DPA notice 2008

DATA PROTECTION FAIR PROCESSING NOTICE 2008/09

Anston Brook Primary School processes personal data about its pupils and is a "data controller" in
respect of this for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. It processes this data to:

support its pupils' teaching and learning
monitor and report on their progress
provide appropriate pastoral care
assess how well the school as a whole is doing.

This information includes contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance
information, characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant
medical information. The data must only be used for specific purposes allowed by law.

From time to time, the school is required to pass on some of this data to the Local Authority
(LA), the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and to agencies that are
prescribed by law, such as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), Ofsted, the
Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the Department of Health (DH) and Primary Care Trust (PCT).

All of the above are also known as data controllers for the information they receive. The following
paragraphs explain their main purposes in respect of data handling and processing:

Local Authority (LA)
The Local Authority uses information about children for whom it provides services to carry out
specific functions for which it is responsible, such as the assessment of any special educational
needs the child may have. It also uses the information to inform decisions on (for example) the
funding of schools, and to assess the performance of schools and set targets for them.
www.rotherham.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer, Civic Building, Walker Place, Rotherham. S65 1UE

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
The QCA uses information about pupils to administer the national curriculum assessments portfolio
throughout Key Stages 1 to 3. This includes both assessments required by statute and those
that are optional. The results of these are passed on to DCSF to compile statistics on trends and
patterns in levels of achievement. The QCA uses the information to evaluate the effectiveness of
the national curriculum and the associated assessment arrangements, and to ensure that these
are continually improved.
www.qca.org.uk
Data Protection Officer, QCA, 83 Piccadilly, London, 1J 8QA

Ofsted
Ofsted uses information about the progress and performance of pupils to help inspectors evaluate
the work of schools, to assist schools in their self-evaluation, and as part of Ofsted's assessment
of the effectiveness of education initiatives and policy. Ofsted also uses information about the
views of children and young people, to inform children's services inspections in Local Authority
areas. Inspection reports do not identify individual pupils.
www.ofsted.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer, Alexandra House, 33 Kingsway, London WC2B 6SE

Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
The LSC uses information about pupils for statistical purposes, to evaluate and develop education
policy and monitor the performance of the education service as a whole. The statistics (including
those based on information provided by the QCA) are used in such a way that individual pupils
cannot be identified from them. On occasion, information may be shared with other Government
departments or agencies strictly for statistical or research purposes only. The LSC or its partners
may wish to contact learners from time to time about courses, or learning opportunities relevant
to them.
www.lsc.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer, Cheylesmore House, Quinton Road, Coventry, Warwickshire CV1 2WT

Primary Care Trust (PCT)
The PCT use information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to monitor the
performance of local health services and to evaluate and develop them. The statistics are used in
such a way that individual pupils cannot be identified from them. Information on the height and
weight of individual pupils may however be provided to the child and its parents and this will
require the PCT to maintain details of pupils' names for this purpose for a period designated by
the Department of Health following the weighing and measuring process. The PCT may also
provide individual schools and LAs with aggregate information on pupils' height and weight.
http://www.nhs.uk/England/AuthoritiesTrusts/Pct/Default.aspx

Department of Health (DH)
The DH uses aggregate information (at school year group level) about pupils' height and weight
for research and statistical purposes, to inform, influence and improve health policy and to
monitor the performance of the health service as a whole. The DH will base performance
management discussions with Strategic Health Authorities on aggregate information about pupils
attending schools in the PCT areas to help focus local resources and deliver the Public Service
Agreement target to halt the year on year rise in obesity among children under 11 by 2010, in the
context of a broader strategy to tackle obesity in the population as a whole. The Department of
Health will also provide aggregate PCT level data to the Healthcare Commission for performance
assessment of the health service.
www.dh.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer at Skipton House 80 London Road London SE1 6LH

Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
The DCSF uses information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to inform, influence
and improve education policy and to monitor the performance of the education service as a
whole. The DCSF will feed back to LA's and schools information about their pupils for a variety of
purposes that will include data checking exercises, use in self-evaluation analyses and where
information is missing because it was not passed on by a former school.
The DCSF, with the participation of the Local Authority, operates a database known as
ContactPoint. This is an online directory available to authorised staff who need it to carry out
their jobs efficiently. It is designed to allow practitioners to find out who else is working with the
child or young person, making it easier to deliver more coordinated support. Schools are under a
statutory duty to pass onto ContactPoint certain information. This consists of basic information
about the child or young person, the contact details of the school and the contact address and
telephone numbers for the parents or carers,/ with parental responsibility 1, of the child or young
person.
ContactPoint further information
Systems and Change Manager, 1st Floor, Norfolk House, Walker Place, Rotherham. S65 1AS

The DCSF will also provide Ofsted with pupil data for use in school inspection. Where relevant,
pupil information may also be shared with post 16 learning institutions to minimise the
administrative burden on application for a course and to aid the preparation of learning plans.

Pupil information may be matched with other data sources that the Department holds in order to
model and monitor pupils' educational progression and to provide comprehensive information back
to LA's and learning institutions to support their day to day business. The DCSF may also use
contact details from these sources to obtain samples for statistical surveys. These surveys may
be carried out by research agencies working under contract to the Department and participation
in such surveys is usually voluntary. The Department may also match data from these sources to
data obtained from statistical surveys.

Pupil data may also be shared with other Government Departments and Agencies (including the
Office for National Statistics) for statistical or research purposes only. In all these cases the
matching will require that individualised data is used in the processing operation, but that data
will not be processed in such a way that it supports measures or decisions relating to particular
individuals or identifies individuals in any results. This data sharing will be approved and controlled
by the Department's Chief Statistician.

The DCSF may also disclose individual pupil information to independent researchers into the
educational achievements of pupils who have a legitimate need for it for their research, but each
case will be determined on its merits and subject to the approval of the Department's Chief
Statistician.
www.DCSF.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer, DCSF, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London. SW1P 3BT

General right of access to personal information
Pupils, as data subjects, have certain rights under the Data Protection Act, including a general
right to be given access to personal data held about them by any data controller. A parent would
normally be expected to make a request on a primary school child's behalf. If you wish to access
your child's personal data, then please contact the school office in writing. In order to fulfil our
responsibilities under the Act, the school may, before responding to a request, seek proof of the
requestor's identity and any further information required to locate the personal data requested.

Further information and guidance on the Data Protection Act 1998 generally, can be found on the
Information Commissioner's website: www.ico.gov.uk

1 All natural parents, whether they are married or not; any person who, although not a natural
parent, has parental responsibility (as defined in the Children Act 1989) for a child or young
person; and any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person.
Having care of a child or young person means that a person with whom the child lives and who
looks after the child, irrespective of what their relationship is with the child, is considered to be a
parent in education law.