Personal information and data protection in our School

Our School holds a lot of personal information – about pupils, parents, teachers etc, and the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the law that says how we can hold, use and store it. We’ve always been very careful with the personal data we hold and we’ll continue to have the highest standards under the new laws.

We have a school Privacy Notice on the website which tells you what personal information we collect and hold, what we do with it, who we share it with and how long we keep it for as well as other important information. We’ve also updated our Data Protection Policy, available on the website.

The new law gives people more rights about how their personal information is handled. You can find out more about this on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.  We also have a Data Protection Officer, Mr Neil Scruton, who is independent of the School and provides advice on School provision made under GDPR. He is supported by Mr D Thompson, our School Data Protection Manager. They can be contacted by email: sar@eltonhigh.bury.sch.uk or by telephone: 0161 763 1434.

Please rest assured that our School knows how important your and your child’s information is, and takes all appropriate measures to make sure it is kept safe and secure, processed lawfully and fairly and only shared with people that the law allows us to.

If you’re interested in how Bury Council is handling personal information under the new law have a look at their website and their privacy notice.

Note to Parents

We need to hold personal information about your child both in electronic and paper form to help us with their educational needs. The School is responsible for their accuracy and safekeeping. We collect and use pupil information to comply with regulations such as Education Acts, the Children’s Act 2004 and the General Data Protection Regulation.

Whilst the majority of information you provide to us on your child 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 information to us or if you have a choice in this.

School staff have access to your child’s records to enable them to do their jobs and information may be shared with others involved in your child’s care, if it is necessary. Anyone with access to your child’s records is properly trained in confidentiality issues and is governed by a legal duty to keep their details secure, accurate and up to date. All information about your child is held securely and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent accidental loss.

The categories of your child’s information that we collect, hold and share, include personal information such as their name, their unique pupil number, address and parental contact details. We also hold educational records such as assessments, results and any Special Educational Needs (SEN) information the child may have and measures in place to assist them.

We hold pupil data for as short a time as possible that is consistent with our statutory and legal obligations. We use the Information and Record Management Society’s Toolkit for Schools to inform our decisions on retention periods. This means that we will not hold your child’s records for longer than we need to.

We do not share information about our pupils with anyone without consent, unless the law and our policies allow us to do so. The law allows us to share data with third parties, where they are carrying out duties for the School and appropriate controls are in place.

We also collect information about parents to meet our legal duties and reasons such as to support learning and keep your child safe. Typically, this data includes information such as contact details including e-mail, telephone number and address. We also collect information held in relation to the school’s statutory responsibilities, including in respect of safeguarding and child protection, equalities, health and safety and Special Educational Needs.

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 please contact the school, sar@eltonhigh.bury.sch.uk.

Please refer to our Privacy Notice on the School website for further details of our data protection policy. Please contact the School should you have any questions or concerns regarding both your and your child’s personal data.