THE BISHOPSWOOD SCHOOLS FEDERATION

PRIVACY NOTICE FOR PARENTS AND PUPILS

(HOW WE USE PERSONAL INFORMATION)

Bishopswood Schools Federation is the Data Controller for the use of personal data in this privacy notice

Why do we collect and use personal information?

We collect and use personal information:

• to support pupil learning
• to monitor and report on pupil attainment and progress
• to provide appropriate pastoral care
• to assess the quality of our services
• statistical forecasting and planning
• to keep children safe (food allergies, medical needs, emergency contact details)
• to meet the statutory duties placed upon us by the Department for Education

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

• Personal identifiers (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details and address)
• Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)
• Safeguarding information (such as court orders, professional involvement, pastoral concerns)
• Special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
• Medical and administration (such as doctors information, child health, dental health. Allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
• Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons and any previous schools attended) and exclusions
• Assessment information (such as key stage 1 and 2 and phonics results)
• Behavioural information (such as details of incidents, exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)

The General Data Protection Regulation allows us to collect and use pupil information with consent of the data subject, where we are complying with a legal requirement, where processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of a data subject or another person and where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller. When the personal information is Special Category Information we may rely on processing being in the substantial public interest in addition to consent of the data subject and the vital interests of the data subject or another.

Our requirement for this data and our legal basis for processing this data includes the Education Act 1996, 2002 and 2011, The Children’s Act 1989 and 2004, Education and Skills Act 2008, Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Equalities Act 2010. 2

Bishopswood Schools Federation collects and uses pupil information to comply with legal obligation and protection of vital interests (ref: Article 6, and Article 9 where data processed is special category data from the GDPR)

Collecting personal information

Pupil data is essential for the school’s operational use. Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the data protection legislation, 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 and we will tell you what you need to do if you do not want to share this information with us.

Storing personal data

We hold pupil data for / in accordance with our retention schedule. Which can be found in the GDPR section of our website:

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

• schools that the pupils attend after leaving us
• local authorities
• Children’s Services
• the Department for Education (DfE)
• Health Professionals (school nurse, NHS, educational psychologist, speech and language, CAMHS, EMTAS)
• SEND professionals or other educational settings

Why we share pupil information:

We do not share personal information 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. 3

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

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 Denise Morgan (Data Protection Officers) via the school office.

You also have the right, subject to some limitations 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, 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/

Contact:

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact Mrs Denise Morgan (Data Protection Officer) via the school office

Notice Reviewed – March 2023

Next Review – March 2025

 

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