Privacy Notice

At King Edward VI High School, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and store personal data related to our pupils, parents/carers, staff, and visitors, in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Who We Are

King Edward VI High School is the data controller responsible for your personal data. Our registered address is Dryden Crescent, Stafford, ST17 9YJ. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or our data protection practices, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@staffordshire.gov.uk or by calling 01785 258546.

The Information We Collect

We collect and process various types of personal data to operate the school effectively and provide a safe and enriching educational environment. This may include:

Pupil Information: Names, addresses, dates of birth, contact details, medical information, educational progress, attendance records, SEN information, and photographs/videos.
Parent/Carer Information: Names, addresses, contact details, parental responsibility information, and financial details for school payments.
Staff Information: Names, addresses, contact details, employment history, qualifications, DBS checks, bank details, and performance information.
Visitor Information: Names and contact details for safeguarding and security purposes.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data for a variety of purposes, including:

Providing education and support to our pupils.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils.
Monitoring pupil progress and attainment.
Managing admissions, attendance, and exclusions.
Administering payments and managing school finances.
Recruiting and managing staff.
Communicating with parents/carers about school matters, events, and pupil progress.
Maintaining school security and premises management.
Complying with legal and regulatory obligations, including those related to health and safety.

Our Lawful Basis for Processing

We will only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so. This typically includes:

Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests as a school, and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Public Task: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the school.
Contract: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Consent: In limited circumstances, where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose.

Sharing Your Information

We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary and lawful, including:

The Department for Education (DfE) and other government bodies.
Local authorities and social services.
Health professionals and NHS services.
Educational software providers and IT support.
Exam boards.
Ofsted.
Law enforcement or regulatory bodies when required by law.

We ensure that any third parties we share data with are also compliant with data protection legislation and have appropriate safeguards in place. Routine and regular information sharing arrangements will be documented in our main privacy notice. Any ad hoc sharing of information will be done in compliance with our legislative requirements.

Data Security

We have implemented robust technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. We regularly review and update our security practices.

How Long We Keep Your Information

We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Our data retention schedule is based on legal requirements, best practice, national guidance, and organisational necessity to retain information. We have adopted the retention schedule suggested by the Information and Records Management Society (IRMS).

Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have several rights regarding your personal data:

Right to be informed: To know how your data is being used.
Right of access: To request a copy of the information we hold about you.
Right to rectification: To request that inaccurate data is corrected.
Right to erasure (the "right to be forgotten"): To request that your data is deleted in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: To request that the processing of your data is limited in certain situations.
Right to data portability: To receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
Right to object: To object to the processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: To object to decisions based solely on automated processing.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Natalie Morrissey, at dpo@staffordshire.gov.uk or by calling 01785 278109. All requests exercising these rights must be in writing and forwarded to the school office who will acknowledge the request and respond within one calendar month. Advice regarding such requests will be sought from our DPO.

Concerns or Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Officer in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

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