Raising a concern

This is how you raise something the school has to answer, and it produces a record that the school answered it.

The three kinds

A query is a question. A complaint is something you want put right. A grievance is formal, and follows a process with time limits.

Choosing the right one matters because it decides who sees it and how quickly it must be answered. If you are not sure, describe what happened and let the school categorise it.

What happens after you raise it

It is routed to whoever is responsible for that kind of issue, and it carries a clock. You can see its status. When the school responds, you see the response here — and the fact that it responded is part of the record.

Confidential matters

Some categories — safeguarding, harassment — are handled by a named committee rather than by whoever is on the desk, and are not visible to ordinary staff.

A concern about a child's safety can be raised without naming the child. If you saw something happen to somebody else's child, you can still report it; you are not required to identify anyone to be heard.

Reporting anonymously

Where the school allows it, a report can be made anonymously. You are given a reference when you do — keep it. Because the report carries no identity, that reference is the only way back to it.

Which channel to use for what

Use this for something the school must answer and you may later need to show you raised. Use a phone call for something urgent today. Use both if it is both.