The Visionaries Privacy Policy
The information below explains why we collect personal data, what we record, how it is used and stored, and what rights you have relating to it.
The categories of information that we process include:
- personal identifiers and contacts (such as name, unique pupil number, date of birth, contact details and address)
- characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, and free school meal eligibility)
- safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
- special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
- medical and administration (such as doctors information, Next of kin, child health, dental health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
- attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
- assessment and attainment (such as key stage 1 and phonics results, post 16 courses enrolled for and any relevant results)
- behavioural information (such as exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)
- Parental preferences for marketing communication
- Booking and donation history
- Invoicing or Request for Donation information
- Your preferences on how to contact you
- Enquiries and feedback
- Interaction with our social media pages
Why we collect and use pupil information
We collect and use pupil information, for the following purposes:
- to support pupil learning
- to monitor and report on pupil development progress
- to provide appropriate pastoral care
- to assess the quality of our services
- to keep children safe (food allergies, or emergency contact details)
- to meet the statutory duties placed upon us for DfE data collections
Collecting pupil information
We collect pupil information via Google Forms, paper surveys and through in person interviews.
Pupil data is essential for the schools’ operational use. Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it 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.
Storing pupil data
We hold pupil data securely for three years shown in our data retention schedule. For more information on our data retention schedule and how we keep your data safe, please www.thevisionaries.org.uk/privacy
Security
We build in safeguards to keep all your personal information as secure as is digitally possible. In addition to a rigorously enforced data handling policy, all our staff members are made aware of their obligations to keep the information for authorised use only. Of course no technology is foolproof, but we have made every reasonable effort to keep our systems up to date with the relevant protocols.
All personal data is accessible only to those who need to use it. We make that judgement based upon the sensitivity and value of the information in question; We always consider keeping personal data:
- in a lockable room with controlled access.
- in a locked drawer or filing cabinet.
- if data is computerised it is stored on network servers and on password-protected databases and not on local systems and have suitable security access levels determined, applied and monitored.
- particular care is taken of portable ICT equipment, memory sticks etc. which are password protected and encrypted to prevent unauthorised access.
- sensitive personal data is not kept on memory sticks or routinely taken from The Visionaries premises on any form of removable media.
The security measures that we have put in place ensure that:
- only authorised people can access, alter, disclose or destroy personal data;
- those people only act within the scope of their authority; and
- if personal data is accidentally lost, altered or destroyed, it can be recovered to prevent any damage or distress to the individuals concerned.
Who we share pupil information with
We routinely share pupil information with:
- our funding bodies
- youth support services (pupils aged 13+)
- the Department for Education (DfE)
Why we regularly 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.
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 hello@thevisionaries.org.uk
You also have the right to:
- to ask us for access to information about you that we hold
- to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
- to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
- to restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
- to object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics
- not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you
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 or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
For further information on how to request access to personal information held centrally by DfE, please see the ‘How Government uses your data’ section of this notice.
Last updated
We may need to update this privacy notice periodically so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time. This version was last updated on 21st June 2021.
Contact
If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:
Telephone: 07904584766
Address: The Visionaries, Flat 37 George Loveless House, Diss St, London, E27QY
The Visionaries is a registered CIC in England and Wales.
How Government uses your data
The pupil data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:
- underpins school funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of children and their characteristics in each school.
- informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring and school accountability and intervention (for example, school GCSE results or Pupil Progress measures).
- 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-for-schools
The National Pupil Database (NPD)
Much of the data about pupils 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-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information
Sharing by the Department
The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:
- schools and 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, 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
How to find out what personal information DfE hold about you
Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you are entitled to ask the Department:
- if they are processing your personal data
- for a description of the data they hold about you
- the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
- for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source
If you want to see the personal data held about you by the Department, you should make a ‘subject access request’. Further information on how to do this can be found within the Department’s personal information charter that is published at the address below:
To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe