Applicable to All Members of the School Community (Past and Present)
- Glossary of Key Terms
“Date Controllers”- means organization, including independent schools, that determine how people’s personal data processed and for what purpose. Strictly and in liability terms, this may be Board of Directors, or the “top” company or charity in a group, depending on how the School (or group of Schools) is structured. However, as a pragmatic distinction, each individual School is likely to make its own decisions about use of data and needs its own policies and privacy notice.
“Data Subjects”- means any living individuals whose data the Data Controller processes.
“Processing”- means any action in relation to that personal data, including filing and communication.
“Personal Data”- includes everything from which a Data Subject can be identified. It can be paper-based or electronically stored information relating to a living individual who can be identified from information in our possession. Personal data can be factual (for example, a name, address or date of birth) or it can be an opinion about that person, their actions and behavior. This includes any expression of opinion about an individual and intentions towards an individual as well as fact. It also applies to photographs or video clips (including CCTV) or sound recordings of an identifiable individual.
Some categories of Personal Data are “sensitive personal data” under the Data Protection Act (but with criminal data treated separately) these comprise data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, data concerning health or data concerning a natural persons sex life or sexual orientation. Extra safeguards are provided by law for processing of such data.
Who We Are
Little Feet Academy Pre-School and Nursery (“LFA”) and Excelsior Elementary School (“EES”) is the data controller of the personal data that it holds and processes the personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and Regulations.
What This Privacy Notice Is For
This policy is intended to provide information about how the School will use (or “process”) personal data about individuals including: its staff, its current, past and prospective pupils; and their parents, careers, or guardians (referred to in this policy as ‘parents’), donors or prospective supporters.
This information is provided because Data Protection Law gives individuals rights to understand how their data is used. Staff, parents and pupils are all encouraged to read this Privacy Notice and understand the School’s obligations to its entire community.
This Privacy Notice applies alongside any other information the School may provide about a particular use of personal data, for example when collecting data via an online or paper form.
This Privacy Notice also applies in addition to the School’s other relevant terms and conditions and polices, including:
- Any contract between the School and its staff or the parents of pupils;
- The School’s policy on taking, storing and using images of children;
- The School’s CCTV and/or biometrics policy;
- The School’s retention of records policy;
- The School’s safeguarding, pastoral or health and safety policies, including as to how concerns or incidents are recorded; and
- The School’s IT policies, including its Online Safety and Acceptable Use policies;
- Anyone who works for, or acts on behalf of, the School (including staff, volunteers, directors and service providers) should also be aware of and comply with this Privacy Notice.
Responsibility For Data Protection
The School has appointed the Accounting Department as the interim Privacy and Compliance Officer. They will deal with all requests and enquires concerning the School’s uses of your personal data (see section on “Your Rights” below) and endeavor to ensure that all personal data is processed in compliance with this policy and Data Protection Law.
Contact Details: Accounting@LFAschool.comTelephone: (242) 341-4503 or 341-0397
Why The School Needs To Process Personal Data
In order to carry out its ordinary duties to staff, pupils and parents, the School needs to process a wide range of personal data about individuals (including current, past and prospective staff, pupils or parents and contractors) as part of its daily operation.
Some of this activity the School will need to carry out in order to fulfill its legal rights, duties or obligations- including those under a contract with its staff, or parents of its pupils.
Other uses of personal data will be made in accordance with the School’s legitimate interests, or the legitimate interests of another, provided that these are not outweighed by the impact on individuals, and provided it does not involve sensitive types of data.
The School expects that the following uses will fall within that category of it’s (or its community’s) “legitimate interests”:
- For the purposes of pupil selection (and to confirm the identity of prospective pupils and their parents);
- To provide education services, including musical education, physical training or spiritual development, career services, and extra-curricular activities to pupils, and monitoring pupils progress and educational needs;
- Maintaining relationships with alumni and school community, including direct marketing or fundraising activity;
- For the purposes of donor due diligence, and to confirm the identity of prospective donors and their background;
- For the purposes of management planning and forecasting, research and statistical analysis, including that imposed or provided by the law;
- To enable relevant authorities to monitor the School’s performance and to intervene or assist with incidents as appropriate:
- To give and receive information and references about past, current and prospective pupils, including relating to outstanding fees or payment history, to/from any educational institution that the pupil attended or where it is proposed they attend; and to provide references to potential employers of past pupils;
- To enable pupils to take in national or other assessments, and to publish the results of public examinations or other achievements of pupils of the School;
- To safeguard pupils welfare and provide appropriate pastoral care;
- To monitor (as appropriate) use of the School’s IT and communications systems in accordance with the School’s IT acceptable use policy;
- To make use of photographic images of pupils in School publications, on the School website and (where appropriate) on the School’s social media channels in accordance with the School’s policy on taking, storing and using images of children;
- For security purposes, including biometrics and CCTV in accordance with the relevant School polices;
- To carry out or cooperate with any School or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process; and
- Where otherwise reasonably necessary for the School’s purposes, including to obtain appropriate professional advice and insurance for the School.
In addition, the School will on occasion need to process sensitive personal data (concerning health, ethnicity, religion, biometrics or sexual life) or criminal records information (such as when carrying out background checks) in accordance with rights or duties imposed on it by law, including as regards safeguarding and employment, or from time to time by explicit consent where required. These reasons will include:
- To safeguard pupils’ welfare and provide appropriate pastoral (and where necessary, medical) care, and to take appropriate action in the event of an emergency, incident or accident, including by disclosing details of an individual’s medical condition or other relevant information where it is in the individual’s interests to do so: for example, for medical advice, for social protection, safeguarding, and cooperation with police or social services, for insurance purposes or to caterers or organizers of School trips who need to be made aware of dietary or medical needs;
- To provide educational services in the context of any special educational needs of a pupil;
- To provide spiritual education in the context of any religious beliefs;
- To run any of its systems that operate on biometric data, such as for security and other forms of pupil identification;
- As part of any School or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process that involves such data, for example if there are special educational needs, health or safeguarding elements; or
- For legal and regulatory purposes (for example child protection, diversity monitoring and health and safety) and to comply with its legal obligations and duties of care.
Types of Personal Data Processed By The School
This will include by way of example:
- Names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and other contact details;
- Car details (about those who access the school site and use our car parking facilities);
- Biometric information, which will be collected and used by the School in accordance with the School’s biometrics policy;
- Bank details and other financial information, eg. about parents who pay fees to the School;
- Past, present and prospective pupils’ academic, disciplinary, admissions and attendance records (including information about any special needs), and examination scripts and marks;
- Personnel files, including in connection with academics, employment or safeguarding;
- Where appropriate, information about individuals health and welfare, and contact details for their next of kin;
- References given or received by the School about pupils, and relevant information provided by previous educational establishments and/or other professional or organizations;
- Correspondence with and concerning staff; pupils and parents past and present;
- Images of pupils (and occasionally other individuals) engaging in School activities, and images captured by the School’s CCTV system (in accordance with the School’s policy on taking and using such images of children);
How the School Collects Data
Generally, the School receives personal data form the individual directly (including the case of pupils, from their parents). This may be via a form, or simply in the ordinary course of interaction or communication (such as email or written assessments).
However in some cases personal data will be supplied by third parties (for example another School, or other professionals or authorities working with that individual); or collected from publicly available resources.
Who Has Access To Personal Data And Who the School Shares It With
Occasionally, the School will need to share personal information relating to its community with third parties, such as:
- Professional advisers (eg. lawyers, insurers, PR advisors, and accountants);
- Government authorities (eg. Ministry of Education or police); and
- Appropriate regulatory bodies.
For the most part, personal data collected by the School will remain within the School, and will be processed by appropriate individuals only in accordance with the access protocols (ie. on a “need to know” basis). Particularly strict rules of access apply in the context of:
- Medical records held and accessed only by the School doctor and appropriate medical staff under his/her supervision, or otherwise in accordance with express consent, and;
- Pastoral or safeguarding files.
- However, a certain amount of any special educational needs pupil’s relevant information will need to be provided to staff more widely in the context of providing the necessary care and education that the pupil requires.
