Complaints and Critical Incidents

1) Complaints
LSI has an open-door policy and encourages immediate feedback with the belief that if we listen tostakeholders and Learner Voice and then act responsibly, fairly and appropriately, we can avoid any
formal complaints.
To date, this approach has worked and is working well. Currently, no complaints need to be recordedand we are proud that any issues have been resolved quickly and professionally.
Our internal and external grievance procedures can be found below. For the purposes of reporting
complaints, we define a complaint as an issue escalating to a point where the English New Zealand,
NZQA or DRS come into play.

LSI GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
Educational problems:
A student with a problem related to classes should: Talk to the class teacher
 If the problem is not solved, talk to or email Academic Management or thePrincipal
 If the problem is not solved, write to your Agent with a copy to the Principal
 If the problem is not solved, write to English New Zealandhttps://www.enz.govt.nz/
 If the problem is not solved, write to NZQA http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/

Non-educational problems:
A student with problems related to finances, accommodation or health should: Talk to the class teacher or email Accommodation Coordinator or Reception
 If the problem has not been solved, talk to or email the Principal
 If the problem is not solved, write to your Agent with a copy to the Principal
 If the problem is not solved, contact Student Complaints,
http://www.istudent.org.nz/
Please see “Who can I talk to?” in the Student Handbook/on school notice boards for
specific contact information.
Student with problem

Talk to class teacher or accommodation
coordinator

Problem solved

Problem not solved yet

Talk to/email Academic Management or thePrincipal

Problem solved

Problem not solved yet

Write to English New Zealand or NZQA

Problem solvedIf you have a complaint or a problem…
If you have a problem, please let us know. You can talk to your teacher, the student counsellor or one of our office staff. You can also make an
appointment to see the school Director.
Our school is a member of English New Zealand. If you have a complaint that we haven’t been able to resolve, you may wish to write to ourprofessional body and ask for assistance using admin@englishnewzealand.co.nz
If English New Zealand is unable to resolve your complaint, or if you do not think your complaint has been dealt with adequately, you can contact theNew Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). You can find out more information at https://www2.nzqa.govt.nz/about-us/contactus/complaint/education-provider/#e10734_heading1
If your complaint relates to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021, you can complete an online
form at https://www2.nzqa.govt.nz/about-us/contact-us/complaint/code-of-pastoral-care/
If it is a financial or contractual dispute, more information is available on the iStudent website https://www.istudent.org.nz/. From 1 January 2024, allfinancial and contractual disputes will be dealt with through the Disputes Resolution Scheme (DRS) managed by Fairway Resolution Limited, thecurrent managers of iStudent.
NZQA has produced a brochure for international students about the complaints process http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/Providers-and-partners/Code-ofPractice/int-students-make-a-complaint-updated.pdf
October 2023

https://www.istudent.org.nz/

2) Critical Incidents
What is the definition of a critical incident?
The World Health Organisation (WHO), describes a critical incident as an event out of the range of normal experience – one which is sudden andunexpected, involves the perception of a threat to life and can include elements of physical and emotional loss.

LSI maintains an Accidents, Incidents and Counselling Logbook. All incidents are recorded here, no matter how small or trivial in appearance. Personal
information is protected to meet privacy requirements. LSI looks for patterns and implements strategies to help us avoid similar negative experiences. These
have involved:-staff attending workshops e.g. Mental health and well-being
in-house professional development seminars
working closely with the police and their international student liaison
new monthly meetings e.g. Under-18 meetings, Japanese-speakers meetings
contacting and organising first-language or incident-appropriate external counsellors
annually reviewing Health and Safety policies and proceduresannually reviewing Education out of the Classroom / Activity procedures
ensuring the Building Warrant of Fitness is current
responding quickly to outbreaks e.g. covid, meningococcal virus, measles
updating emergency and evacuation procedures in response to local incidents

LSI has systems in place to help us deal with critical incidents and we are quick to respond to the unexpected. To date, we are fortunate to have had no
critical incidents that would warrant reporting besides a meningococcal case that required a stay in ICU. LSI staff visited regularly, and we are proud to saythat the homestay family and our Accommodation Coordinator went above and beyond in their support and communication with the family. All is well now
and the family have expressed such gratitude at the help and support given that we are immensely proud of our team and our homestay family. We did takethe opportunity to recommend at pre-arrival stage to all new students that they keep up to date with their vaccinations etc. Pre-arrival documents wereupdated with this information too.
If any further information is required about what we do to look after out students, please email Brad broberts@lsi.edu .