Developing a close working relationship with parents is a major priority for Wise Owls Childcare and in order to achieve this we aim to establish clear lines of communication with children, parents and staff to enable any issues or complaints to be brought forward and dealt with promptly and professionally. It is important to us that we are given the opportunity to deal with your concerns or issues before you make them public. In most cases, there is a good reason why certain processes are followed, and we would like the opportunity to work with you to alleviate any concerns you may have.

Any complaint reported to the nursery will be taken very seriously and will be dealt with confidentially and promptly in accordance with this policy. At all times, we will do our best to protect children from any negative behaviour or comments and we ask that, as parents, you do the same.

If you would like to make a complaint, please follow these steps:

Step 1: Lodging a complaint
Parents/carers should always speak to their child’s key worker as a first point of contact. If the complaint is about the child’s key worker, the parent should speak with the room leader.

Step 2: Resolving the complaint
The key worker or room leader will investigate the issue and will aim to have a response back to you within 72 hours. In some cases, and in line with GDPR and confidentiality, you may not be informed of the actions taken to resolve the issue, just that the issue has been resolved.

Step 3: Not satisfied with outcome
If you are not satisfied with the actions taken to resolve the complaint by your child’s key worker, please email the setting manager.

Step 4: Nursery Manager dealing with complaint
The setting Manager will aim to deal with the complaint within 72 hours and if required they will review the company policies and procedures to find a resolution.

Step 5: Open communication with parent
The setting Manager will aim to keep you up to date on any progress with the complaint and once the matter is resolved, the manager will notify you in writing of the outcome. In some cases, and in line with GDPR and confidentiality, the parent may not be informed of the actions taken just that the issue has been resolved.

Step 6: Still unsatisfied with outcome
If you are still unsatisfied with the setting Manager’s resolution, please put your complaint in writing to customerfeedback@wiseowlschildcare.co.uk and the issue will be investigated by the Head Office team with the involvement of our Operations Director. The head office team will contact the parent in writing via email once the matter is resolved. In some cases, and in line with GDPR and confidentiality, the parent may not be informed of the actions taken just that the issue has been resolved.

Step 7: Escalating the complaint
If you are still unsatisfied with the Head Office team’s resolution, please put your complaint in writing to complaints@wiseowlschildcare.co.uk with the attention of company director ‘TANYA GALITZINE’ explaining why you are not satisfied with the steps taken to resolve your issue. Tanya will personally investigate the issue within 5 working days and will respond to you directly. In some cases, and in line with GDPR and confidentiality, the parent may not be informed of the actions taken just that the issue has been resolved.

Step 8: Contacting OFSTED
As a final resort and only after this complaints process has been followed, if you feel the complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved, you might choose to contact OFSTED. The OFSTED contact number is available at our nurseries or on the web.

Handling the complaints

All complaints will be handled confidentially, however, throughout the investigation, we may need to disclose some details with certain staff members where it will help the investigation. We will keep you informed if this is the case

If the complaint is put in writing

If your complaint has been bought via writing we will take action to ensure it is documented and reviewed in line with our policies and processes. If a complaint is received in writing in the first instance, the setting Manager will assess the situation and formulate a plan to deal with it. The investigation may involve a meeting with the parent/carer/staff member to discuss the complaint and share suggestions for improvement.

If the complaint is made verbally

If your complaint/ concern is received verbally it may just require you getting the correct information in order for the issue to be resolved quickly and effectively.

Once a resolution has been met

If any changes to our policies or procedures have been implemented following a complaint, a regular review of the policy or procedure will ensure that the best process is carried out and appropriate steps are taken to assess if any further action is needed.

Closing and filing a complaint

Once a complaint is closed, the review, its findings and the outcome are filed and stored so they can be referred to and to ensure we take the correct measures needed to review our policy, training and processes for the best outcome for our provisions. The information will be stored on our complaint form electronically. The content will contain:

• Name of complainant
• The nature of the complaint
• Who dealt with it
• The timescale involved
• The outcome
• The effectiveness of the action taken
• A review to ensure the matter is resolved and completed successfully.

All of this information must then kept on site electronically so it is available to OFSTED at all times.