Privacy Policy
Privacy Notice GDPR Compliant Schools
Identity and contact details
Our postal address is:
Olchfa School
Gower Road
Sketty
Swansea
SA2 7AB
Our website address is:
www.olchfa.org.uk
Issues of how data is handled are dealt with by the Headteacher or the School’s Interim
Data Protection Officer (Mr Kim Collis, Local Authority Data Protection Officer, with
support from Mr Rhodri Jones, Interim Information Governance Officer).
As a public authority, we must comply with all relevant legislation relating to data
handling. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the supervisory authority in
the United Kingdom established to ensure that your data rights are upheld.
Categories of personal data we hold
Obtaining, recording, holding and dealing with personal information is known as
‘processing’.
As a school the vast majority of information we collect is about our pupils but we do
also hold key information needed about parents / guardians and staff members.
Generally a school file may include:-
- Attendance data
- Academic achievements and progress
- Ethnicity
- Wellbeing and pertinent health information (medication, allergies and illnesses)
- Free School Meal eligibility
- Contact details of parents and guardians
- Minutes of meetings relating to the child
- Any statement of Special Educational Need and reviews of the same
- Reports and referrals to and from from other agencies if applicable – Youth
Offending Service and Social Services for example
The school as an employer will also hold a personnel file for all staff and this file will
generally consist of:-
- Contact details
- Bank details, National Insurance Number for payroll purposes
- Details of any references or DBS checks where applicable
- Details of driving licence and vehicle MOT / Insurance
- Details of any disciplinary action
- Information regarding sickness and annual leave
How the School collects and uses personal data
The School has a responsibility to provide its pupils with a good education in a safe
environment. It is necessary to collect personal data to enable the school to provide
pupils with an education, to track and monitor academic progress and to ensure those
with parental responsibility are kept informed of key milestones and achievements.
Some of the information will be provided to us by parents / guardians and some will be
generated by us whilst the pupil is in our School.
Here are some examples of how we collect and use your data:
Providing an education:
We generate and then hold the reports of a pupil’s progress and any examination
results. We generate and keep attendance data which can be analysed to ensure that
children are attending school regularly and attending on time. The school will on
occasion utilise educational apps and websites with the children, all of which will be
undertaken under the supervision of a staff member.
Maintaining school discipline and awarding positive behaviour:
As part of the school file we will create a behaviour record that would include all
significant incidents of breaches of the school discipline policy. This would include any
fixed term or permanent exclusions. The school file will also include examples of
excellence and achievements.
Keeping learners safe and improving wellbeing:
There may be occasion when the school will collect documentation regarding the
wellbeing of pupils. It is a legal requirement for all schools to develop and have in place
systems of safeguarding and promoting the wellbeing of children in their care. This
may involve documenting concerns and receiving information from other agencies
such as social services when they have a worry about a pupil. Monitoring wellbeing
allows the school to ensure the best possible services and support are available to the
pupil and their families.
This school also operates CCTV cameras within its grounds. The purpose of these
cameras are to maintain school discipline and to keep learners safe.
Keeping parents updated and involved in the school:
We do collect details of parents and guardians to ensure that we are able to keep you
informed of school events and activities.
To enable efficient administration and reduce the need for children to be carrying
money:
We have adopted a biometric fingerprint system for school meal purchases which
parents and pupils can take advantage of.
Recruitment:
When individuals apply to work for the School, we will only use the information they
supply to process their application and to monitor equal opportunities statistics.
Personal information about unsuccessful candidates will be held for six months after
the recruitment process has been completed, it will then be destroyed securely.
Once a person has taken up employment with the School we compile a personnel file
relating to their employment. The information contained in this is kept secure and will
only be used for purposes directly relevant to that employment.
The Source of Personal Data
The vast majority of personal data we hold will have been generated in the course of a
pupil attending the school or will have been provided to us directly from you. There
are occasions where personal data is collected about you in other ways.
This includes:
- When partner agencies share information with us to provide a joined-up service
to you.
- When you move into our local authority area, data may be shared from the
previous school or local authority area.
People We Share Data With
Service Provision:
We may share data with others to enable a requested or statutory service to be
provided. This could be where we use another agency to deliver the service for us or
where we collaborate with other agencies. An example would be that information
would be shared with the Local Authority to enable an assessment of a child’s special
educational needs. Another example would be the supply of information at your
request to contribute to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health assessment.
Transfer of information to another school/local authority:
Personal information about you may also be provided to other local authorities or
schools. An example would be where you have moved from one area to another or
start at a new school. The school file will be securely transferred to the new Local
Authority / School.
