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John Ray Infant School

John RayInfant School

Privacy Notice

GDPR Privacy Notice

Who processes your information?

John Ray Infant School respects you and your child’s privacy when you use the organisation’s services and is committed complying with privacy legislation.

The information below is what is referred to as a ‘Privacy Notice’ which explain how the organisation uses and protects your personal information.

John Ray Infant School has a Data Protection Officer whose role it is to ensure that any personal information processed by the organisation is processed fairly and lawfully (respecting your rights and ensuring we follow the law). If you have any concerns or questions regarding how we look after your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Officer Lauri Almond, at igs@essex.gov.uk  or by calling 0333 032 2970.

Why do we collect and use your information?

John Ray Infant School holds the legal right to collect and use personal data relating to pupils and their families, and we may also receive information regarding them from their previous school, LA and/or the DfE. We collect and use personal data in order to meet legal requirements and legitimate interests set out in the GDPR and UK law, including those in relation to the following:

  • Article 6 and Article 9 of the GDPR
  • Education Act 1996
  • Regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013
  • In accordance with the above, the personal data of pupils and their families is collected and used for the following reasons:
  • To support pupil learning
  • To monitor and report on pupil progress
  • To provide appropriate pastoral care
  • To assess the quality of our service
  • To comply with the law regarding data sharing
  • To safeguard pupils
  • To allow parents/carers to make payments to the school

Which data is collected?

The categories of pupil information that the school collects, holds and shares include the following:

  • Personal information – e.g. names, unique pupil numbers, addresses and parental and emergency  contact details
  • Characteristics – e.g. ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility
  • Attendance information – e.g. number of absences and absence reasons
  • Assessment information – e.g. national curriculum assessment results
  • Relevant medical information
  • Information relating to SEND
  • Behavioural information – e.g. number of temporary exclusions

Whilst the majority of the personal data you provide to the school is mandatory, some is provided on a voluntary basis. When collecting data, the school will inform you whether you are required to provide this data or if your consent is needed. Where consent is required, the school will provide you with specific and explicit information with regards to the reasons the data is being collected and how the data will be used.

How long is your data stored for?

Personal data relating to pupils at John Ray Infant School and their families is stored in line with the school’s GDPR Data Protection Policy. In accordance with the GDPR, the school does not store personal data indefinitely; data is only stored for as long as is necessary to complete the task for which it was originally collected.

Will my information be shared?

Yes we routinely share pupil information with:

  • schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us
  • our local authority
  • the Department for Education (DfE)
  • School Nurse
  • NHS
  • Parentmail
  • Curriculum software
  • Target Tracker assessment software
  • Tapestry assessment software
  • Capita SIMS
  • Tucasi School Meals
  • Inventry sign in solutions

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/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 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. To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact the schools Headteacher or Office Manage.

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/

What are your rights?

Parents and pupils have the following rights in relation to the processing of their personal data.

You have the right to:

  • Be informed about how John Ray Infant School uses your personal data.
  • Request access to the personal data that John Ray Infant School holds.
  • Request that your personal data is amended if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • Request that your personal data is erased where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
  • Request that the processing of your data is restricted.
  • Object to your personal data being processed.

 

Where the processing of your data is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time. If you have a concern about the way John Ray Infant School and/or the DfE is collecting or using your personal data, you can raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted on 0303 123 1113, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Contact

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

Mrs Lisa Christian, Headteacher