Welcome to Week Eight of Term 4. As we get closer to our end of year, please consider signing up to the Department’s QParents App.  QParents is a user-friendly portal accessible via app or web browser, providing parents with secure online access to information about their child’s schooling. This app has many features including your ability to access your child/children’s report cards at any time after they have been distributed.  Next year we are looking at using QParents to manage website permissions from parents for students to be able to access educational websites that our school would like to use.  Please see our administration staff if you would like some assistance in signing up to the QParents so that you can access information easily.

A Factsheet about QParents is included in this newsletter.

Each week I focus on an aspect of Calliope’s Student Code of Conduct.  This week the focus highlights the conclusion of our Student Code of Conduct which contains the Department’s Complaint’s process.

Conclusion

Calliope State School staff are committed to ensuring every student is supported to feel safe, welcome and valued in our school.  There may; however, be occasions where parents need to raise a concern or make a complaint about an issue you feel is adversely affecting your child's education.

 All Queensland state schools are committed to ensuring that all complaints - whether they relate to a school staff member or a school's operations - are dealt with in a fair and equitable manner.  As a parent or carer, you can express dissatisfaction with the service or action of the Department of Education or its staff, including decisions made or actions taken in a school and/or by the local regional office.

 As a complainant, it is your responsibility to:

• give us a clear idea of the issue or concern and your desired solution;
• provide all the relevant information when making the complaint;
• understand that addressing a complaint can take time;
• cooperate respectfully and understand that unreasonable, abusive, or disrespectful conduct will not be tolerated;
• let us know if something changes, including if help is no longer needed.

 The Department of Education may not proceed with your complaint if your conduct is unreasonable.

 In most instances, staff members are told of complaints made about them and offered the right of reply.  A complainant also has the right to have a support person throughout the process.

 The following three-step approach assists parents and school staff in reaching an outcome that is in the best interests of the student:

1. Early resolution: discuss your complaint with the school

The best place to raise any concerns is at the point where the problem or issue arose.  You can make an appointment at the school to discuss your complaint with your child’s teacher or the principal.  You are also welcome to lodge your complaint in writing or over the phone.  You can also make a complaint through QGov.

 Complaints may be lodged by telephone, writing or in electronic format. Email addresses can be accessed through the schools directory.

     2.Internal review: contact the local Regional Office

If, after taking the early resolution step, you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint or how the complaint was handled, you can ask the local regional office to conduct a review.  You need to submit a Request for internal review form within 28 days of receiving the complaint outcome.

3. External review: contact a review authority

If you are dissatisfied after the internal review, you may wish to contact a review authority, such as the Queensland Ombudsman, and request an independent, external review.  More information about external review options is available at www.ombudsman.qld.gov.au.

 Some matters need to be handled in a different way to school matters and will be referred to other areas in the department.  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;
  • complaints about corrupt conduct, public interest disclosures; or certain decisions made under legislation, which will be dealt with as outlined in the Excluded complaints factsheet.