(How we use pupil information)
We, Singleton Church of England Primary School, are a data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect personal information from you and may receive information about you from your previous school and the Learning Records Service.
The categories of pupil information that we collect, hold and share include:
- Admissions information
- 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)
- Assessment / attainment information
- Medical needs and administration information
- Special Educational Needs and Disability
- Additional needs information- emotional, social, behaviour needs
- Behaviour and exclusions
- Safeguarding information -such as referral information, assessment information, Section 47 information, Initial Child Protection information and Child Protection Plan information
- Trips and activities
- Catering and free school meal management
Information about you that we hold includes your contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information¹ and personal characteristics such as your ethnic group, any special educational needs you may have and relevant medical information. If you are enrolling for post 14 qualifications the Learning Records Service will give us your unique learner number (ULN) and may also give us details about your learning or qualifications
Why we collect and use this information
We use the pupil data:
- to support pupil learning
- to allocate the correct teaching resource
- to ensure the safety of pupils whilst in our care (food allergies, or emergency contact details)
- to monitor and report on pupil progress
- to provide appropriate additional support for example, pastoral care
- to assess the quality of our services
- to comply with the law regarding data sharing
- to safeguard pupils
- to meet the statutory duties placed upon us by the department for education
We will not give information about you to anyone without your consent unless the law and our policies allow us to.
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:
- for the purposes of (a), (b), (c) & (d) 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
- for the purposes of (e) in accordance with the legal basis of Vital interests: to keep children safe (food allergies, or medical conditions)
- for the purposes of
(f) in accordance with the legal basis of Legal obligation: data collected for
DfE census information.
- Section 537A of the Education Act 1996
- the Education Act 1996 s29(3)
- the Education (School Performance Information)(England) Regulations 2007
- regulations 5 and 8 School Information (England) Regulations 2008
- the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations2013
All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls, which meet the current government security policy framework.
In addition, concerning any special category data:
- In the case of ethnicity and fingerprint information: condition a: the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes, except where Union or Member State law provide that the prohibition referred to in paragraph 1 may not be lifted by the data subject.
Within education, we do process some sensitive information about children that is not set out in the legislation as a ‘special category personal data’. Notably information about children’s services interactions, free school meal status, pupil premium eligibility, elements of special educational need information, safeguarding information and some behaviour data. The DfE consider it best practice that when considering security and business processes about such data, that they are also treated with the same ‘high status’ as the special categories set out in law
Collecting pupil information
We obtain pupil information via Data Collection forms prior to the start of each academic 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 most of the pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us 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 and we will tell you what you need to do if you do not want to share this information with us.
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Storing pupil data
We hold pupil data for: –
Basic file description | Retention Period | Action at the end of the administrative life of the record. |
SEN files, reviews and Individual Educational Plans | DOB of the pupil + 25 years | SHRED |
Children’s SEN Files | Closure + 35 years | DESTROY unless legal action is pending. |
Any other record created in the course of contact with pupils | Current year + 3 years | Review at the end of 3 years and either allocate a further retention period or DESTROY. |
Safeguarding – Pupil Child Protection Case Files | DOB + 30 years | |
School Fund Financial Records | Current year + 6 years | |
School Budget | Current year + 3 years |
Who we share pupil information with
We routinely share pupil information with:
- Schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us
- Our local authority
- The Department for Education (DfE)
- NHS/school nurse agencies for the purpose of:
- Height and weight checks;
- Immunisation;
- Hearing and sight.
- General health support (school nurse)
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 the Department for Education (DfE) either
directly or via our local authority for the purpose of data collections, under:
- Section 537A of the Education Act 1996
- the Education Act 1996 s29(3)
- the Education (School Performance Information)(England) Regulations 2007
- regulations 5 and 8 School Information (England) Regulations 2008
- the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013
- All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls, which meet the current government security policy framework.
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.
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 Rachel Reeves – 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
- a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts
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/
Where we are processing your personal data with your consent, you have the right to
withdraw that consent. If you change your mind, or you are unhappy with our use of your
personal data, please let us know by contacting – Rachel Reeves – Data Protection Officer
Contact
If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:
Mrs Reeves. (School Office Manager)
How Government uses your data
The pupil data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:
- underpins school funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of children and their characteristics in each school.
- informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring (for example, school GCSE resultsor Pupil Progress measures).
- supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy. (for example,how certain subject choices go on to affect education or earnings beyond school)
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
The National Pupil Database (NPD)
Much of the data about pupils in England goes on to be held in 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.
Sharing
The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:
- schools
- local authorities
- researchers
- organisations connected with promoting the education or wellbeing of children in England • other government departments and agencies
- organisations fighting or identifying crime
For more information about the Department’s NPD data sharing process, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data
Organisations fighting or identifying crime may use their legal powers to contact DfE to request access to individual level information relevant to detecting that crime. Whilst numbers fluctuate slightly over time, DfE typically supplies data on around 600 pupils per year to the Home Office and roughly 1 per year to the Police.
For information about which organisations the Department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) or to access a monthly breakdown of data share volumes with Home Office and the Police please visit the following website:
How to find out what personal information DfE hold about you
Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you are entitled to ask the Department:
- if they are processing your personal data
- for a description of the data they hold about you
- the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
- for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source
If you want to see the personal data held about you by the Department, you should make a
‘subject access request’. Further information on how to do this can be found within the
Department’s personal information charter that is published at the address below:
To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe