PRIVACY NOTICE FOR PARENTS / CARERS OF PUPILS ATTENDING WATLING VIEW SCHOOL

Watling View School collects data and information about parents / carers of our pupils so that we can operate effectively as a school.  This privacy notice explains how and why we collect parent / carer data, what we do with it and what rights parents have.

The term “parent” is widely defined in education law to include the natural or adoptive parents (regardless of whether parents are or were married, whether a father is named on a birth certificate or has parental responsibility for the pupil, with whom the pupil lives or whether the pupil has contact with that parent), and also includes non-parents who have parental responsibility for the pupil, or with whom the pupil lives.  It is therefore possible for a pupil to have several “parents” for the purposes of education law.  This privacy notice also covers other members of pupils’ families who we may process data about from time to time, including, for example, siblings, aunts and uncles and grandparents.

Privacy Notice (How we use parent / carer information)

Watling View is a Good (Ofsted, 2020) maintained special school for children and young people aged 3-19 with severe and profound learning needs such as complex physical disabilities, high health needs, Autism and sensory impairments and associated communication and learning needs. We are located on the southern side of central St Albans, and offer our students a safe, dynamic and highly individualised education appropriate to each person’s level of ability.

Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) is Herts for Learning who can be contacted at DPO@watlingview.herts.sch.uk.

Why do we collect and use parent / carer information?

We collect and use parent / carer information under the following lawful bases:

1. where we have the consent of the data subject (Article 6 (a));
2. where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (Article 6 (c));
3. where processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another person (Article 6(d));
4. where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller (Article 6 (e)).

Where the personal data we collect about parents / carers is sensitive personal data, we will only process it where:

1. we have explicit consent;
2. processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent; and / or

1. processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, where we respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

Please see our Data Protection Policy for a definition of sensitive personal data.

We use the parent / carer data to support our functions of running a school, in particular but not limited to:

1. to decide who to admit to the school;
2. to maintain a waiting list;
3. to support pupil learning;
4. to monitor and report on pupil progress;
5. to provide appropriate pastoral care;
6. to assess the quality of our services;
7. to comply with the law regarding data sharing;
8. for the protection and welfare of pupils and others in the school, including our safeguarding / child protection obligations;
9. for the safe and orderly running of the school;
10. to promote the school;
11. to send you communications that may be of interest to you which may include information about school events or activities, news, campaigns, appeals, other fundraising activities;
12. in order to respond to investigations from our regulators or to respond to complaints raised by our stakeholders;
13. in connection with any legal proceedings threatened or commenced against the school.

The categories of parent / carer information that we collect, hold and share include but are not limited to:

1. Personal information such as name, address, telephone number and email address
2. Information relating to your identity, marital status, employment status, religion, ethnicity, language, medical conditions, nationality, country of birth and free school meal / pupil premium eligibility / entitlement to certain benefits, information about court orders in place affecting parenting arrangements for pupils
3. Information regarding Child Protection or Safeguarding
4. Information about criminal proceedings

From time to time and in certain circumstances, we might also process personal data about parents / carers, some of which might be sensitive personal data, information about criminal proceedings / convictions or information about child protection / safeguarding.  This information is not routinely collected about parents / carers and is only likely to be processed by the school in specific circumstances relating to particular pupils, for example, if a child protection issue arises or if a parent / carer is involved in a criminal matter. 

Where appropriate, such information may be shared with external agencies such as the child protection team at the Local Authority, the Local Authority Designated Officer and / or the Police.  Such information will only be processed to the extent that it is lawful to do so and appropriate measures will be taken to keep the data secure.

We collect information about parents / carers before pupils join the school and update it during pupils’ time on the roll as and when new information is acquired.

Collecting parent / carer information

Whilst the majority of information about parents / carers provided 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 parent / carer information to us or if you have a choice in this. Where appropriate, we will ask parents / carers for consent to process personal data where there is no other lawful basis for processing it, for example where we wish to ask your permission to use your information for marketing purposes.  Parents / carers may withdraw consent given in these circumstances at any time.

In addition, the School also uses CCTV cameras around the school site for security purposes and for the protection of staff and pupils.  CCTV footage may be referred to during the course of disciplinary procedures (for staff or pupils) or investigate other issues.  CCTV footage involving parents / carers will only be processed to the extent that it is lawful to do so.  Please see our CCTV policy for more details.

Storing parent / carer data

A significant amount of personal data is stored electronically, for example, on our database, SIMS.  Some information may also be stored in hard copy format.

Data stored electronically may be saved on a cloud based system which may be hosted in a different country.

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, insurance or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you. Once you are no longer a parent / carer we will retain and securely destroy your personal information in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Who do we share parent / carer information with?

