer complaint if the person is unhappy with the service or action or our school or staff, and directly affected by the service or action they are unhappy with.
In our school, the person making a complaint will usually be a parent, carer, student or other school community member, but could also be anyone else directly impacted by something at our school. Some complaints must be managed using different processes. These include:
- issues about harm, or risk of harm, to a student attending a state school, which must be managed in accordance with the Student protection procedure and
- complaints about corrupt conduct, public interest disclosures or certain decisions made under legislation - refer to the Excluded complaints factsheet for more information.
Roles and responsibilities
We treat everyone with respect, courtesy and fairness, and aim to act compatibly with human rights. Our responsibilities include:
- following the customer complaints management framework, policy and procedure when managing complaints;
- resolving complaints promptly; and
- providing information about our processes, timeframes and any available review options.
If someone makes a complaint, they also have responsibilities, including:
- cooperating respectfully and understanding that unreasonable conduct will not be tolerated;
- giving us a clear idea of the issue or concern and a possible solution;
- providing all relevant information when making the complaint;
- understanding that addressing a complaint can take time; and
- letting us know if something changes, including if help is no longer needed.
Complaints management process
At Drayton State School, our complaints management process involves the following steps:
1. Receipt
The complaint should be made where the problem or issue arose. At Drayton State School, we ask parents, carers, students or community members who would like to make a complaint to either email admin@draytonss.eq.edu.au or visit the school office to make an appointment to meet with the principal or another member of staff. The following information should be provided when making a complaint:
- what happened, including when and where it occurred, and who was involved; and
- what outcome or solution you are seeking to address your issue or concern.
We accept anonymous complaints, however it is important to understand that this could limit how a complaint is assessed and resolved, and it may also prevent an outcome being provided.
However, prior to the making of a formal complaint, Drayton State School reserves the right to ensure the complainant has discussed any concerns with the relevant class teacher first (if applicable). Should this not have occurred, the Principal (or delegate) may ask for local resolution prior to the receipt of a formal complaint.
2. Assessment and management
We will examine the issue(s) raised and try to resolve the complaint. We aim to do this promptly, but understand that we have many other responsibilities and it may not be possible to make contact or resolve a complaint immediately.
3. Providing an outcome
Once we finish examining the complaint, we will let the person who has made the complaint know the outcome and any available review options.
Review options
If the person who has made the complaint is dissatisfied with the outcome or the way we handled their complaint, they can contact the regional office to ask for an internal review. A Request for internal review form should be completed and the request should be submitted within 28 days. There is also an external review option (for example, the Queensland Ombudsman or Queensland Human Rights Commission), which becomes available once the department’s complaints process has been exhausted.
More information and resources
The following resources contain additional information:
Endorsement
Aleksandr Taylor-Gough Principal
Craig Schneider Drayton SS President, Drayton SS Parents and Citizens Association
Effective Date: January 2022
Review Date: December 2023