General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) came in to force on 25 May 2018 and changed to UK-GDPR in January 2021. Schools have a legal duty to comply with UK-GDPR.

UK-GDPR has replaced the Data Protection Act and is set to strengthen and unify all data held within an organisation. For schools, UK-GDPR brings a new responsibility to inform parents/carers and stakeholders about how they are using pupils’ data and who it is being used by. It brings higher standards for handling data and greater expectations for improved transparency, enhanced data security and increased accountability for processing personal data.

Individuals have a right to be informed about how our Federation uses any personal data that we hold about them. We comply with this right by providing ‘Privacy Notices’ where we are processing personal data. These Privacy Notices explain how we collect, store and use personal data and can be accessed on our website or hard copies requested via either Federation school office.

What does UK-GDPR mean for schools?

A great deal of the processing of personal data undertaken by schools will fall under a specific legal basis, ‘in the public interest’. As it is in the public interest to operate schools successfully, it will mean that specific consent will not be needed in the majority of cases in schools.

UK-GDPR will ensure data is protected and will give individuals more control over their data, however, this means schools will have greater accountability for the data:
· Under UK-GDPR, consent must be explicitly given to anything that isn’t within the normal business of the school, especially if it involves a third party managing the data. Parents/carers (or the pupil themselves depending on their age) must express consent for their child’s data to be used outside of the normal business of the school;
· Schools must appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and be able to prove that they are UK-GDPR compliant;
· Schools must ensure that their third-party suppliers who may process any of their data are UK-GDPR compliant;
· It will be compulsory that all data breaches which are likely to have a detrimental effect on the data subject are reported to the ICO within 72 hours.

Our Data Protection Officer is Mr Tim Pinto
Our Federation Data Protection lead is Mrs Cheryl Baxter
Our governor responsible for Data Protection is Mrs Rosie Hoyle