Tombolo Academy welcomes feedback from all members of the school community and takes all complaints or concerns that may be raised seriously. This Complaints Handling Guide is designed to assist you to understand our complaints handling process.
What is a Complaint?
A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction made to Tombolo Academy board or staff, related to our services or operations, or the complaints handling process itself, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected.
Informal Complaints Resolution
The vast majority of issues causing concern in schools can be handled quickly and in an informal manner. In most cases these issues can be resolved through informal discussions with appropriate staff members. Even if an issue is able to be resolved informally, all staff are required to log issues on our complaints management register so we are able to identify any systemic issues arising, and take appropriate rectification action.
How Do I Make a Formal Complaint?
If you have been unable to resolve a matter informally, or simply wish to make a formal complaint you can do so by any of the following means:
- Sending an email to complaints@tombolo.org.au.
- Writing a letter addressed to the Principal or the Chair of the Board of Directors.
- Telephoning and asking to speak to your child’s classroom teacher
All formal complaints will be logged into our complaints register and managed in accordance with the following procedure.
Tombolo Academy has implemented the following steps to encourage feedback, and to make it easy for people to lodge a complaint.
- A short form Complaints Policy with information on how to make a complaint is available on our public website.
- All staff are made aware of the importance of capturing and recording critical feedback. Many complaints are received via telephone, in person, or via email, and the ability of our staff to recognise a complaint, and to capture it effectively, is a central feature of our Complaints Handling Program.
Informal Complaints Resolution
The vast majority of issues causing concern in schools can be handled quickly and in an informal manner. In most cases these issues can be resolved through informal discussions with appropriate staff members. Even if an issue is able to be resolved informally, all staff are required to log issues on our complaints management register so we are able to identify any systemic issues arising, and take appropriate rectification action.
How Do I Make a Formal Complaint?
If you have been unable to resolve a matter informally, or simply wish to make a formal complaint you can do so by any of the following means:
- Sending an email to complaints@tombolo.org.au.
- Writing a letter addressed to the Principal or the Chair of the Board of Directors.
- Telephoning and asking to speak to your child’s classroom teacher
All formal complaints will be logged into our complaints register and managed in accordance with the following procedure.
Our Internal Complaints Handling Process
Step 1 – All formal complaints are logged on our complaints management register where they are screened by one of our Complaints Officers (Business Manager or Principal), or in the case of complaints against the Principal or Business Manager, by the Chair of the Board of Directors.
Step 2 – All valid complaints will be acknowledged in writing, as soon as practicable, and allocated a status, priority and target resolution date. It is our policy, where possible, to resolve all disputes within 14 days.
Step 3 – The Complaints Officer shall conduct an investigation into the issues raised, following principles of procedural fairness, and make a determination.
Step 4 – Following the determination, if appropriate, the Complaints Officer shall formulate a resolution and provide a written response to the complainant. The matter will be closed if this response is accepted.
Step 5 – If the initial response is not acceptable the matter will be reviewed internally by the Chair of the Board, who may seek additional information or submissions from the relevant parties. All disputes will be addressed within 14 days from the date that the review process is initiated. The matter will be closed if the response is accepted.
Step 6 – All complaints received will be entered into our Complaints Register and, where appropriate, a corrective action request will be made to address any underlying processes which the complaints investigation revealed may require improvement.
Step 7 – If the matter remains unresolved, the complainant may pursue external resolution alternatives.
