Privacy Notice
1. The scope of this privacy notice
i. This notice is for Wishford Schools (Group) Ltd (The Group), the data controller for the purposes of this Privacy Notice under the Data Protection Law and relevant policies (General Data Protection Regulation [EU 2016/679] and the UK Data Protection Act 2018.) Wishford Schools (Group) Ltd is a company, registered in England with registration number 8982719.
ii. This notice is intended to provide information about how The Group will use (or “process”) the personal data individuals who do not work for, or act on behalf of The Group, including: its current, past and prospective pupils; and their parents, carers or guardians (referred to in this notice as “parents”).
iii. This notice is provided because Data Protection Law gives individuals rights to understand how their data is used. Parents and pupils are all encouraged to read this Privacy Notice and understand The Group’s obligations to its entire community.
iv. This notice applies alongside any other information The Group may provide about a particular use of personal data.
v. This notice also applies in addition to The Group’s other relevant terms and conditions and policies, including: The contract between The Group and the parents of pupils as set out in The Group’s Terms of Business; The Group’s IT: Acceptable Use policy; and The Group’s Safeguarding and Health and Safety policies.
vi. Any individual who works for, or acts on behalf of, The Group (including staff, volunteers, governors and service providers) should be aware of and comply with this notice when dealing with your data.
2. Oversight
The Group has appointed Paul Easterbrook as the Data Protection Officer email: data.protection@wishford.co.uk; Tel: +44 (0)1249 713908) who will deal with all your requests and enquiries concerning The Group’s uses of your personal data (see section on Your Rights below) and endeavour to ensure that all personal data is processed in compliance with this policy and Data Protection Law.
3. Reasons for processing personal data
In order to carry out its ordinary duties to pupils and parents, The Group needs to process a wide range of personal data about individuals (including current, past and prospective pupils or parents) as part of its daily operation. The Group will need to carry out some of this activity in order to fulfil its legal rights, duties or obligations, or otherwise as necessary to fulfil contractual obligations. The Group expects that the following uses will fall within those categories:
i. For the purposes of the admissions of pupils to The Group (and to confirm the identity of prospective pupils and their parents);
ii. To provide education services, including musical education, physical training or spiritual development and extra-curricular activities to pupils, and monitoring pupils’ progress and educational needs;
iii. Maintaining relationships with alumni and The Group community, including direct marketing, event notification or fundraising activity, including by sending updates and newsletters, by email and by post;
iv. To enable relevant authorities to monitor The Group’s performance and to intervene or assist with incidents as appropriate;
v. To give and receive information and references about past, current and prospective pupils, including relating to outstanding fees or payment history, to/from any educational institution that the pupil attended or where it is proposed they attend; and to provide references to potential employers of past pupils;
vi. To enable pupils to take part in national or other assessments, and to publish the results of public examinations or other achievements of pupils of The Group;
vii. To safeguard pupils’ welfare and provide appropriate pastoral care;
viii. To monitor (as appropriate) use of The Group’s IT and communications systems in accordance with The Group’s IT: Acceptable Use policy;
ix. To make use of photographic images of pupils in school publications, on The Group’s websites and (where appropriate) on The Group’s social media channels in accordance with The Group’s IT: Acceptable Use policy;
x. For security purposes;
xi. To carry out or cooperate with any school or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process;
xii. Where otherwise reasonably necessary for The Group’s purposes, including to obtain appropriate professional advice and insurance for The Group; and
xiii. To share limited personal data about parents and/or alumni, as appropriate, with organisations set up to help establish and maintain relationships with The Group community.
In addition, The Group will on occasion need to process special category personal data (concerning health, ethnicity, religion, biometrics or sexual life) or criminal records information (such as when carrying out DBS checks) in accordance with rights or duties imposed on it by law, including as regards safeguarding and employment, or from time to time by explicit consent where required. These reasons will include:
xiv. To safeguard pupils’ welfare and provide appropriate pastoral (and where necessary, medical) care, and to take appropriate action in the event of an emergency, incident or accident, including by disclosing details of an individual’s medical condition or other relevant information where it is in the individual’s interests to do so: for example for medical advice, for social protection, safeguarding, and cooperation with police or social services, for insurance purposes or to caterers or organisers of school trips who need to be made aware of dietary or medical needs;
xv. To provide educational services in the context of any special educational needs of a pupil;
xvi. To provide spiritual education in the context of any religious beliefs;
xvii. As part of any school or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process that involves such data, for example if there are SEN, health or safeguarding elements; or
xviii. For legal and regulatory purposes (for example child protection, diversity monitoring and health and safety) and to comply with The Group’s legal obligations and duties of care).
