Berlesduna Academy Trust (BAT) is a Data Controller utilising data under the Data Protection Act. This Academy collates information pertaining to students and staff and may receive information regarding students and staff from previous schools, the Department for Education (DfE), local authorities and the Learning Records Service. Information we hold and may share within our Academy are:

The categories of pupil information that we collect, hold and share include

• Person’s Name, Unique pupil number (ULN) and person’s address.

• Characteristics: Ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility.

• Attendance information: sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons.

  Berlesduna Academy Trust may also collect/hold and/or share assessment information, relevant medical information, special educational needs information and if necessary exclusions/behavioural information.

  
  

  Why we collect and use this information

  We use the pupil data:

  • To support pupil learning
  • To monitor and report on pupil progress
  • To provide appropriate pastoral care
  • To assess the quality of our services
  • To comply with the law regarding data sharing

  
  

  The lawful basis on which we use this information

  We make sure that information we collect and use about pupils is in line with the GDPR and Data Protection Act. This means that we must have a lawful reason to collect the data, and that if we share that with another organisation or individual we must have a legal basis to do so.

  The lawful basis for schools to collect information comes from a variety of sources, such as the Education Act 1996, Regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013, Article 6 and Article 9 of the GDPR.

  The Department for Education and Local Authorities require us to collect certain information and report back to them. This is called a ‘public task’ and is recognised in law as it is necessary to provide the information. We also have obligations to collect data about children who are at risk of suffering harm, and to share that with other agencies who have a responsibility to safeguard children, such as the police and social care.

  We also share information about pupils who may need or have an Education Health and Care Plan (or Statement of Special Educational Needs). Medical teams have access to some information about pupils, either by agreement or because the law says we must share that information, for example school nurses may visit the school. Counselling services, careers services, occupational therapists are the type of people we will share information, so long as we have consent or are required by law to do so.

  In school we also use various third party tools to make sure that pupils best interests are advanced. This includes financial software to manage school budgets, which may include some pupil data. We may use systems to take electronic payments for school meals and other payments. We use software to track progress and attainment. We must keep up to date information about parents and carers for emergency contacts.

  We also use contact information to keep pupils, parents and carers up to date about school events.

Collecting Pupil Information

Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us in mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain pupil information to us or if you have a choice in this.

Storing pupil data

We hold data according to our Document Retention Policy.

Who we share pupil information with

We routinely share pupil information with:

• Schools that the pupil attend after leaving us

• Our local authority

• The Department for Education (DfE)

• School nurse

• NHS

Why we 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.

We share pupil data with the Department of Education (DfE) on a statutory basis. This data sharing underpins school funding and educational attainment policy and monitoring.

We are required to share information about our pupils with the DfE under regulation 5 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013

Data collection requirements

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the DfE (e.g. school census) go to http://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

The NPD is owned and managed by DfE 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 censes and early years’ censes. Some of this information is then stored by the NPD. The law that allows this is the Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (England) Regulation 2013.

To find out more about the NPD, go to http://www.gov.uk/government/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 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 data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.

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

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

  For more information about which organisations the department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) please visit the following website:

  http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-requests-received

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

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, 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 Lisa Perry on lisaperry@berlesduna.co.uk who is the Data Protection Officer for Berlesduna Academy Trust.