Privacy Notice.  How we use applicant, student and parent/carer information. 

Connell Co-op College is committed to protecting the information it collects about pupils and parents/carers. Connell Co-op College will respect and comply with data protection laws from time to time in force, in particular, the Data Protection Act 2018.

The categories of student information that we typically process include:

• personal identifiers and contacts (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details, next of kin, emergency contacts and address)
• characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, and religion)
• safeguarding information (such as referrals, court orders and professional agency involvement)
• special educational needs (including the needs, assessments and ranking)
• medical and administration (such as doctors’ information, child health, dental health, allergies, medication, individual health care plans and dietary requirements)
• attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
• assessment and attainment
• behavioural information (such as behaviour records, exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)
• admissions data
• Accident reports
• Photographs and images including CCTV
• Free school meal  information  

This list is not exhaustive, and we will add to it from time to time to cover the key categories of information that we process.  

Why we collect and use applicant/student information

We collect and use student information, for the following purposes:

1. to enable us to process applications and to determine eligibility for admissions
2. to update applicants about their application and to inform them about future events
3. to support student learning  
4. to monitor and report on student attainment progress  
5. to provide appropriate pastoral care  
6. to assess the quality of our services
7. to keep students safe (food allergies, or emergency contact details)  
8. to meet the statutory duties placed upon us for DfE data collections 
9. to keep parents/carers informed and engaged with their child’s education 
10. to meet provision required under an Education Health and Care Plan 
11. to enter students into examinations 
12. to highlight student performance, activities and achievements  

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing student information is:

• for the purposes of delivering education in accordance with the legal basis of performing a task in the public interest and where a legal obligation under education and child welfare law requires us to.

In addition, concerning any special category data:

• Where there is a substantial public interest, for example when processing safeguarding information, Education Health and Care Plans, disability information, pastoral care and individual health care plans.

How we collect student information

We collect student information via various methods such as registration forms at the start of the college year or Common Transfer File (CTF) or secure file transfer from previous school. Information is also collected throughout a student’s time with us for the purposes described above and through information provided by third parties such as social services and medical professionals.

Student data is essential for the schools’ operational use. Whilst the majority of student information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is 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.  

Who we share student information with

We routinely share student information with:

• Local authorities, social services and the police where necessary
• youth support services
• the Department for Education (DfE)
• Education and Skills Funding Agency
• Medical professionals from the NHS or paediatric services
• Third party processors for the purposes of providing management information on a trust wide and academy basis, and supporting student learning
• Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)

Why we regularly share student information

We do not share information about our students with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

Please see our Data Privacy Policy –Pupils, parents/carers for further information.

Youth support services

We will also share certain information about students with local authorities and / or providers 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

Data is securely transferred to the youth support service via email and is stored on their secure servers. For more information about services for young people, please visit your local authority website.  

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:  Regulation 5 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 data protection legislation, parents and students have the right to request access to information about them that we hold.  To make a request for your personal information, please email your request to info@connell.co.uk

You have the right to object to processing your data.  Provided you can give specific reasons for your objection, the college must consider it, and if it decides to continue processing your data, it must be able to justify doing so. Objections on the grounds that the processing is causing, or is likely to cause substantial damage or distress carry more weight than others.

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
• have inaccurate personal data rectified
• request the erasure of your data.  Please note that in most circumstances educational establishments are required to erase student/pupil data once the pupil/student reaches the age of 25 years
• a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts

If you have a concern or complaint about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance.  If you remain dissatisfied, please refer to the “Make a complaint” page of the Information Commissioner’s Office website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/data-protection-complaints/data-protection-complaints/

Information provided by the Government 

How Government uses your data

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

• Underpins college funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of students and their characteristics in each school
• Informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring and school accountability and intervention (for example, college A-level or BTEC results)
• 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-forschools  

The National Pupil Database (NPD) 

Much of the data about students 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-pupildatabase-user-guide-and-supporting-information 

Sharing by the Department

The law allows the Department to share students’ 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, the 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 

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

Responsibility