4. Types of data
This will include by way of example:
i. names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact details;
ii. car details (about those who use our car parking facilities);
iii. bank details and other financial information, e.g. about parents who pay fees to The Group; past, present and prospective pupils’ academic, disciplinary, admissions and attendance records (including information about any special needs), and examination scripts and marks;
iv. where appropriate, information about individuals’ health and welfare, and contact details for their next of kin;
v. references given or received by The Group about pupils, and relevant information provided by previous educational establishments and/or other professionals or organisations working with pupils;
vi. correspondence with and concerning pupils and parents past and present; and
vii. images of pupils (and occasionally other individuals) engaging in school activities, and images captured by The Group’s CCTV system;
5. Data collection
Generally, The Group receives personal data from the individual directly (including, in the case of pupils, from their parents). This may be via a form, or simply in the ordinary course of interaction or communication (such as email or written assessments). However, in some cases personal data will be supplied by third parties (for example another school, or other professionals or authorities working with that individual); or collected from publicly available resources.
6. Data management
i. Occasionally, The Group will need to share personal information relating to its community with third parties, such as: professional advisers (e.g. lawyers, insurers, PR advisers and accountants); government authorities (e.g. DfE, police or the local authority); and appropriate regulatory bodies e.g. Teaching Regulation Agency, the Independent Schools Inspectorate, or the Information Commissioner.
ii. For the most part, personal data collected by The Group will remain within The Group, and will be processed by appropriate individuals only in accordance with access protocols (i.e. on a ‘need to know’ basis). Particularly strict rules of access apply in the context of: medical records held and accessed only by appropriate staff, or otherwise in accordance with express consent; and pastoral or safeguarding files. However, a certain amount of any SEN pupil’s relevant information will need to be provided to staff more widely in the context of providing the necessary care and education that the pupil requires.
iii. Staff, pupils and parents are reminded that The Group is under duties imposed by law and statutory guidance (including Keeping Children Safe in Education) to record or report incidents and concerns that arise or are reported to it, in some cases regardless of whether they are proven, if they meet a certain threshold of seriousness in their nature or regularity. This is likely to include file notes on personnel or safeguarding files, and in some cases referrals to relevant authorities such as the LADO or police. For further information about this, please view The Safeguarding Policy.
iv. In all cases of data management, staff across the group have been made aware of the following minimum standards as part of their training on this policy:
• All staff must read this policy and the IT: Acceptable Use policy and sign the Acceptable Use agreement.
• Personal data is not printed into a hard copy unless absolutely necessary.
• Hard copies which include personal data should not leave the school site unless absolutely necessary and, in all cases where it is necessary, the data should remain under close supervision and not taken into public spaces.
• Electronic data should be stored on secure systems which are encrypted and password protected.
• Devices used to process data must be password protected and have up to date virus and malware checking software installed.
• Devices and accounts should be logged off/locked after use.
• Only school devices should be used to process personal data. If personal data has to be temporarily downloaded onto a personal device, it should be deleted at the earliest possible convenience.
• Group emails/correspondence should go through the school office and all staff must remain vigilant and ensure that personal data is not shared with others via school publications.
• Staff must be able to recognise a data breach and know the reporting process.
v. Some of The Group’s processing activity is carried out on its behalf by third parties, such as IT systems, web developers or cloud storage providers. This is always in accordance with Data Protection Law and therefore subject to contractual assurances that personal data will be kept securely and only in accordance with The Group’s specific directions.
7. Retaining Data
i. The Group will retain personal data securely and only in line with how long it is necessary to keep for a legitimate and lawful reason.
ii. Typically, the legal recommendation for how long to keep ordinary pupil personnel files is up to 7 years following departure from The Group. However, incident reports and safeguarding files may need to be kept longer, in accordance with any specific legal requirements.
iii. If you have any specific queries about our retention of data, or wish to request that personal data that you no longer believe to be relevant is considered for erasure, please contact The Group’s data protection officer, please bear in mind that The Group will often have lawful and necessary reasons to hold on to some personal data even following such request.
iv. A limited and reasonable amount of information will be kept for archiving purposes, for example, a list of archived contact details, and even where you have requested we no longer keep in touch with you, we will need to keep a record of the fact in order to fulfil your wishes (called a “suppression record”).
8. Your rights
The rights under Data Protection Law belong to the individual to whom the data relates. The Group will often rely on parental authority or notice for the necessary ways it processes personal data relating to pupils – for example, under the parent contract, or via a form. Parents and pupils should be aware that this is not necessarily the same as The Group relying on strict consent. Where consent is required, it may in some cases be necessary or appropriate – given the nature of the processing in question, and the pupil’s age and understanding – to seek the pupil’s consent. Parents should be aware that in such situations they may not be consulted, depending on the interests of the child, the parents’ rights at law or under their contract, and the specific circumstances.
In general, The Group will assume that pupils’ consent is not required for ordinary disclosure of their personal data to their parents, e.g. for the purposes of keeping parents informed about the pupil’s activities, progress and behaviour, and in the interests of the pupil’s welfare. That is unless, in The Group’s opinion, there is a good reason to do otherwise. However, where a pupil seeks to raise concerns confidentially with a member of staff and expressly withholds their agreement to their personal data being disclosed to their parents, The Group may be under an obligation to maintain confidentiality unless, in The Group’s opinion, there is a good reason to do otherwise; for example, where The Group believes disclosure will be in the best interests of the pupil or other pupils, or if required by law. Pupils are required to respect the personal data and privacy of others, and to comply with The Group’s policies, e.g. ICT policy and The Group rules. Staff are under professional duties to do the same covered under the relevant staff policy.
