Privacy Policy

 

We collect and use pupil information under the General Data Protection Regulations 2018. Particularly under Article 6, where the information is collected and used because it is required by our school in order to carry out the task of educating and ensuring the welfare of our pupils; and Article 9 where data processed is Special Category information from the GDPR – when the data is in the substantial public interest in addition to consent of the data subject and the vital interests of the data subject or another.

 

Why do we collect and use personal information?

We collect and use personal information:

  • to support pupil learning
  • to monitor and report on pupil progress
  • to provide appropriate pastoral care
  • to assess the quality of our services and how well our school is doing
  • to keep children safe (food allergies or emergency contact details)
  • statistical forecasting and planning
  • to comply with the law regarding data sharing

 

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

 

  • Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number, date of birth and address)
  • Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth)
  • Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons) and exclusions
  • Assessment information
  • Modes of travel
  • Relevant medical, special educational needs and behavioural information
  • Safeguarding information

 

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We only collect and use pupil’s 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)

Our requirement for this data and our legal basis for processing this data include 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.

Where we have obtained consent to use pupils’ personal data, this consent can be withdrawn at any time. We will make this clear when we ask for consent, and explain how consent can be withdrawn.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 personal information

Whilst the majority of personal 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 whether you are required to provide certain personal information to us or if you have a choice in this. Where we are using your personal information only on the basis of your permission you may ask us to stop processing this personal information at any time.

 

Storing personal data

We keep personal information about pupils while they are attending our school. We may also hold pupil data for / in accordance with our Data Asset Management and Retention Policy (a copy of which is available upon request to the School Office.) This schedule will detail the length of time for which the personal data will be stored.

 

Who do we share pupil information with?

We routinely share pupil information with:

  • schools that the pupils attend after leaving us
  • our local authority
  • Children’s Services
  • the Department for Education (DfE)
  • Health Professionals (school nurse, educational psychologist, speech and language
  • CAMHS, EMTAS)
  • SEND professionals or educational settings
  • Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), Independent Schools Association (ISA, Independent Schools Council (ISC)

We also provide pupil level personal data to third party organisations which supply services to us for which the provision of data is essential for the service to be provided. We currently provide pupil level data for the provision of Engage, ParentMail, The School Lunch Company and School Money/Eduspot.

 

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 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 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.

 

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. 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 automatic 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.

To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact the school by telephone (01993 831793) or by email, info@windrushvalleyschool.co.uk

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

 

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 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:

Report a concern online at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Or write to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

 

Contact Us

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact our Headteacher, Mrs Amanda Douglas

 

Cookies

www.windrushvalleyschool.co.uk (“the Website”) is owned and operated by the school. This policy explains how we use cookies. Please read this policy carefully; by accessing the Website you confirm to have understood and agreed to them.

 

1. About cookies

 

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie. Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device. You can find more information about cookies at: www.allaboutcookies.org and www.youronlinechoices.eu. For a video about cookies visit www.google.co.uk/goodtoknow/data-on-the-web/cookies. Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improve the user experience. The cookies used on this website have been categorised based on the categories found in the ICC UK Cookie guide. A list of all the cookies used on this website by category is set out below.

 

2. Cookies our website uses:

 

Performance cookies – These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works. We are using Google Analytics cookies on this website. Google cookies are used for ads personalisation.

Functionality cookies – These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make such as your user name, or saves the type of device which is being reported to the website to determine whether the site should display the mobile or desktop version. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

 

3. Blocking cookies

 

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies. Please refer to the help documentation for your browser. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics which are the performance cookies we use on this website, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

 

4. Use of Links

 

Throughout our web pages, we provide links to other servers which may contain information of interest to our readers. We take no responsibility for, and exercise no control over, the organisations, views, or accuracy of the information contained on other servers.

 

5. Accessibility

 

This website is designed to be accessible to visitors with disabilities, and to comply with national guidelines concerning accessibility (DDA Level 1). We welcome your comments. If you have suggestions on how to make the site more accessible, please contact us on our contact page of this website.

 

Disclaimer

The material on this website is provided for information purposes only and, although believed to be correct at the time of publication, is not part of any agreement between Parents and the School. The information may contain technical inaccuracies and typographical errors or be out of date but we will make every effort to rectify errors within our control.

 

Useful links

If you would like to find out more about cookies generally, you may find the following links useful:

Microsoft’s Privacy Policy
Google’s Privacy Policy
Twitter’s Privacy Policy
The Information Commissioner’s Office