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New Students – GDPR Privacy Notice

September 2022

Privacy Notice (How we use pupil information)

This notice is to make clear how and why The Commonweal School collect personal information about you and what we do with this data.  The Commonweal School is the data controller of the personal information you provide us.  The school determines the purposes for which any personal data relating to pupils and their families is to be processed.

Why do we collect and use your information?

The Commonweal 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, the Local Authority (LA) and/or the Department for Education (DfE).  We collect and use personal data in order to meet the legal requirements and legitimate interests set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK law, including those in relation to the following:

  • Article 6(1)(e) – public task, data processing which is necessary to allow the school to function, and Article 9(2)(e) – data processed with the explicit consent of an individual, 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

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

 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 information (such national curriculum assessment results / levels)
  • Behaviour information (such as detention sessions)
  • Relevant Medical Information (such as allergies)
  • School meals information (such as transactions within the school canteen)
  • Biometric data (such as fingerprint scanning for canteen purchases)
  • Information relating to SEND

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.

Storing pupil data

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 intended.

Personal data relating to pupils at The Commonweal School and their families is stored in line with the school’s Data Protection Policy and from May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation Policy (GDPR).

Who do 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)
  • School Information Management System (SIMS)
  • Exam Boards
  • MLS Library System

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 (DfE) under regulation 5 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. This right is transferred to the child / pupil once he/she reaches the age 16.

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 our local authority 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 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 Data Protection Officer (DPO), The Commonweal School, The Mall, Swindon, SN4 1JE.

You can contact the DPO in writing at the above address or via email dpo@commonweal.co.uk

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, 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:

  • The Data Protection Officer, The Commonweal School, The Mall, Swindon, SN4 1JE

Declaration – please see the online student registration form that was sent to you, to confirm that you have read this notice and understand the following: (www.commonweal.co.uk/register)

  • The Commonweal School has a legal and legitimate interest to collect and process my personal data in order to meet statutory requirements.
  • How my data is used.
  • The Commonweal School may share my data with the DfE, and subsequently the LA.
  • The Commonweal School will not share my data to any other third parties without my consent, unless the law requires the school to do so.
  • The Commonweal School will always ask for explicit consent where this is required, and I must provide this consent if I agree to the data being processed.
  • My data is retained in line with the school’s Data Protection Policy.
  • My rights to the processing of my personal data.
  • Where I can find out more information about the processing of my personal data