Health Information
In some circumstances we may share information with NHS professionals providing
services to our school children. This would be for services such as vaccinations, dental
provision and school nursing activities.
We may collect health information on staff members when such information is
supplied as part of the sickness policy and / or following referrals to occupational
health.
Transfer of information required by law:
We also share personal information where we are required to do so by law. Examples
include where we are required by law to report matters to Welsh Government who
then in turn publish a lot of the data they receive:
https://statswales.gov.wales/catalogue/education-and-skills
Another example would be our duties to share information with social services when
they are carrying out their protective functions or the police when carrying out
investigations.
How long we keep your data
Data is held for no longer than is necessary and the School follows legal guidelines on
how long information should be kept before it is securely destroyed.
The timeframe for holding data is different depending on the type of data involved.
To see our full retention schedule please visit our website where the retention
schedule is included in our Data Protection Policy.
Transfers outside the European Economic Area
We do not share personal information beyond the European Economic Area (EEA) save
for should a pupil move to a school outside of the EEA. This is quite rare but does occur
particularly with children of British Forces personnel. In this circumstance the school
file will be securely transmitted to the new school / authority as appropriate.
Your Data Rights
In so far as is compatible with legal requirements you have a number of rights in
respect of your data:
1. Rightto be informed. We must be completely transparent with you by
providing information ‘in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible
form, using clear and plain language’. Our privacy notice is one of the ways we
try and let you know how data is handled.
2. Right of access. You have the right to access your personal information. Parents
also have the right to access the educational record of the pupil.
3. Rightto rectification: You have the right without undue delay to request the
rectification or updating of inaccurate personal data.
4. Rightto restrict processing: You can ask for there to be a restriction of
processing such as where the accuracy of the personal data is contested. This
means that we may only store the personal data and not further process it
except in limited circumstances
5. Rightto object: You can object to certain types of processing such as direct
marketing. The right to object also applies to other types of processing such as
processing for scientific, historical research or statistical purposes (although
processing may still be carried out for reasons of public interest).
6. Rights on automated decision making and profiling: The law provides
safeguards for you against the risk that a potentially damaging decision is taken
without human intervention. The right does not apply in certain circumstances
such as where you give your explicit consent.
7. Rightto data portability: where personal data is processed on the basis of
consent and by automated means, you have the right to have your personal data
transmitted directly from one data controller to another where this is
technically possible.
8. Rightto erasure or ‘rightto be forgotten’: you can request the erasure of
personal data including when: (i) the personal data is no longer necessary in
relation to the purposes for which they were collected (ii) you no longer provide
your consent, or (iii) you object to the processing.
The Information Commissioner regulates data handling by organisations in the U.K.
and work to uphold the data rights of citizens, their website provides more information
on the rights available to you:
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/
Withdrawing Consent
If you consented to providing your personal information to us and you have changed
your mind and you no longer want the School to hold and process your information,
please let us know.
If you encounter any difficulties in withdrawing consent, please contact the
Headteacher [email protected] or the School’s Interim Data
Protection Officer [email protected] (Kim Collis, Local Authority Data
Protection Officer, with support from Rhodri Jones, Interim Information Governance
Officer).
Automated Decision Making and Profiling
The School does not carry out automated decision-making, and as such any decision
taken by us which affects you will always include human intervention. We do on
occasion carry out profiling and track the progress of pupils to enable us as a School to
target services to those who are in need of help and support.
The Rightto Complain About Data Handling
The School sets very high standards for the collection and appropriate use of personal
data. We therefore take any complaints about data handling very seriously. We
encourage you to bring to our attention where the use of data is unfair, misleading or
inappropriate and we also welcome suggestions for improvement.
Informal Resolution:
In the first instance we would ask that you try and resolve data handling issues directly
with the Headteacher or any member of the senior leadership team
[email protected]. We are committed to handling data
appropriately and are confident that we can resolve most issues informally.
Formal Resolution:
You can ask for your issue to be investigated by writing to:
The School’s Interim Data Protection Officer [email protected] (Mr
Kim Collis, Local Authority Data Protection Officer, with support from Mr Rhodri
Jones, Interim Information Governance Officer).
If you remain dissatisfied following the response to your contact with the school, if it
relates to issues of data handling you can raise the issue with the Information
Commissioner. It is free of charge to contact the Information Commissioner and
request their assistance.
Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales
2nd Floor, Churchill House
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Telephone: 029 2067 8400
Fax: 029 2067 8399
Email: [email protected]