We routinely share parent / carer information with the following organisations including but not limited to:

• Schools or colleges or other establishments that  pupils attend after leaving us;
• Social Services
• Youth Connexions
• 0-25 Together Teams
• Parentmail (Communication Software)
• Inventry (Visitor Management Software)
• Arbor (Data Management Software)

From time to time, we may also share parent / carer information other third parties including but not limited to the following:

• our local authority - Herts County Council;
• a pupil’s home local authority (if different);
• the Department for Education (DfE);
• school governors / trustees;
• the Police and law enforcement agencies;
• NHS health professionals including the school nurse, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, music therapists, educational psychologists,
• Education Welfare Officers;
• Courts, if ordered to do so;
• the Teaching Regulation Authority;
• Prevent teams in accordance with the Prevent Duty on schools;
• other schools, for example, if we are negotiating a managed move and we have your consent to share information in these circumstances;
• our legal advisors;
• our insurance providers / the Risk Protection Arrangement;
• CPOMS (Child Protection Software)

Some of the organisations referred to above are joint data controllers. This means we are all responsible to you for how we process your data.  In the event that we share personal data about parents / carers with third parties, we will provide the minimum amount of personal data necessary to fulfil the purpose for which we are required to share the data.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, parents / carers have the right to request access to information about them that we hold (“Subject Access Request”).  To make a request for your child’s personal data, or be given access to your child’s educational record, please contact the school’s DPO, although any written request for personal data will be treated as a Subject Access Request.

The legal timescales for the School to respond to a Subject Access Request is one calendar month.  As the School has limited staff resources outside of term time, we encourage parents / carers to submit Subject Access Requests during term time and to avoid sending a request during periods when the School is closed or is about to close for the holidays where possible.  This will assist us in responding to your request as promptly as possible.  For further information about how we handle Subject Access Requests, please see our Data Protection Policy.

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is manifestly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

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 our data protection responsibilities.

RIGHT TO WITHDRAW CONSENT

In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact the DPO or School Business Manager. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.

DATA PROTECTION OFFICER

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the DPO at DPO@watlingview.herts.sch.uk.  You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY NOTICE

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.

PRIVACY NOTICE FOR PUPILS ATTENDING WATLING VIEW SCHOOL

Watling View School collects a lot of data and information about our pupils so that we can run effectively as a school.  This privacy notice explains how and why we collect pupils’ data, what we do with it and what rights parents and pupils have.

Privacy Notice (How we use pupil information)

Watling View is a Good (Ofsted, 2020) maintained special school for children and young people aged 3-19 with severe and profound learning needs such as complex physical disabilities, high health needs, Autism and sensory impairments and associated communication and learning needs. We are located on the southern side of central St Albans, and offer our students a safe, dynamic and highly individualised education appropriate to each person’s level of ability.

Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) is Herts for Learning who can be contacted at DPO@watlingview.herts.sch.uk.

Why do we collect and use pupil information?

We collect and use pupil information under the following lawful bases:

• where we have the consent of the data subject (Article 6 (a));
• where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation (Article 6 (c));
• where processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or another person (Article 6(d));
• where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller (Article 6 (e)).

Where the personal data we collect about pupils is sensitive personal data, we will only process it where:

• we have explicit consent;
• processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent; and / or
• processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

Please see our Data Protection Policy for a definition of sensitive personal data.

We use the pupil data to support our statutory functions of running a school, in particular:

• to decide who to admit to the school;
• to maintain a waiting list;
• to support pupil learning;
• to monitor and report on pupil progress;
• to provide appropriate pastoral care;
• to assess the quality of our services;
• to comply with the law regarding data sharing;
• for the protection and welfare of pupils and others in the school;
• for the safe and orderly running of the school;
• to promote the school;
• to communicate with parents / carers.

The categories of pupil information that we collect, hold and share include but not limited to:

• personal information (such as name, unique pupil number and address);
• characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, medical conditions, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility);
• attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons)
• assessment information,
• relevant medical / child protection / safeguarding information,
• special educational needs information,
• exclusions / behavioural information,
• post 16 learning information.

From time to time and in certain circumstances, we might also process personal data about pupils, some of which might be sensitive personal data, including information about criminal proceedings / convictions, information about sex life and sexual orientation, child protection / safeguarding.  This information is not routinely collected about pupils and is only likely to be processed by the school in specific circumstances relating to particular pupils, for example, if a child protection issue arises or if a pupil is involved in a criminal matter.  Where appropriate, such information may be shared with external agencies such as the child protection team at the Local Authority, the Local Authority Designated Officer and / or the Police.  Such information will only be processed to the extent that it is lawful to do so and appropriate measures will be taken to keep the data secure.

We collect information about pupils when they join the school and update it during their time on the roll as and when new information is acquired.

