Privacy Notice - Education

Stockton‐on‐Tees Borough Council is a registered data controller and we collect and use information personal to you in accordance with Data Protection legislation.

This outlines what you can expect from us when you provide us with your personal information.

Stockton‐on‐Tees Borough Councils education department supports schools and its pupils in a variety of ways. Functions include but are not limited to:

• Early Years
• School Admissions (primary and secondary)
• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
• Educational Psychology
• Attendance Support
• Elective Home Support
• Statutory Returns
• Support for Vulnerable Children

Why we are asking for your information and how will we use the information about you?

We will ensure that we have a lawful basis to collect your personal information and use it to deliver our services to you.

We collect and use your personal information to carry out tasks in the public interest or to comply with a legal obligation. We may need your consent to collect and use your personal information in some circumstances. If we need to collect special category (sensitive) personal information, we rely upon reasons of substantial public interest (equality of opportunity or treatment):

• allocate your child a school place for the following school year through the co‐ordinated admissions process.
• fund your free early education places
• support our statutory duty to ensure sufficient, sustainable early years and school places are available
• identify your child's SEND needs
• make decisions about whether to conduct a statutory needs assessment or issue an Education, Health and Care Plan
• work with the child or young person to gain an understanding of strengths and needs based on their psychological skills
• maintain a record of children in the borough of Stockton who are known to be home educated
• provide advice and guidance to home educating families
• provide support to ensure children attend school
• a wide variety of support for vulnerable children
• undertake additional statutory duties placed on us

Who will use your information?

In some instances, we may share your information with other services within the Council as part of service delivery or because we are legally required to do so.

We may share your information with, but not limited to the following:

• your child's school or setting
• teams within SBC working to improve outcomes for children and young people
• commissioned providers of local authority services (such as education services)
• NHS
• The Department of Education
• we will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law

We may share your information with the Electoral Registration Officer in order to fulfil their statutory obligation to maintain a complete and accurate electoral register, or to validate the identity of applicant voters.

If you would like further information about who your information is shared with, please contact the Information Governance Team on foiandcomplaints@stockton.gov.uk.

What personal information do we hold about you?

Other organisations may share your personal information with us for the purpose of service delivery or because they are legally required to do so.

In the course of delivery the above services we may collect the following personal information about you:

• your personal information (such as name, address, contact details)
• your child's personal information (such as name, address, date of birth and any photo of their likeness that is provided with their application)
• current school (if applicable)
• school preference information and parent's reasons for selection
• name and date of birth of any sibling already attending a preferred school
• educational history (such as schools previously attended and attendance, attainment and exclusion information)
• attendance and exclusion information (such as sessions attended, number of absences, reasons, details to support statutory processes), pupil characteristics, and unique pupil number, from your child's school
• involvement with other SBC children's services teams from our existing records
• other professional involvement
• looked after children, adoption, special guardianship order or child arrangement history
• special category information (Education Health and Care Plan status and detail of any Special Educational Need)
• your financial information/bank details (to enable you to be funded for free early education)
• special category characteristics (such as ethnicity, religion, medical information)
• reasons for support (such as concerns about learning, areas that require support and change)
• information about physical or mental health
• assessment and plan information (such as further details of barriers to learning, strengths and needs, interventions and next steps to support outcomes)
• images, video and audio recordings, digital and paper records that support our work with you

We also obtain personal information from other sources including personal details, characteristics, educational history and professional involvement, from previously attended schools, NHS, other local authorities, and other SBC departments.

We may also hold what is known as special category data which would include information relating to race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data and health data.

To find out more information about this, please contact the Information Governance Team on foiandcomplaints@stockton.gov.uk.

How long we will keep your personal information for?

Your information will be held in accordance with the Stockton‐on‐Tees Borough Council Retention Schedule.

Access to your information and correction

You have the right to request the following in relation to the personal information we hold. Subject to some legal exceptions, you have the right to:

• have any inaccuracies corrected
• have your personal data erased
• place a restriction on our processing of your data
• object to processing; and
• request your data to be ported (data portability)

If you would to like to exercise any of the rights outlined above please contact us. If you would like further information about your rights to your information, please visit the Information Commissions Office website.

You also have the right to request a copy of the personal information that the Council holds about you. To do this complete this online form.

If you have given your consent for us to use your personal information and wish to withdraw this consent, contact the Information Governance Team on foiandcomplaints@stockton.gov.uk.

What happens if I don't provide you with my personal information?

If you do not provide us with the personal information we have requested, it may not be possible to deliver our services to you. For more information about how this might affect you, contact the Information Governance Team on foiandcomplaints@stockton.gov.uk.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

How to contact us

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Data Protection Officer is Martin Skipsey.

If something goes wrong with your personal information or if you have any questions about how we use it, please contact the Information Governance Team in the first instance at foiandcomplaints@stockton.gov.uk or 01642 527521.

If you remain unhappy about the way which we have handled your personal information and wish to complain, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office.

Address: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510