Complaints

Parental Complaints & Concerns 

There may be times when you may wish to air a grievance or share an anxiety / concern.

The Governing Body of Pontllanfraith Primary School take all complaints very seriously as we are committed to providing high-quality education. We aim to make the school’s complaints procedure easy to follow with three easy steps: 

Stage A – Informal Stage 

In most cases, your child's class teacher should be your first point of contact and the vast majority of complaints are resolved at this stage. You should make an appointment to meet with the teacher - a short note or message before the appointment is appreciated (if possible and appropriate) as it can help us to investigate matters in advance and / or have information to hand at the time of the meeting.  The classteacher may then decide that it is appropriate to involve the Headteacher or another member of the school's Senior Management Team in order that the complaint is resolved successfully.  

All complaints should be made as soon as possible to ensure that they are successfully investigated and resolved quickly.

Stage B – Formal Stage 

A complaint will not usually move to stage B until it has first been considered under stage A. Complaints will need to be in writing at this stage and addressed to the Headteacher. Complaints will be thoroughly investigated and a response will be made in writing. If your complaint concerns the Headteacher you should address your letter to the Chair of Governors.

Stage C – School Complaints Committee 

If you are unhappy with the investigation you must write to the school and request the Clerk to the Governing Body convenes the Complaints Committee of the Governing Body to review your complaint. 

NB Please remember that the role of the governor is not to receive or respond to complaints on behalf of the school at stage 1 - it is to sit on the complaints committee should the complaint reach stage 3 of the procedure; therefore governors need to remain impartial if they are to fulfil their duties. Please follow the procedure.

Should you wish to discuss the school complaints procedure or any other concern, please contact the school. A full copy of the Complaints Procedure is available here.

We are here to help.

Tree Complaints 

From time to time neighbours raise concern about trees along our boundaries. If you, as a neighbour to the school, have concerns please be assured that the school takes its duty of care to you seriously. If you have a concern, please review this document  from CCBC which sets out the responsibilities of the school in relation to its neighbours, as well as the Frequently Asked Questions  & Overhanging Vegetation information on the CCBC website. This should be your first reference before contacting the school or CCBC. Tree issues should be reported directly to CCBC via the Tree Management section of their website website. If you have noticed a sudden change in the health of a tree, please provide photographs and details of the specific problem. There is information about how to identify dead and dying trees on the FAQs pages. The information will be passed to the appropriate officer to triage, and an inspection may be undertaken if the evidence supplied warrants one. Please note however, that repeated correspondence or complaint may not receive a response once it has been addressed to the council’s satisfaction.