Staff, pupils and parents are reminded that the School is under duties imposed by law and statutory guidance (including keeping children safe in Education) to record or report incidents and concerns that arise or are reported to it, in some cases regardless of whether they are proven, if they meet a certain threshold of seriousness in their nature or regularity. This is likely to include file notes on personnel or pupil files, and in some cases referrals to relevant authorities such as the Department of Social Services or Police. .
Finally, in accordance with Data Protection Law, some of the School’s processing activity is carried out on its behalf by third parties, such as IT systems, web developers or cloud storage providers. This is always subject to contractual assurances that personal data will be kept securely and only in accordance with the School’s specific directors.
How Long We Keep Personal Data
The School will retain personal data securely and only in line with how long it is necessary to keep for a legitimate and lawful reason. Typically, the legal recommendation for how long to keep staff and pupil personnel files is up to 7 years following departure from the School. However, incident reports will need to keep much longer, in accordance with specific legal requirements.
If you have any specific queries about how our retention policy is applied, or wish to request that personal data that you no longer believe to be relevant is considered for erasure, please contact the Accounts Department. However, please bear in mind that the School will often have lawful and necessary reasons to hold onto some personal data even following such request.
A limited and reasonable amount of information will be kept for archiving purposes, for example; even where you have requested we no longer keep in touch with you, we will need to keep a record of the fact in order to fulfil your wishes (called a “suppression record”).
Keeping In Touch And Supporting The School
The School will use the contact details of parents, alumni and other members of the School community to keep them updated about the activities of the School or alumni and parent events of interest, including by sending updates and newsletters, by email and by post.
Unless the relevant individuals objects, the School will also:
- Share personal data about parents and/or alumni, as appropriate, with organizations set up to help establish and maintain relationships with the School community, such as the Parents/Teachers Association.
The School is committed to protecting the personal data that we collect and process. We aim to be clear and transparent and not do anything you would not reasonably expect. We do this by ensuring you are provided with an explanation about how we collect and process the information you provide us with, or that we collect about you, whether online, via phone, email in letters or in any other correspondence or from third parties. In the course of our planning, we may acquire and use information such as business network information and publicly available information including residential location, wealth and assets, family, career, donations to other organizations (including political parties where they are made public by the individual) and hobbies and interests. From time to time, we might also use third parties to undertake research on prospective supporters. Such activities helps us understand the background and preferences of individual members of our community and help us to make appropriate requests for gifts to those who may be able and willing to support the School’s ongoing development. They also enable us to invite members of our community to special events and briefings that we feel may be of particular interest to them.
We process information on potential donors in advance of contacting them on the basis of our legitimate interest in approaching people from a well-informed standpoint. Research has shown that donors prefer this approach. Should you wish to limit or object to any such use, or would like further information, please contact the Accounting Department at email address Accounting@LFAschool.com in writing. You always have the right to withdraw consent, where given, or otherwise object to direct marketing or fundraising. However, the School is nonetheless likely to retain some of your details (not at least to ensure that no more communications are sent to that particular address, email or telephone number).
Your Rights
Rights of Access, etc.
Individuals have various rights under Data Protection Law to access and understand personal data about them held by the School, and in some cases ask for it to be erased or amended or have it transferred to others, or for the School to stop processing it- but subject to certain exemptions and limitations.
Any individual wishing to access or amend their personal data, or wishing it to be transferred to another person or organization, or who has some other objection to how their personal data is used, should put their request in writing to the (Accounts Department) Accounting@LFAschool.com.
The School will endeavor to respond to any such written requests as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within statutory time-limits (which is 40 days in the case of request for access to information).
The School will be better able to respond quickly to smaller, targeted requests for information. If the request for information is manifestly excessive or similar to previous requests, the School may ask you to reconsider or require a proportionate fee (but only where Data Protection Law allows it).
Requests that cannot be fulfilled
You should be aware that the right or access is limited to your own personal data, and certain data is exempt from the right of access. This will include information which identifies other individuals (and parents need to be aware this may include their own children, in certain limited situations- please see further below), or information which is subject to legal privilege (for example legal advice given to or sought by the School, or documents prepared in connection with a legal action).
The School is also not required to disclose any pupil examination scripts (or other information consisting solely of pupil test answers), provide examination or other test marks ahead of any ordinary publication, nor share any confidential reference given by the School itself for the purposes of the education, training or employment of any individual.
