Privacy Notice for Parents/Carers

(How we use pupil information)

Under data protection law, individuals have a right to be informed about how the school uses any personal data that we hold about them. We comply with this right by providing ‘privacy notices’ to individuals where we are processing their personal data.

This privacy notice explains how we collect, store and use personal data about pupils.

The categories of pupil information that we collect, hold and share include:

• Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number and address)

• Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)

• Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons)

• Assessment information

• Relevant medical information

• Special Education Needs information

• Exclusions/behavioural information

• Personal information about a pupil’s parents and/or other relatives (such as name, contact details, relationship to child)

• Safeguarding information

• Photographs

Why we collect and use this information

We use the pupil data:

• to support pupil learning

• to monitor and report on pupil progress

• to provide appropriate pastoral care

• to assess the quality of our services

• to comply with the law regarding data sharing

• To share data for statutory inspections and audit purposes

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We collect and use pupil information under

• The Education Act (various years)

• The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations

• The School Standards and Framework Act 1998

• The School Admissions Regulations 2012

• Children and Families Act 2014

• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014

• Article 6, and Article 9 (GDPR) – from 25 May 2018 (includes special category data) Special Categories of Data Policy (002) below

The DfE process census data under the various Education Acts – further information can be found on their website: https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools

Collecting pupil information

Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain pupil information to us or if you have a choice in this.

Storing pupil data

We hold pupil data for varying lengths of time depending on what the information is. The IRMS Toolkit for Schools 1^st February 2016 sets out how long we keep information about pupils and can be found below.

Who we share pupil information with

Where it is legally required, or necessary (and it complies with data protection law) we may share personal information about pupils with:

• schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us

• our local authority authority (Cambridgeshire County Council) 

• the Department for Education (DfE)

• Pupil’s family and representatives

• Ofsted

• Suppliers and service providers (e.g. Parentmail, Agora, Tapestry) to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for

• Health authorities

• Professional advisers and consultants

• Police forces, courts and tribunals

Why we share pupil information

We do not share information about our pupils with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

We share pupils’ data with the Department for Education (DfE) on a statutory basis. This data sharing underpins school funding and educational attainment policy and monitoring. We are required to share information about our pupils with our local authority (LA) and the Department for Education (DfE) under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

Data collection requirements:

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education (for example; via the school census) go to https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

The NPD is owned and managed by the Department for Education and contains information about pupils in schools in England. It provides invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department. It is held in electronic format for statistical purposes. This information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and awarding bodies.

We are required by law, to provide information about our pupils to the DfE as part of statutory data collections such as the school census and early years’ census. Some of this information is then stored in the NPD. The law that allows this is the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

To find out more about the NPD, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information.

The department may share information about our pupils from the NPD with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children in England by:

• conducting research or analysis

• producing statistics

• providing information, advice or guidance

The Department has robust processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of our data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access and use of the data. Decisions on whether DfE releases data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of:

• who is requesting the data

• the purpose for which it is required

• the level and sensitivity of data requested: and

• the arrangements in place to store and handle the data

To be granted access to pupil information, organisations must comply with strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.

For more information about the department’s data sharing process, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

For information about which organisations the department has provided pupil information, (and for which project), please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-requests-received

To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe

From you about other people

If you provide information on behalf of anyone else then in doing so you are confirming that you have explained how their information may be used by us and they have given you permission to do so.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, parents and pupils have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact Andrew Westcott, Headteacher.

You also have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress

• prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing

• object to decisions being taken by automated means

• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and

• claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we request that you raise your concern with us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact

Ian Hoare, Data Protection Officer

Via office@williamwestley.cambs.sch.uk