The staff at WES, whether teachers or support staff, want to work with families to give students the best education possible. Most contacts between home and school are straightforward, concerning matters such as illness, homework, requests for permission to leave school for an appointment etc. Sometimes there has been a quarrel between children, and our help is sought in trying to resolve it.

A pupil may be falling behind in work and both parent and teacher need to supervise progress. We like parents to keep us informed about anything that might effect a child's behaviour or well being. The simplest way is a telephone call or a brief note; if we can not deal with the issue right away, we will always call you back as soon as we can.

For most routine contacts, the tutor is the best person to speak to. If it is a matter of discipline or concerns other pupils, the Year of Head may be the best contact. If it is quite serious, then the Deputy Headteacher for the relevant key stage may be appropriate: (the school secretaries will give you the name of the right person if you are unsure.) Each of these people may also ask to speak to you about your son.

On rare occasions, a parent may want to make a complaint and should then speak to the Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher. The complaint might be about a person who works at the school. It may be about the curriculum, for example, religious teaching. Or it may be about how we have dealt with something. For these things you should speak to the Headteacher. Our aim will be to resolve such a matter informally and with the minimum of paperwork if possible.

If appropriate, he may ask you to put the case in writing and deal with it as a formal complaint. In this event, he will look into all sides of the matter and will try to put things right within a period not exceeding 15 working days. He will tell you the outcome and put this in writing on request, so if necessary you can ask for it to be reconsidered by a committee of Governors. (Committee A, the Curriculum Complaints Committee)

If the complaint is about the Headteacher or about a Governor, or about Governors' Policy, it may also be referred to a Governors’ Committee specially set up for this type of complaint (Committee B, the committee to hear complaints against the Headteacher). Normally the Chair or other senior Governor would first have to consider there was a case to answer. The procedure at these tribunals will be the same as the procedure for the Pupil Discipline Committee.

Governors' Annual Review: Autumn Term