You may heard of the term “right to be forgotten”. However, we will sometimes have compelling reasons to reuse specific requests to amend, delete or stop processing your (or your child’s) personal data: for example, a legal requirement, or where it falls within a legitimate interest identified in this Privacy Notice. All such requests will be considered on their own merits.
Parental request, etc.
It should be clearly understood that the rules on subject access are not the sole basis on which information requests are handled. Parents may not have a statutory right to information, but they and others will often have a legitimate interest or expectation in receiving certain information about pupils without their consent. The School may consider there are lawful grounds for sharing with or without reference to the pupil.
Parents will in general receive educational and pastoral updates about their children, in accordance with the Parent/School Contract. Where parents are separated, the School will in most cases aim to provide the same information to each person with parental responsibility, but may need to factor in all the circumstances.
All information requests from, on behalf of, or concerning pupils- whether made under subject access or simply as in incident request- will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.
Consent
Where the School is relying on consent as a means to process personal data, any person may withdraw this consent at any time (subject to similar age considerations as above). Examples where we do rely on consent are: biometrics, certain types of uses of images, certain types of fundraising activity. Please be aware however, that the School may not be relying on consent but have another lawful reason to process the personal data in question even without your consent.
That reason will usually have been asserted under this Privacy Notice, or may otherwise exist under some form of contract or agreement with the individual (e.g. an employment or parent contract, or parent contract, or because a purchase of goods, services or membership of an organization such as an alumni or parents association has been requested).
Whose rights?
The rights under Data Protection Law belong to the individual to whom the data relates. However, the School will often rely on parental authority or notice for the necessary ways it processes personal data relating to pupils- for example, under the Parent/School Contract or via a form. Parents and pupils should be aware that this is not necessarily the same as the School relying on strict consent (see section on Consent above).
Where consent is required, it may in some cases be necessary or appropriate- given the nature of the processing in question, and the pupil’s age and understanding –to seek the pupils consent. Parents should be aware that in such situations they may not be consulted, depending on the interests of child, the parents’ rights at law or under their contract, and all the circumstances. In general, the School will assume that pupils’ consent is not required for ordinary disclosure of their personal data to their parents, e.g. for the purposes of keeping parents informed about the pupil’s activities, progress and behavior, and in the interests of the pupil’s welfare. That is unless, in the School’s opinion, there is a good reason to do otherwise.
However, where a pupil seeks to raise concerns confidentially with a member of staff and expressly withholds their agreement to their personal data being disclosed to their parents, the School may be under an obligation to maintain confidentiality unless, in the School’s opinion, there is a good reason to do otherwise. For example where the School believes disclosure will be in the best interest of the pupil or other pupils, or if required by law.
Pupils are required to respect the personal data and privacy of others, and to comply with the School’s rules. Staff are under professional duties to do the same covered under the relevant staff policies.
Data Accuracy and Security
The School will endeavor to ensure that all personal data held in relation to an individual is as up-to-date and accurate as possible. Individuals must please notify the Accounting Department, or other individuals as relevant, of any significant changes to important, such as contact details, held about them.
An individual has the right to request that any out-of-date, irrelevant or inaccurate or information about them is erased or corrected (subject to certain exemptions and limitations under Data Protection Law): please see above for details of why the school may need to process your data, of who you may contact if you disagree.
The School will take appropriate technical and organizational steps to ensure the security of personal data about individuals, including polices around use of technology and devices, and access to School systems. All staff will be made aware of this policy and their duties under Data Protection Law and receive relevant training.
The School will update this Privacy Notice from time to time. Any substantial changes that affect your rights will be provided to you directly as far as is reasonably practicable.
Queries and Complaints
Any comments or queries on this policy should be directed to the Accounting Department.
Any comments and queries on this policy should be directed to the Accounting Department.
If an individual believes that the School has not complied with this policy or acted otherwise than in accordance with the Data Protection Law, they should utilizes the School complaints/ grievance procedure and should also notify the Accounting Department. You can also lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner. It is always prudent (where possible) to attempt to resolve the matter with the School before involving the regulator.
