Privacy Notice (How we use student information)

For parents/carers

This privacy notice explains how we collect, store and use personal data about students. We, Horsforth School are the ‘data controller’ for the purpose of data protection law. Our Data Protection officer is Lauren Robinson, Director of HR.

We collect and use student information under the Education Act 1996. We will only collect and use students information when the law allows us to. Most often, we will use the information where:

• We need to comply with the law
• We need to use it to carry out a task in the public interest (in order to provide an education)

Sometimes we may also use student’s personal information where:

• You have given us permission to use it in a certain way
• We need to protect your interests (or someone else interest)

Where we have obtained permission to use the data, you or the student may withdraw this at any time. We will make this clear when we ask for permission, and explain how to go about withdrawing consent.

Why we collect and use this information

We use the student data:

• to support student learning
• to monitor and report on student progress
• to provide appropriate pastoral care
• to assess the quality of our services
• to comply with the law regarding data sharing

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

• Personal information (such as name, unique student number and address
• Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)
• Emergency Contact Information (such as name, address, email and telephone numbers)
• Attendance information (such as sessions and lessons attended, number of absences and absence reasons)
• Assessment Information (such as current grade, target grade, Key Stage results, exam results)
• Medical Information (such as medical conditions, medical history, appointment details)
• Special Educational needs information (such as child protection information,
• Behavioural Information (such as behaviour incidents, behaviour sanctions, dates of incidents)
• Curriculum information (such as subjects currently studying, subjects intending to study)
• Post 16 information (such as student destinations, University application details, University references)
• Photographs and CCTV images (for publicity, identification and site monitoring)

Collecting student information

Whilst the majority of student 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 (GDPR).

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We are legally obliged to collect data to comply with the following legislation:

• Section 537a and Section 29 of The Education Act 1996
• Regulation 5 of The Education (Information about Individual Pupils)(England) Regulations 2013
• The Education (School Performance Information)(England) Regulations 2007
• Article 6 and Article 9 of the new GDPR laws; provide some of the underpinning purposes for School’s data collection.
• The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

Storing student data

We follow legislation on how long we hold student data in school. In accordance with the GDPR, the school does not store personal data indefinitely; data is only stored for as long as it necessary to complete the tasks for which it was originally collected.

We comply with GDPR strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and use of the data.

Who we share student information with

We do not share personal information about student’s with anyone outside of the school without permission from you or the student, unless the law and our policies allow us to do so where it is legally required, or necessary for another reason allowed under the data protection law, we may share personal information about students with:

• Our local Authority – to meet our legal duties to share certain information with it, such as concerns about students safety and exclusions
• The Department for Education
• Your family and representatives
• Other educators and examining bodies
• Our regulator e.g. Ofsted
• Suppliers and service providers – so that they can provide the services we have contracted them for
• Our auditors
• Survey and research organisations
• Health and social care authorities
• School nurse
• Security organisations
• Health and social welfare organisations
• Professional advisors and consultants
• Charities and voluntary organisations
• Police forces, courts, tribunals and immigration

Why we share student information

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

We share students’ 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 students with the (DfE) under regulation 5 of The Education (Information about Individual Students) (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.

Youth support services – Students aged 13+

Once our students reach the age of 13, we also pass student 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

A parent or guardian can request that only their child’s name, address and date of birth is passed to their local authority or provider of youth support services by informing us. This right is transferred to the child / student once he/she reaches the age 16.

Students aged 16+

We will also share certain information about students 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

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

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

The NPD is owned and managed by the Department for Education and contains information about students 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 students 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 Students) (England) Regulations 2013.

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

The department may share information about our students 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 student 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 student information, (and for which project), please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-student-database-requests-received

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

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, parents/carers and students 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 info@horsforthschool.org marked for the attention of Lauren Robinson, Data Protection Officer.

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/

Complaints

We take any complaints about our collection and use of personal information very seriously. If you think that our collection or use of personal information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate, or have any other concern about our data processing, please raise this with us in the first instance.

To make a complaint, please contact our data protection officer.

Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk/conerns/,

Call 03031231113,

Or write to: Information Commissioner’s Officer, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Online Data Collection

Cookies

We use a cookies tool on our website to gain consent for the optional cookies we use.

Cookies that are necessary for functionality, security and accessibility are set and are not deleted by the tool.

Cookies in no way give us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer.

Analytics

When you visit our website we use a third-party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out such things as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site.

We also use third-party services to conduct our online advertising such as Facebook, Instagram and Google paid advertising (list not exhaustive).  In the same way as Google Analytics, we use them to collect standard tracking information and details of behaviour patterns of those interacting with our advertising.

The information collected is only processed in a way that does not directly identify anyone. We do not make, and do not allow third-parties to make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website or interacting with our online advertising.

If we do collect personal data through our website, we’ll be upfront about this. We’ll make it clear when we collect personal information and we’ll explain what we intend to do with it.

Search Engine

Our website search and decision notice search is powered by our website. Search queries and results are logged anonymously to help us improve our website and search functionality. No identifiable personal information is collected by us.

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact: Lauren Robinson, Data Protection Officer at info@horsforthschool.org, by phone on 0113 2265454 or by post addressed to the Data Protection Officer, Horsforth School, Lee Lane East, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 5RF.