data-protection.svg

Freedom of Information and GDPR

Freedom of information: publication scheme

All public authorities, including schools, are required under the Freedom of Information Act to adopt a publication scheme that has been approved by the Information Commissioner.

There is currently one approved model publication scheme, which has been produced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Schools must adopt the ICO’s model scheme and make it publicly available.

You can view the ICO’s model publication scheme here.

Our Published Guide to Information

Schools should publish a guide to information alongside the publication scheme.

The guide should specify:

  • the documents available
  • the format of the documents
  • any charges made for the information

You can view our published guide to information here.

GDPR and Schools

The new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is replacing the current Data Protection Act (DPA) and is set to strengthen and unify all data held within an organisation. For schools, GDPR brings a new responsibility to inform parents and stakeholders about how they are using pupils’ data and who it is being used by.

What does GDPR mean for schools?

A great deal of the processing of personal data undertaken by schools will fall under a specific legal basis, ‘in the public interest’. As it is in the public interest to operate schools successfully, it will mean that specific consent will not be needed in the majority of cases in schools.

GDPR will ensure data is protected and will give individuals more control over their data, however this means schools will have greater accountability for the data:

  • Under GDPR, consent must be explicitly given to anything that isn’t within the normal business of the school, especially if it involves a third party managing the data. Parents must express consent for their child’s data to be used outside of the normal business of the school.
  • Schools must appoint a Data Protection Officer and be able to prove that they are GDPR compliant.
  • Schools must ensure that their third party suppliers who may process any of their data is GDPR compliant and must have legally binding contracts with any company that processes any personal data. These contracts must cover what data is being processed, who it is being processed by, who has access to it and how it is protected.
  • It will be compulsory that all data breaches which are likely to have a detrimental effect on the data subject are reported to the ICO within 72 hours

Key Changes

In principle, with regards to data collection, we are now required to carefully consider:

  • what data we need from you
  • why we need it
  • what we will do with it
  • where it will be stored
  • who we may share it with, and why
  • how we will dispose of data
  • how long we will keep it

GDPR Mind Map for Parents

Your Child's Data

As a school we require some essential data from parents. This data can be simply routine information such as your address, contact telephone numbers or details of any medical conditions your child may have. Such information is legally required by schools and ensures that children and their families are well served by the school for routine matters.

In most cases, this data will be provided by you in written form but will then be processed and entered onto the school's information management system (computer system). Please be assured that our systems are:

  • password protected
  • restricted to those with a 'need to know'
  • regularly backed up externally
  • managed in accordance with the law and local guidance

However, as a school we also handle and use a much wider variety of data which may include; test and assessment data, referrals to other agencies and SEND and medical information.

Foresight Statement 2022-23

The DfE published guidelines to help schools IT teams develop & implement measures to reduce the risk or help provide a plan in the case of a data breach or loss.

 

An overview of some of the measures are below.  This helps give your school additional resiliency and protection.

  1. Onsite backups – We have installed a Network Access Storage (NAS) Device to backup data from your servers each night or your data is synchronized with a second backup server
  2. Anti Virus – Your school has Anti-virus which is provided under a paid for subscription.
  3. All laptops that leave the school premises must be encrypted – All laptops now have Microsoft Bitlocker turned on
  4. Must have Offsite/Online Backups – We have ensured that all critical data is backed up offsite each night
  5. Must have a Cyber Response Plan in place – We have published a Cyber Response Plan to all schools to sit alongside their Recovery & Continuity Plans
  6. Foresight are now Cyber Essentials Certified (attached) - https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview - We are now fully qualified to advise on all elements of Cyber Security for your school.
  7. Servers must be kept up to date with the latest Microsoft Security Updates – We use an automated system called Atera (https://www.atera.com/features/remote-monitoring-and-management/), which lives on your server & installs updates as and when they are available.  We then see an alert if the updates have been successful or if there has been a problem.
  8. Firewall – Your school has a robust firewall that prevents external access & monitors internet usage within the school

Over the next 12 months we will be progressing further with other guidance around Server Data storage, Cloud Storage, access control & two factor authentication.

Click to Download Cyber Essentials Foresight Certificate 2022-23 [pdf 133KB] Click to Download

Privacy Policy

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we are required to provide certain information to data subjects (the people we hold information about). This is normally through a through a privacy or ‘fair processing notice’. Our privacy notice tells you what data we collect, why, how we will store it and how lng we will keep it. You can find our Privacy Notice here.

You have the right to withdraw permission for some information we hold about your child and yourself. We provide an opportunity at least annually to review this data on the ‘Data Collection’ form sent out at the start of each academic year, but you can request to see or make changes at any time by contacting the school office.

Enquiries

If you have any enquiries in relation to GDPR, please contact - Justin Hardy Data Protection Officer (DPO) at OMBC by emailing: 

info@stagnes.oldham.sch.uk