Privacy Notice

How we use pupil information

Soar Valley College collects, holds and personal information about pupils and may also receive information about them from their previous school, local authority, partner organisations (such as the Police, NHS) and/or the Department for Education (DfE).

What data do we use

The types of data the school holds includes:

  • Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details and address(es))
  • 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 as teacher assessments, test and examination results)
  • Relevant medical information
  • Information relating to Special Educational Needs (SEND)
  • Behavioural information (such as number of temporary exclusions)
  • Safeguarding information (such as court orders or professional involvement)

Why we collect and use this information

We use the pupil data:

  • 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
  • to undertake marketing and promotional activities
  • to protect and safeguard pupils
  • to meet the statutory duties place upon us for DfE data collections

What allows us to use this information

The Education Acts are the main laws that allows us to use data without the consent of the pupil or their parent / guardian. Schools have a ‘legal obligation’ or have ‘official authority’ to process the data.

In some cases the school may enter into a contract with you.

Sometimes consent will be required e.g. for using a child’s photograph in promotional materials.

You can find a list of reasons why we can use pupil information, including sharing data with the local authority, in Appendix A. 

Collecting pupil information

We collect information from you and may receive information about you from previous schools, Local Authority and The Learning Records Service.

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

We collect and use pupil information under Articles 6 and 9 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulations)

We hold pupil data for the time they are at this school and 9 years after leaving, until the pupil is 25 years old, at which point records are securely destroyed.

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

  • schools and/or post-16 provision that the pupil attends after leaving us
     this includes assessment information and relevant safeguarding information 
  • our local authority, including Connexions in order to comply with our legal obligations for statutory data returns such as School Census
  • the Department for Education (DfE) in order to comply with our legal obligations for statutory data returns such as Key Stage Two tests
  • Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust for delivery of child health services, such as inoculation programmes and school nurses. They also use information about pupils for data research and statistical purposes.
  • NHS Digital for analysing and presenting a range of health & social care data, including height and weight of pupils
  • Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Learning Records Service (LRS)
  • Leicester Education Strategic Partnership (LESP), including Leicester Primary Partnership (LPP) and the Education Improvement Partnership (EIP)
  • Leicestershire Police
  • Contractors providing IT and other services
  • Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) and relevant exam boards

See Appendix B for more details.

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) because we have to by law. This is used to give out school funding and for 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:

You can see what we have to send for the school census here: https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

Youth support services

Pupils aged 13+ 

Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we also pass pupil information to our local authority (including Connexions) 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 or 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. 

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

In accordance with Regulations 23 and 35 of the Representation of the People Regulations (2001), the basic details of young people aged 16+ are used by the local authority for the purposes of encouraging registration and verifying identity prior to entry on the Register of Electors.

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 Principal Mrs J Robinson, or the school’s Data Protection Officer – Miss J Brandwood. 

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, restricted, exported 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. If you are then unhappy with our response, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk

Further information is available on the school website:

http://www.soarvalley.leicester.sch.uk/assets/Documents/Privacy-Notice-May-2018.pdf

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact: Mrs J Robinson, Principal or Miss J Brandwood, Business Manager