Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, individuals have a right to be informed about how the school uses any personal data that we hold about them.
This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, store and use personal data about pupils, parents, staff and visitors.
Lenham Primary School are a ‘data controller’ for the purposes of Data Protection law and are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, reg no. Z5531874.
Registered address- Ham Lane, Lenham, Maidstone, ME17 2QG
Our Data Protection Officer is Andy Crow, dpo@dpoforeducation.co.uk
The personal data we hold
Personal data that we may collect, use, store and share (when appropriate) about pupils, parents and staff includes, but is not restricted to:
- Contact details, contact preferences, date of birth, identification documents.
- Bank account details, payroll records, National Insurance number and tax status information.
- Results of internal assessments and externally set tests.
- Pupil and curricular records
- Characteristics, such as ethnic background, eligibility for free school meals, or special educational needs
- Exclusion information
- Details of any medical conditions, including physical and mental health
- Attendance information
- Safeguarding information
- Details of any support received, including care packages, plans and support providers.
- Photographs
- Car registration numbers
- CCTV images captured around school.
We may also hold data about pupils that we have received from other organisations, including other schools, Ofsted, local authorities and the Department for Education.
Why we use this data
We use this data to:
- Support pupil learning.
- Monitor and report on pupil progress.
- Provide appropriate pastoral care.
- Protect pupil welfare.
- Facilitate safe recruitment, as part of our safeguarding obligations towards pupils
- Enable staff payment.
- Carry out research.
- Comply with the law regarding data sharing.
Our legal basis for using this data
We only collect and use personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we process it where:
- We need to comply with a legal obligation.
- Fulfill a contract with you.
- Carry out a task in the public interest.
- We have obtained consent to use it in a certain way.
Less commonly, we may also process personal data in situations where:
- We need to protect the individual’s vital interests (or someone else’s interests)
- We have legitimate interests in processing the data – for example, where:
- Fraud prevention
- Ensuring network and information security
- Marketing
Where we have obtained consent to use 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 personal data overlap, and there may be several grounds which justify our use of this data.
Collecting this information
While most of the information we collect about pupils is mandatory, there is some information that can be provided voluntarily.
Whenever we seek to collect information from you or your child, we make it clear whether providing it is mandatory or optional. If it is mandatory, we will explain the possible consequences of not complying.
How we store this data
We keep personal information about pupils while they are attending our school. We may also keep it beyond their attendance at our school if this is necessary in order to comply with our legal obligations. We follow the Information and Records Management Society’s Toolkit for schools, click here Information and Records Management Society’s toolkit for schools
Data sharing
We do not share information about pupils with any third party without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.
Where it is legally required, or necessary (and it complies with data protection law) we may share personal information about pupils with:
- The Department for Education - to meet our legal obligations as part of data collections such as the School Census
- The pupil’s family and representatives – in case of emergencies such as a health matter
- Educators and examining bodies – necessary for the performance of our education function.
- Our regulator, Ofsted – to enable it to evaluate the education we provide to your child/ward, which is in the public interest.
- Suppliers and service providers – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for. For example, Parent Pay, CPOMS
- Follow on schools/other schools – which your child/ward attends after leaving their current school, in the public interest of delivering education.
- Our auditors – to meet our finance obligations as part of a statutory requirement i.e. Annual Report and Accounts
- Health and social welfare organisations/third parties – to enable us to comply with our duty of care and statutory safeguarding duties for your child/ward’s welfare. This may include Therapists, Medical Staff, CAHMS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), School Counsellors, Social Care, Educational Welfare Office (EWO)
- Professional bodies – necessary for the performance of our education function
- Police forces, courts, tribunals – in order to uphold law and order.
National Pupil Database
We are required to provide information about pupils to the Department for Education as part of statutory data collections such as the school census.
Some of this information is then stored in the National Pupil Database (NPD), which is owned and managed by the Department and provides evidence on school performance to inform research.
The database is held electronically so it can easily be turned into statistics. The information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and exam boards.
The Department for Education may share information from the NPD with other organisations which promote children’s education or wellbeing in England. Such organisations must agree to strict terms and conditions about how they will use the data.
For more information, see the Department’s webpage on how it collects and shares research data.
You can also contact the Department for Education with any further questions about the NPD.
Data Security and Confidentiality
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep personal data secure against unauthorised or unlawful processing, and against accidental loss, destruction or damage. For example,
- Our staff members have received training in data protection and cyber security.
- Access to your personal data is restricted to the relevant members of staff.
- Where hard copies are created, these are securely stored.
- According to each department’s process and procedure, your personal data will be periodically reviewed and securely deleted if required.
- Internal systems and networks are regularly tested.
Transferring data internationally
Where we transfer personal data to a country or territory outside the United Kingdom, we will do so in accordance with Data Protection Law.
Photographs and Media
As part of our activities, we may take photographs and may allow external organisations to take photographs or to film within our school. You will be made aware when this is happening and the context in which the photograph will be used.
We will take photographs for use by the school. Usually these will be unnamed and will generally be for internal school use but may also include photographs for publications such as:
- Photographs included in the school magazine.
- Photographs to be used on display boards which can be seen by visitors to the School
- Photographs posted on the school’s official social media sites such as Facebook and its own website. Such sites can be accessed by the public and will therefore require close monitoring by school staff to ensure they are appropriate.
Named photographs may be used for internal use where there is a clear lawful basis for doing so i.e., for identifying pupils such as medical or safeguarding requirements.
For all other purposes, consent will be sought from parents.
CCTV
The school operates CCTV on their premises. This is considered necessary to protect staff and pupils’ safety and the property of the school.
Your rights regarding personal data
Individuals have a right to make a ‘subject access request’ to gain access to personal information that the school holds about them.
Parents/carers can make a request with respect to their child’s data where the child is not considered mature enough to understand their rights over their own data (usually under the age of 13), or where the child has provided consent.
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 automated 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.
If you would like to make a request, please contact our main reception or our Data Protection Officer.
Other rights
Under data protection law, individuals have certain rights regarding how their personal data is used and kept safe, including the right to:
- Object to the use of personal data if it would cause, or is causing, damage or distress.
- Prevent it being used to send direct marketing.
- Object to decisions being taken by automated means (by a computer or machine, rather than by a person)
- In certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data corrected, deleted or destroyed, or restrict processing.
- Claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the data protection regulations.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer.
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 our data processing, please raise this with us in the first instance.
To make a complaint, please contact our Data Protection Officer.
Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office:
- Report a concern online at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
- Call 0303 123 1113
- Or write to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Contact us
If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information about anything mentioned in this privacy notice, please contact
School office on 01622 858260
or
Data Protection Officer: Andy Crow, dpo@dpoforeducation.co.uk Tel 01702 660234
Please visit our policies page for current Data Protection information.