GILDED HOLLINS COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Privacy Notice 2024-2025

(How we use pupil information)

The categories of pupil information that we process include:

• Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number, address, telephone numbers)
• 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, any previous schools attended)
• Safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
• Parents date of birth (optional)
• Travel information
• Permissions for photographs, local walks, use of internet
• Behavioural information e.g. exclusions
• Medical information (such as doctors’ information, child health, dental health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
• Special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
• Assessment and attainment (such as early year profile, key stage 1, phonics results, key stage 2 results)

Why we collect and use this information

We collect and use pupil information, for the following reasons:

• to support pupil learning
• to monitor and report on pupil attainment progress
• to provide appropriate pastoral care
• 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 (i.e school census)
• to keep GPs informed of updates to Health Care Plans created in school
• to be able to write a travel plan
• to access funding for children eligible
• for smooth transition

The lawful basis on which we use this information

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing pupil information are:

• in accordance with the legal basis of Public task: collecting the data is necessary to perform tasks that schools are required to perform as part of their statutory function 

• in accordance with the legal basis of vital interests: to keep children safe (food allergies, or medical conditions)

• in accordance with the legal basis of Legal obligation: data collected for DfE census information.

• • Section 537A of the Education Act 1996 o the Education Act 1996 s29(3) 
  • the Education (School Performance Information)(England) Regulations 2007  o regulations 5 and 8 School Information (England) Regulations 2008  o the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 

We collect and use pupil information under Article 6 and Article 9 of the GDPR from the 25^th May 2018 where data processed is a special category.

Education Act 1996 departmental censuses – this information can be found in the census guide documents on the following website https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collectionand-censuses-for-schools

How we collect pupil information

We collect pupil information via pupil data collection forms e.g. at the start of the school year.  In addition, when a child joins us from another school, we are sent a secure file containing relevant information.

Pupil data is essential for the schools’ operational use. Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with GDPR 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 length of time that children attend school. 

Personal data that has become inaccurate or out of date will be disposed of securely.

We hold pupil data securely for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule.

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

• schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us
• our local authority
• relevant professional education personnel
• the Department for Education (DfE) 
• NHS (when requested)
• Emergency services (to respond to any emergency situation)
• Where the disclosure is required to satisfy our safeguarding obligations

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/datacollection-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-andsupporting-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  

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 the school office.

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

Any questions, concerns or further information in regards to the privacy notice above, please contact the school office who will direct you to our Data Protection Officer