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Charles Darwin School

Privacy notice for pupils 2020

CHARLES DARWIN SCHOOL

Privacy Notice 2020

How we use pupil information

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

  • Personal identifiers and contacts (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details, contact preferences, date of birth, identification documents and address)
  • Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language and free school meal eligibility)
  • Safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
  • Special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
  • Medical and administration (such as doctors information, medical conditions including physical and mental health, dental health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
  • Attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
  • Assessment and attainment (results of internal assessments and externally set tests, post 16 courses enrolled for and any relevant results)
  • Behavioural information (such as exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)
  • Pupil and Curricular records
  • Details of any medical conditions, including physical and mental health
  • Details of any support received including care packages, plans and support providers
  • Photographs
  • CCTV images captured in school
  • Post 16 learning information

We may also hold data about pupils that we have received from other organisations, including other schools, local authorities and the Department for Education.

Why we collect and use this information

We use the pupil data:

  • to support pupil learning
  • to monitor and report on pupil attainment progress
  • to provide appropriate pastoral care
  • to protect pupil welfare
  • to assess the quality of our services
  • to keep children safe (food allergies or emergency contact details)
  • to meet the statutory duties placed upon us for DFE data collections

     

We collect and use pupils’ personal data when the law allows us to.  Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the lawful bases we rely on for processing pupil information are:

  • We need to comply with a legal obligation
  • We need it to perform an official task in the public interest

In addition concerning any special category data we may also process pupils’ personal data in situations where:

  • We have obtained consent to use it in a certain way
  • We need to protect the individual’s vital interests (or someone else’s interests)

Some of the reasons listed above for collecting and using pupils’ personal data overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of this data.

Collecting pupil information

We collect pupil information via pupil information forms at the start of the school year and throughout a child’s time at school, via the Common Transfer File (CTF) or secure file transfer from a previous school.

Pupil data is essential for the school’s operational use.  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 at the point of collection 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 securely for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule.  The school 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.  The school’s GDPR Policy is available on our website: www.cdarwin.com.

We keep personal information about pupils while they are attending our school.  We may also keep it beyond their attendance at our school if this is necessary in order to comply with our legal obligations.  Our policy is to abide by the recommendation within the Information and Records Management Society’s toolkit for schools.

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

  • Schools that the pupils attend after leaving us
  • Our local authority – to meet our legal obligations to share certain information with it, such as safeguarding concerns and exclusions
  • The Department for Education (DfE)
  • The pupil’s family and representatives
  • Educators and examining bodies
  • Our regulator e.g. Ofsted
  • Suppliers and service providers – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for
  • Financial organisations
  • Central and local government
  • Our auditors
  • Survey and research organisations
  • Health authorities
  • Security organisations
  • Health and social welfare organisations including School Nurses and the NHS
  • Professional advisers and consultants
  • Charities and voluntary organisations
  • Police forces, courts, tribunals
  • Professional bodies
  • Youth support services (for pupils aged 13+)

Why we regularly 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 the (DfE) under regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

Data sharing with the DFE is via a secure web link.  Data sharing with the Local Authority and others is in accordance with the school’s GDPR Policy.

Youth support services

Pupils aged 13+

Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we also pass pupil information to our local authority and / or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.

This enables them to provide services as follows:

  • youth support services
  • careers advisers

The information shared is limited to the child’s name, address and date of birth.  However, where a parent or guardian provides their consent, other information relevant to the provision of youth support services will be shared.  This right is transferred to the child / pupil once they reach the age 16.

Data is securely transferred to the youth support service via secure email and is stored securely either electronically on our IT systems or in a locked room and held for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule.  Our policy is to abide by the recommendation within the Information and Records Management Society’s toolkit for schools.  

Pupils aged 16+

We will also share certain information about pupils aged 16+ with our local authority and / or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.

This enables them to provide services as follows:

  • post-16 education and training providers
  • youth support services
  • careers advisers

Data is securely transferred to the youth support service via XXXX and is stored XXX and held for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule.  Our policy is to abide by the recommendation within the Information and Records Management Society’s toolkit for schools.  

For more information about services for young people, please visit our local authority website.

Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections.  We are required to share information about our pupils with the Department for Education (DfE) either directly or via our local authority for the purpose of those data collections under regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information please see “How Government uses your data” section.

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 Mrs. D. Paterson, Admissions Secretary, or Mr. J. Simpson, Assistant Headteacher.

You also have the right to:

  • to ask us for access to information about you that we hold
  • to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
  • to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
  • to restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
  • to object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics
  • not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you

 

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

 

Withdrawal of consent and the right to lodge a complaint

Where we are processing your personal data with your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent. If you change your mind, or you are unhappy with our use of your personal data, please let us know by contacting Mrs. D. Paterson, Admissions Secretary, or Mr. J. Simpson, Assistant Headteacher.

Last Updated

We may need to update this privacy notice periodically so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time.  This version was last updated on 1st May 2019.

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact Mrs. D. Paterson, Admissions Secretary, or Mr. J. Simpson, Assistant Headteacher.

 

How Government uses your data

The pupil data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:

  • underpins school funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of children and their characteristics in each school.
  • informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring and school accountability and intervention (for example, school GCSE results or Pupil Progress measures).
  • supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy (for example how certain subject choices go on to affect education or earnings beyond school)

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)

Much of the data about pupils in England goes on to be held in 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.

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

Sharing by the Department

The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:

  • schools and local authorities
  • researchers
  • organisations connected with promoting the education or wellbeing of children in England
  • other government departments and agencies
  • organisations fighting or identifying crime

For more information about the Department’s NPD data sharing process, please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

 

Organisations fighting or identifying crime may use their legal powers to contact DfE to request access to individual level information relevant to detecting that crime. Whilst numbers fluctuate slightly over time, DfE typically supplies data on around 600 pupils per year to the Home Office and roughly 1 per year to the Police.

For information about which organisations the Department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) or to access a monthly breakdown of data share volumes with Home Office and the Police please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares

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