Privacy Notice

High Well School Privacy Notice (how High Well School uses pupil information

As High Well School is a maintained School of Wakefield Council, Wakefield Council is the Data Controller for the use of personal data at High Well School. This means that they are in charge of your personal information.

The categories of pupil information that we process include:

personal identifiers and contacts (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details and address)
characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, and free school meal eligibility)
safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
medical and administration (such as doctors information, child health, dental health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
assessment and attainment (such as any relevant results)
behavioural information (such as exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)
trips and activities (such as personal identifiers)
free school meals (identity management / authentication)

Why we collect and use pupil information

The personal data collected is essential, for High Well School to fulfil their official functions and meet legal requirements. We collect and use pupil information, for the following purposes:

to support pupil learning
to monitor and report on pupil attainment progress
to provide appropriate pastoral care
to assess the quality of our services
to keep pupils safe
to meet the statutory duties placed upon us by the Department for Education

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is part of the fundamental right to privacy and the law applies to any ‘processing of personal data’. The UK data protection regime is set out in the DPA 2018 and the GDPR (which also forms part of UK law) Guide to the GDPR.

Processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that at least one of the following applies:

the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;
processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;
processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;
processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;
processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

Collecting pupil information

We collect pupil information via registration forms at the start of the school year and / or Common Transfer File (CTF) or secure file transfer from previous school

Pupil data is essential for the schools’ operational use. Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the data protection legislation, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain pupil information to us or if you have a choice in this and we will tell you what you need to do if you do not want to share this information with us.

Storing pupil data

We hold pupil data securely until the pupil reaches the age of 25 or 75 years if the pupil is on the Child Protection Register or a Looked After Child.

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

schools / colleges
local authorities
youth support services (pupils aged 13+)
the Department for Education (DfE)
CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service)
Social Services
School Nurses
IT
West Yorkshire Police
Youth Support Services / Careers Advice

Why we regularly 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.

All information is transferred securely via Cryptshare or through the DfE Schools to Schools Service via Common Transfer File.

We share pupil data so that the appropriate support, guidance and advice can be tailored to pupils.

Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about our pupils with the Department for Education (DfE) either directly or via our local authority for the purpose of those data collections, under:

Section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls, which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information, please see ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under GDPR, 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:

Headteacher

High Well School

Rookwell Road

Pontefract

WF8 2DD

Depending on the lawful basis above, you may 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
a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts

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/

For further information on how to request access to personal information held centrally by DfE, please see the ‘How Government uses your data’ section of this notice.

Last updated

January 2023

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:

Business Manager

High Well School

Rookwell Road

Pontefract

WF8 2DD

How Government uses your data

The pupil data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:

underpins school funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of children and their characteristics in each school.
informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring and school accountability and intervention (for example, school GCSE results or Pupil Progress measures).
supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy (for example how certain subject choices go on to affect education or earnings beyond school)

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

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

Much of the data about pupils in England goes on to be held in 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.

To find out more about the NPD, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information

Sharing by the Department

The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:

schools
local authorities
researchers
organisations connected with promoting the education or wellbeing of children in England
other government departments and agencies
organisations fighting or identifying crime

For more information about the Department’s NPD data sharing process, please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

Organisations fighting or identifying crime may use their legal powers to contact DfE to request access to individual level information relevant to detecting that crime. Whilst numbers fluctuate slightly over time, DfE typically supplies data on around 600 pupils per year to the Home Office and roughly 1 per year to the Police.

For information about which organisations the Department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) or to access a monthly breakdown of data share volumes with Home Office and the Police please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares

How to find out what personal information DfE hold about you

Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you are entitled to ask the Department:

if they are processing your personal data
for a description of the data they hold about you
the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source

If you want to see the personal data held about you by the Department, you should make a ‘subject access request’. Further information on how to do this can be found within the Department’s personal information charter that is published at the address below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter

To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe