Introduction.
Personal data is defined as any combination of data items that identifies an individual and provides specific information about them, their families or circumstances. Access to data is restricted so that only members of the school community who need access will be able to access it. This notice serves to explain what we are collecting, why we are collecting it and how it will be stored.
Why we are collecting information relating to students.
This information is being collected for the purpose of planning and provision of education services for the student. We collect this because it is necessary to carry out the education services in the public interest and it forms part of the contract between home and school. We retain information about students until they reach the age of 25 (in line with suggested guidelines for data retention in schools) for the purposes of providing references and verification of exam results.
There are some pieces of information we would like to collect but are not essential to providing an education so for these we will seek your consent. These will be signposted where relevant.
Personal Data
The school will have access to a wide range of personal information and data. The data may be held in digital format or on paper records.
For students we collect and process data relating to the students on roll (and formerly on roll).This information will include their
- Full and preferred names.
- Date of Birth.
- Contact details.
- National curriculum assessment results,
- Attendance information,
- Any exclusion information,
- Destination information,
and personal characteristics such as their
- ethnic group,
- any special educational needs
- relevant medical information.
We routinely share pupil information with schools that pupils attend after leaving us, our local authority (BCP Council), and the Department for Education (DfE). In the case of BCP Council and the DfE, this includes them having a live link to our Management Information System, Arbor, to allow them to extract required information; as well as through statutory returns to both bodies (for example, but not exclusively, the school census, destinations returns, and funding returns). These returns can be administered through online portals like (but not exclusively) DfE Secure Access and the School Admissions Module, as well as through the transfer of electronic or paper records. We are legally obliged to do this to comply with our statutory duties, and in the case of other schools, to ensure data portability between schools. All data is transferred securely. For students enrolling for post 14 qualifications, the Learning Records Service will give us the unique learner number (ULN) and may also give us details about their learning or qualifications.
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 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
In addition, we regularly share student information with a number of organisations with the purposes of furthering teaching and learning and providing additional support and guidance to students. Our legal basis for doing this is that it is in the public interest and the interest of the students to enable them to access resources that will enhance their learning. The full list of organisations are:
| Name | Reason | Information shared. |
|---|---|---|
| ALPS (Sixth form only) |
Name, Gender, ID Number, DOB, Ethnicity, Classes, Exam Results, GCSE APS, assessment data, KS5 disadvantaged data | We upload Year 12 and 13 students’ data in order to assess how they are performing against national benchmarks. |
| Arbor | All information we hold about our students is uploaded to &/or recorded on Arbor. This includes information we hold on guardians and other contacts Staff have permissions-controlled access to this. |
Arbor is our Management Information System and houses all the information categories detailed above. Staff need access to this in order to perform the basic duties of their role (e.g. to inform teaching and learning, to be able to contact parents). It is also used for communication and payment functions, and parents can view limited student data via the Arbor Parent Portal. |
| Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme | Name, surname, DOB and email address, ethnicity | The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme is offered to students and overseen by designated members of staff. Consent is obtained from parents for students to take part in the Award. In order to obtain the Award, there is a need for the organisation to receive the appropriate data from us. |
| Evolve (eduFocus) | Name, surname, UPN, admissions number, tutor group, class information, gender and medical and contact data | This software is supplied by Dorset County Council in order that we can efficiently organise and run school trips. Pupil data is uploaded so that we can organise who is going on which trip. Any supplementary medical information and consent is confirmed and/or supplied by the parents themselves at the point of signing the student up for the trip in question. |
| Evouchers (Part of the Wonde group) | Name, surname, parental details including email address and phone number, year group, tutor group and FSM information. | This piece of software allows us to fulfil our obligations to free school meals students. It uses the free school meal flag and parental data to allow us to issue vouchers to these families. |
| Exam Boards (including, but not limited to, AQA, Pearson, OCR) | Legal Forename and Surname, Middle names, gender, DOB, Candidate Number, ULN, UCI, year group, qualifications being entered for and relevant unit codes and tier of entry, coursework marks or grades. For students needing special consideration, we would also submit brief details of the situation / medical condition leading to disadvantage during exams or coursework. This would include names of figures of authority, such as the student's Hospital Consultant. |
The exam boards require us to provide this information in order for the exams to be successfully administered. Please note that Legal Forename and Surname are the details that appear on the birth certificate. Exam Boards require information for all students sitting public examinations; this normally involves students in Year 10 upwards. |
| FFT Aspire | Name, DOB, UPN, Gender, SEN status, pupil premium status, teaching groups | FFT Aspire are able to calculate using the students’ KS2 scores where the student should be at various points in their education. We use this information to assess ourselves. Since Autumn 2022 FFT take detailed pupil demographic data (like ethnicity) and teaching class data, directly via a link from our MIS, Arbor. They use a students UPN to match this with data in the DfE’s National Pupil Database. |
| Fraser Portraits | To provide photography services for the school. | Name, Admission Number and Registration Class |
| Google – providers of email and online storage system | To provide login details | Name, Year Group, Class information, House, UPN, Year Group. |
| GroupCall | Wonde can access all student data held in Arbor and acts as an intermediary. Each piece of software is given the minimal access to student/parent/staff data that it needs to function correctly, as per this document. | An exporter called WONDE sits between Arbor and much of the software/online platforms listed here, alongside some statutory DfE services, to facilitate automatic uploads and refreshes of data. This eliminates the potential for human error and means that data is removed from this software as soon as the student has been marked as left in Arbor. |
