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Privacy Notice

Use of your child’s personal data

Under data protection law, individuals have a right to be informed about how St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School, Taswell Road, Southsea, Hampshire, PO5 2RG uses any personal data that we hold about them. We comply with this right by providing ‘privacy notices’ (sometimes called ‘fair processing notices’) to individuals where we are processing their personal data.  This privacy notice explains how we collect, store and use personal data about pupils.

We, St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School, Taswell Road, Southsea, Hampshire, PO5 2RG, are the ‘data controller’ for the purposes of data protection law.  Our Data Protection Officer is the Administration Manager (see ‘Contact us’ below).

The personal data we hold

Personal data that we may collect, use, store and share (when appropriate) about pupils includes, but is not restricted to:

  • 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)
  • Exclusions information (such as start date, number of days, category, reason and correspondence to parents)
  • Assessment information (in year and end of key stage assessment scores/grades for each subject)
  • Special Educational Need information (such as provision, needs, placements, payments, medical information, care information)
  • Medical information (such as medical need, GP contact data, specialist contact details)
  • School history (such as school name, dates attended)
  • Contact information (Address, Telephone number, email address)
  • Parent/Carer information (such as name, address, contact details)
  • Emergency contact information (such as name, address, contact details)
  • Photographs
  • Videos

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 use this data

We use this data to:

  • Support pupil learning
  • Monitor and report on pupil progress
  • Provide appropriate pastoral care
  • Protect pupil welfare
  • Assess the quality of our services
  • Administer admissions waiting lists
  • Carry out research
  • Comply with the law regarding data sharing
Our legal basis for using this data

We only collect and use pupils’ personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we process it where:

  • We need to comply with a legal obligation
  • We need it to perform an official task in the public interest
  • Less commonly, 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)
  • Where we have obtained consent to use pupils’ personal data, this consent can be withdrawn at any time. We will make this clear when we ask for consent, and explain how consent can be withdrawn.

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 this information

While the majority of information we collect about pupils is mandatory, there is some information that can be provided voluntarily.  Whenever we seek to collect information from you or your child, we make it clear whether providing it is mandatory or optional. If it is mandatory, we will explain the possible consequences of not complying.

How we store this data

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. The Information and Records Management Society Toolkit for Schools sets out how long we keep information about pupils.  A paper copy is available from the School Office.

Data sharing

We do not share information about pupils with any third party without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.  Where it is legally required, or necessary (and it complies with data protection law) we may share personal information about pupils with:

  • Our local authority – to meet our legal obligations to share certain information with it, such as safeguarding concerns and exclusions
  • Educators and examining bodies – to meet our legal obligations to share certain information with them
  • Our regulator, Ofsted – to meet our legal obligations to share certain information with it
  • Suppliers and service providers – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for
  • Health authorities – to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person
  • Health, social welfare organisations – to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person
  • Professional advisers and consultants – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for
  • Charities and voluntary organisations – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for
  • Police forces, courts, tribunals – to meet our legal obligations to share certain information with them schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us
  • Other local authorities if they have responsibility for a child has SEN/LAC
  • Department for Education (DfE) under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

Daily attendance will be shared with the Portsmouth Local Authority’s commissioned service called ‘Welfare Call Ltd’ for all Portsmouth Looked After Children attending this school.

Under the public duties of the Portsmouth Local Authority for improving education standards in Portsmouth, relevant personal information (name and address) will be passed to the Library Service to enable them to issue all Reception year pupils with their own library card.

Under the public duties of the Portsmouth Local Authority for moderating teacher assessments in Portsmouth, relevant personal information (UPN, name, subject and result) will be passed to our moderators from Southampton City Council in order for them to carry out their contracted dues on behalf of Portsmouth Local Authority.

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.

National Pupil Database

We are required by law to provide information about pupils to the Department for Education as part of statutory data collections such as the school census and early years’ census.

Some of this information is then stored in the National Pupil Database (NPD), which is owned and managed by the Department and provides evidence on school performance to inform research.

The database is held electronically so it can easily be turned into statistics. The information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and exam boards.  The law that allows this is the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

To find out more about the pupil information we share with the department, for the purpose of data collections, go to https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

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

Transferring data internationally

Where we transfer personal data to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area, we will do so in accordance with data protection law.

Parents and pupils’ rights regarding personal data

Individuals have a right to make a ‘subject access request’ to gain access to personal information that the school holds about them.

Parents/carers can make a request with respect to their child’s data where the child is not considered mature enough to understand their rights over their own data (usually under the age of 12), or where the child has provided consent.

If you make a subject access request, and if we do hold information about you or your child, we will:

  • Give you a description of it
  • Tell you why we are holding and processing it, and how long we will keep it for
  • Explain where we got it from, if not from you or your child
  • Tell you who it has been, or will be, shared with
  • Let you know whether any automated decision-making is being applied to the data, and any consequences of this
  • Give you a copy of the information in an intelligible form

Individuals also have the right for their personal information to be transmitted electronically to another organisation in certain circumstances.

If you would like to make a request please contact our Data Protection Officer.

You also have the right to:

  • object to the 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

Parents/carers also have a legal right to access to their child’s educational record. To request access, please contact the Administration Manager, St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School, Taswell Road, Southsea PO5 2RG.  Tel: 023.9282.9339.  Email: [email protected].

 

Other rights

Under data protection law, individuals have certain rights regarding how their personal data is used and kept safe, including the right to:

  • Object to the use of personal data if it would cause, or is causing, damage or distress
  • Prevent it being used to send direct marketing
  • Object to decisions being taken by automated means (by a computer or machine, rather than by a person)
  • In certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data corrected, deleted or destroyed, or restrict processing
  • Claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the data protection regulations

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer.

 

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 Commissioner’s Office:

Report a concern online at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Call 0303 123 1113

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

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information about anything mentioned in this privacy notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer:

  • Administration Manager, St Swithun’s Catholic Primary School, Taswell Road, Southsea PO5 2RG
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Tel: 023.9282.9339
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