Complaints Policy

We work in partnership with parents by seeking their views and encouraging parents to participate in any decision making in relation to the service. It is our policy to welcome comments, suggestions, recommendations or complaints made by children or their parents in relation to our childcare service. This policy is available and is communicated to all parents/guardians and we have a child-friendly version of our complaints policy and procedures which are available for school age children.

We take all complaints very seriously. Any complaints made about the service will be dealt with in an open and impartial manner. The following procedures will be followed:

Procedures for Responding to a Complaint:

Complaints should be made to the owner, Caroline Hosey or the deputy in charge, Mary Skelly.
We undertake to ensure all complaints are taken seriously and dealt with fairly, impartially and confidentially.
We will endeavour to quickly and informally resolve complaints as amicably as possible and to the parent’s satisfaction though discussion with parents and members of staff as appropriate.
Parents will be made aware that there is a complaints procedure in operation as part of enrolment/intake.
If we find that we have made a mistake or that something could have been done better we will change the way we do things to avoid making the same mistake in future.
Complaints can be made by parents, guardians and children themselves.
If a parent is not satisfied with any aspect of the service, they are requested to resolve the issue informally through discussion with the owner.
If the issue still remains unresolved, re-occurs or the parent is not satisfied with the response, the owner will ask the parents to put their complaint in writing to them.
The owner will meet with the person(s) making the complaint and any other staff as appropriate to try to resolve the issue. A note will be made of this meeting and copies made available to parents.
Most complaints are resolved at this stage. However, if there are other or more serious issues arising from the complaint then both sides may agree the need for a third party to mediate in relation to the complaint.
Written records will be kept of all written complaints, the response, meetings and other actions and records kept for a minimum of 2 years.
Written complaints will be acknowledged in writing.
All complaints will be dealt with in a timely manner and the person making the complaint will be informed of the next steps of the process at every stage.
Depending on the nature of the complaint the Disciplinary Procedures may also be followed.
If a complaint is made to Tusla about any aspect of this service, we will co-operate fully with them to resolve the issue.
Any matters relating to Child Protection will be reported to Tusla and/or An Garda Siochana and will not be dealt with by the service.

Policy for children to make complaints:

Children have access to child-friendly complaint policies and are encouraged to talk about their problem(s) to a staff member or write it down if they prefer.
Children can approach a staff member themselves, as part of a group or through their parents.
It doesn’t matter how big or small the problem is, we will endeavour to solve it by talking about it to make things better for the child.
The procedure is that the staff member the child confides in will try resolve the issue herself and if she needs further intervention, she will contact the owner, Caroline Hosey on the child’s behalf.
We will assure the child, the issue will be dealt with in confidence.
We will explain to the child how the complaint will be resolved and give them a time frame using a calendar so they know when they will we will get back to them.
The complaint will be recorded and dated and dealt with in accordance with our complaints policy.
We will ask permission from the child to discuss their complaint with their parent/guardian.

This policy was adopted at a meeting of the childcare service.