| Kerboodle | To provide login details | Name, DoB, Class Information. |
| Microsoft – including Office 365 | Name, year group, tutor group, membership of class groups and email address | Provides students with access to the suite of Microsoft Office 365 software (Word, Excel, OneNote, Teams etc.) |
| MyConcern | Name, Surname, DOB, gender, ethnicity, religion, first language, photo, year group, tutor group, whether the pupil record is active, contacts, sibling information, disability flag, medical flag, FSM, SEN, in care flag, attendance, PP flag. Information on safeguarding incidents will be recorded by staff on the platform. |
This is safeguarding software which is used across Twynham Learning. It allows staff to quickly and securely raise concerns about students’ wellbeing which are then forwarded to the appropriate designated staff. Much of the information is drawn from Arbor to be used as an identifier, to aid in understanding the issues that the child may have, and to facilitate contact between home and school. Data is stored securely and access to the data is permissions based. MyConcern is also used to send relevant safeguarding information on to relevant authorities, like new schools, as part of our legal obligation. |
| NHS professionals including School Nurse and therapists | The NHS draws information initially from the School Census (a statutory return to the DfE) and then double checks this against information provided by the school. This could include name, surname, gender, DOB, address, year group and tutor group. They may also request information on a case-by-case student on individuals they are working with, with parental knowledge. |
The NHS provide vaccinations to our students in different year groups in liaison with our medical team. Information is provided to parents in advance of such events. Sometimes therapists working with individual students (i.e. speech & language therapists, physiotherapists) may request additional information about how a students is progressing, and to facilitate further support. |
| Parents Evening System (School Cloud – part of the TES family) |
This links directly to Arbor and collects name, surname, DOB, year group, tutor group, and class details. Parental contact information is also accessed in order to provide parents a log in to the system. |
This service allows parents to book their Parents Evening appointments online and allows teachers and admin staff to manage bookings. Video appointments are also hosted online. |
| Perspective Lite | Student name, dob, home contact details, future destinations date, exam results and key demographic data (EAL, PP, SEN) | Perspective Lite is a secure file sharing site, used by BCP Council, which allows us to send and receive data, both statutory and non-statutory, required to work on analysis and data collection and return projects. It allows the secure sharing of information without the risks that come with email transfer. |
| Police/Child Services | Relevant data about children, determined on a case by case basis, who are exposed to suspected or actual domestic abuse, alongside other critical safeguarding issues. | In cases of suspected/actual domestic abuse, we receive alerts from the Police, via Children’s Services and we share any data with them as necessary, to protect children. |
| Provision Map | Student name, student identification numbers, DOB, demographics (PP & FSM status, EAL info, ethnicity), full SEN profile including SEN notes, attendance, attainment information including assessment results | Provision Map is software our SEN team use to support students with Special Educational Needs. It allows staff to record information about students, and allows class teachers to see how they can best support students in the classroom. |
| Salamander | Name, student ID, year group | Salamander is the software used to create account and generate logins to the school’s computer systems. |
| Seneca | Name, email address, year group, teaching group data Students are given a username and password to access the site. |
Seneca is used by multiple departments to provide subject relevant resources. Students are provided with a username and password to access the site. |
| SISRA Analytics | Name, gender, SEN, ethnicity, FSM, PP, LAC, EAL, tutor group, classes, assessment data (including historic data like KS2 results) & exam results. | We use SISRA to track students’ assessment data through the school. This is analysed and pupils needing academic or pastoral support are identified. |
| Sparx Maths | Name, DOB, Gender, UPN, student email address | Students are given personal accounts to this website, which supports them as they move through the Mathematics curriculum. Teachers are able to track achievement and identify areas of strength and weakness, encouraging response teaching and a more personalised experience. |
| Wonde | Wonde can access all student data held in Arbor and acts as an intermediary. Each piece of software is given the minimal access to student/parent/staff data that it needs to function correctly, as per this document. | An exporter called WONDE sits between Arbor and much of the software/online platforms listed here, alongside some statutory DfE services, to facilitate automatic uploads and refreshes of data. This eliminates the potential for human error and means that data is removed from this software as soon as the student has been marked as left in Arbor. |
We will not give information about our pupils to anyone without your consent (as indicated via the Data Collection Form parents/guardians complete on entry to the school) unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.
The School may hold the information that you provide in both computerised and manual record systems. The information you provide may also be disclosed to the DfE; courts and tribunals should the appeal become the subject of dispute. Information will be held and used in compliance with the GDPR.
You are able to see a copy of the information held about you on application to the School’s Data Protection Officer. For further information about access please contact the school and ask to speak to the data protection officer.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your personal data.
- Request access to the personal data that we hold on you.
- Request that your personal data is amended if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Request that your personal data is erased where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
- Request that the processing of your data is restricted.
- Object to your personal data being processed.
Where the processing of your data is based on your consent (for example, photographic images), you have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.
Contact and Concerns
If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at Twynham Learning by email at dataprotection@twynhamlearning.com or by phone at 01202 878073.
If you have a concern about the way we and/or the DfE are collecting or using your personal data, you can raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted on 0303 123 1113, Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.