Nevertheless, in all cases, pupils and parents should take note of the following guidance:
i. Individuals have various rights under Data Protection Law to access and understand personal data about them held by The Group, and in some cases ask for it to be erased or amended or have it transferred to others, or for The Group to stop processing it, albeit subject to certain exemptions and limitations. Any individual wishing to access or amend their personal data, or wishing it to be transferred to another person or organisation, or who has some other objection to how their personal data is used, should put their request in writing to The Group’s Data Protection Officer.
ii. The Group will endeavour to respond to any such written requests as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within statutory time-limits (which is one month in the case of requests for access to information).
iii. The Group will be better able to respond quickly to smaller, targeted requests for information. If the request for information is manifestly excessive or similar to previous requests, The Group may ask you to reconsider, or require a proportionate fee (but only where Data Protection Law allows it).
iv. You should be aware that the right of access is limited to your own personal data, and certain data is exempt from the right of access. This will include information which identifies other individuals (and parents need to be aware this may include their own children, in certain limited situations – please see further below), or information which is subject to legal privilege (for example legal advice given to or sought by The Group, or documents prepared in connection with a legal action).
v. The Group is also not required to disclose any pupil examination scripts (or other information consisting solely of pupil test answers), provide examination or other test marks ahead of any ordinary publication, nor share any confidential reference given by The Group itself for the purposes of the education, training or employment of any individual, referred to as the “right to be forgotten”.
vi. The Group will sometimes have compelling reasons to refuse specific requests to amend, delete or stop processing your (or your child’s) personal data: for example, a legal requirement, or where it falls within a legitimate interest identified in this Privacy Notice. All such requests will be considered on their own merits.
vii. Pupils can make subject access requests for their own personal data, provided that, in the reasonable opinion of The Group, they have sufficient maturity to understand the request they are making.
viii. A pupil of any age may ask a parent or other representative to make a subject access request on his/her behalf. Indeed, while a person with parental responsibility will generally be entitled to make a subject access request on behalf of younger pupils, the law still considers the information in question to be the child’s: for older pupils, the parent making the request may need to evidence their child’s authority for the specific request.
ix. It should be clearly understood that the rules on subject access are not the sole basis on which information requests are handled. Parents may not have a statutory right to information, but they and others will often have a legitimate interest or expectation in receiving certain information about pupils without their consent. The Group may consider there are lawful grounds for sharing with or without reference to that pupil. Parents will in general receive educational and pastoral updates about their children, in accordance with the Parent Contract and prevailing legislation.
x. Where parents are separated, The Group will in most cases aim to provide the same information to each person with parental responsibility, but may need to factor in all the circumstances including the express wishes of the child. All information requests from, on behalf of, or concerning pupils – whether made under subject access or simply as an incidental request – will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.
xi. Where The Group is relying on consent as a means to process personal data, e.g. the use of images, any person may withdraw this consent at any time (subject to similar age considerations as above). The Group may process such data without consent for a legitimate lawful reason.
xii. GDPR includes a number if rights which we as a school recognise and consider for each individual case:
o The right to be informed – data will be kept by the school and all parties kept informed as to how the data is used in a way that is easy to access, read and understand
o The right of access – individuals have the right to obtain conformation of how their data is being processed and used. A copy of all the information is provided free if charge within ine calendar month of a request.
o The right to rectification – Inaccurate data can be rectified and if a request is made a response is given within one calendar month
o The right to erasure- The request is responded to within one calendar month but there might be circumstances where this right does not apply
o The right to restrict processing- individuals can request their data is restricted in its use where personal data is inaccurate or an individual wants to limit how an organisation uses their data. Again the one calendar month response time applies.
o The right to data portability- individuals can obtain and reuse their personal data for their own purposes across different services
o The right to object -individuals have the right to object to processing their personal data based on legitimate interests to opt out. This includes the purpose of direct marketing, profiling and scientific/historic research and statistics.
o The right to withdraw consent – where consent is relied on. This does not mean previously processed data reliant on consent becomes unlawful or must be necessarily rectified but the withdrawal will be respected
o Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – only carry out automated decision making or automated processing of personal data, including profiling where this tyoe of decision making is for a contract, authorised by Union or Member state law or based on the individual’s consent.
9. Queries and complaints
Any comments or queries on this policy should be directed to The Group’s data protection officer directly. If an individual believes that The Group has not complied with this policy or acted otherwise than in accordance with Data Protection Law, they should utilise The Group complaints procedure and should also notify The Groups data protection officer. You can also make a referral to or lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), although the ICO recommends that steps are taken to resolve the matter with The Group before involving the regulator.
September 2023