AQW 21327/22-27

Mrs Michelle Guy
Alliance Party
Lagan Valley

Tabled Date: 24/01/2025
Answered On Date: 03/02/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education whether a school's Board of Governors is required to keep a record of official complaints made by parents, students and staff.

Answer:

It is the policy of the Department of Education that each school Board of Governors should establish formal written procedures for dealing with complaints; a school’s complaints procedure should be made available to parents, and the wider school community on request.

Schools are required to record and handle complaints in line with its complaints procedure. Records of school complaints are retained and disposed of by schools in line with their retention and disposal schedule.

There are also specific requirements for schools to maintain a record of complaints associated with safeguarding concerns. Under the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act, all schools are required to keep a record of all reported instances of bullying type behaviour, the steps taken to deal with these and the outcomes.