Collecting pupil information

Whilst the majority of pupil 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 pupil information to us or if you have a choice in this. Where appropriate, we will ask parents for consent to process personal data where there is no other lawful basis for processing it, for example where we wish to use photos or images of pupils on our website or on social media to promote school activities or if we want to ask your permission to use your information for marketing purposes.  Parents may withdraw consent at any time.

When pupils are deemed to be old enough to make their own decisions in relation to their personal data, we will also ask the pupil for their consent in these circumstances.  This is usually be around the age of 13.  However, this is only relevant to pupils with the maturity and understanding to make their own decisions about their personal data.  As a school for pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties, we do not have any pupils with this level of maturity or understanding.

In addition, the School also uses CCTV cameras around the school site for security purposes and for the protection of staff and pupils.  CCTV footage may be referred to during the course of disciplinary procedures (for staff or pupils) or investigate other issues.  CCTV footage involving pupils will only be processed to the extent that it is lawful to do so.  Please see our CCTV policy for more details.

Storing pupil data

We hold pupil data according to the limits set out in the Information Management Toolkit for Schools (www.irms.org.uk).

A significant amount of personal data is stored electronically, for example, on our MIS database.  Some information may also be stored in hard copy format.

Data stored electronically may be saved on a cloud based system which may be hosted in a different country.

Who do we share pupil information with?

We routinely share pupil information with:

• schools that  pupils attend after leaving us;
• our local authority – Herts County Council;
• a pupil’s home local authority (if different);
• the Department for Education (DfE);
• school governors / trustees;
• exam or assessment boards;
• Youth Connexions;
• 0-25 Together Teams
• Parentmail
• SchoolComms/School Gateway
• SIMS (Data Management Software)

From time to time, we may also share pupil information other third parties including the following:

• the Police and law enforcement agencies;
• NHS health professionals including the school nurse, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, music therapists, educational psychologists,
• Education Welfare Officers;;
• Courts, if ordered to do so;
• the National College for Teaching and Learning;
• the Joint Council for Qualifications;
• Prevent teams in accordance with the Prevent Duty on schools;
• other schools, for example, if we are negotiating a managed move and we have your consent to share information in these circumstances;
• our HR providers, for example, if we are seeking HR advice and a pupil is involved in an issue;
• our legal advisors;
• our insurance providers / the Risk Protection Arrangement;
• CPOMS (Child Protection Software)

Some of the above organisations may also be Data Controllers in their own right in which case we will be jointly controllers of your personal data and may be jointly liable in the event of any data breaches. 

In the event that we share personal data about pupils with third parties, we will provide the minimum amount of personal data necessary to fulfil the purpose for which we are required to share the data.

Aged 14+ qualifications

For pupils enrolling for post 14 qualifications, the Learning Records Service will give us a pupil’s unique learner number (ULN) and may also give us details about the pupil’s learning or qualifications.

Why we share pupil information

We do not share information about our pupils with anyone without consent unless the law allows 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/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

Youth support services

What is different about pupils aged 13+?

Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we also pass pupil 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 / 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.

Our pupils aged 16+

We will also share certain information about pupils 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 the Herts Direct website.

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 DfE 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 (“Subject Access Request”).  Where a child does not have the maturity to make their own requests for personal data, parents may do so on their behalf in a special school setting.  To make a request for your child’s personal data, or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact our Data Protection Officer, although any written request for personal data will be treated as a Subject Access Request.

Subject to the section below, the legal timescales for the School to respond to a Subject Access Request is one calendar month.  As the School has limited staff resources outside of term time, we encourage parents / pupils to submit Subject Access Requests during term time and to avoid sending a request during periods when the School is closed or is about to close for the holidays where possible.  This will assist us in responding to your request as promptly as possible.  For further information about how we handle Subject Access Requests, please see our Data Protection Policy.

Parents of pupils who attend a maintained school have a separate statutory right to access their child’s educational record.  Upon receipt of a written request for a pupil’s educational record, the School will respond to it within 20 school days. This is an independent legal right of parents which falls outside of the GDPR, therefore a pupil’s consent is not required even if a pupil is able to make their own decisions in relation to their personal data unless a court order is in place which states otherwise.]

The term “parent” is widely defined in education law to include the natural or adoptive parents (regardless of whether parents are or were married, whether a father is named on a birth certificate or has parental responsibility for the pupil, with whom the pupil lives or whether the pupil has contact with that parent), and also includes non-parents who have parental responsibility for the pupil, or with whom the pupil lives.  It is therefore possible for a pupil to have several “parents” for the purposes of education law.

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 our data protection responsibilities.

If you have a 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 at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Contact:

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:

Herts for Learning at DPO@watlingview.herts.sch.uk - Data Protection Officer