Privacy Notices

Privacy Notice for Parents/Carers

How We Use Your Information

Introduction

This notice is to help you understand how and why we collect personal information about you and what we do with that information. It also explains the decisions that you can make about your own information. If you have any questions about this notice please contact the School Business Manager SBM@hillcross.merton.sch.uk

What is "personal information"?

Personal information is information that identifies you as an individual. 

This includes your contact details, next of kin and financial information. We may also hold information such as your religion or ethnic group. CCTV, photos and video recordings of you are also personal information.

How and why does the School collect and use personal information?

We set out below examples of the different ways in which we use personal information and where this personal information comes from. The School's primary reason for using your personal information is to provide an education to your child.

We obtain information about you from admissions forms and from your child's previous school. We may also get information from professionals such as doctors and from local authorities. 


We may have information about any family circumstances which might affect your child's welfare or happiness. 


We may need information about any court orders or criminal petitions which relate to you. This is so that we can safeguard the welfare and wellbeing of your child and the other pupils at the School. 


We may take photographs or videos of you at School events to use on social media and on the School website. This is to show prospective parents and pupils what we do here and to advertise the School. We may continue to use these photographs and videos after your child has left the School. 


We may send you information to keep you up to date with what is happening at the School. For example, by sending you information about events and activities taking place (including fundraising events), the School newsletter and for Friends of Hillcross.

We may use information about you if we need this for historical research purposes or for statistical purposes. 


Sharing personal information with third parties

In accordance with our legal obligations, we may share information with local authorities, the Independent Schools Inspectorate and the Department for Education, for example, where we have any safeguarding concerns. 


On occasion, we may need to share information with the police. 


We may also need to share information with our legal advisers for the purpose of obtaining legal advice. 


Occasionally we may use consultants, experts and other advisors to assist the School in fulfilling its obligations and to help run the School properly. We might need to share your information with them if this is relevant to their work. 


If your child is not of British nationality we have to make sure that your child has the right to study in the UK.

We may share some information with our insurance company, for example, where there is a serious incident at the School. 


If your child leaves us to attend another school we may need to provide that school with information about you. For example, details of family circumstances for safeguarding reasons. 


We may share information about you with others in your family, such as another parent or step-parent. For example, where this is part of our obligation to take care of your child, as part of our wider legal and regulatory obligations. 


We may need to share information if there is an emergency, for example, if you are hurt whilst on School premises.

Our legal grounds for using your information

This section contains information about the legal basis that we are relying on when handling your child’s information.

Public interests

This means that the processing of your data is necessary for public interests. The School relies on public interests for most of the ways in which it uses your information.

Specifically, the School has a public interest in:

  • Providing your child with an education.

  • Safeguarding and promoting your child’s welfare and the welfare of other children.

  • Promoting the objectives and interests of the School.

  • Facilitating the efficient operation of the School.

  • Ensuring that all relevant legal obligations of the School are complied with.

If you object to us using your child’s information where we are relying on our public interests as explained above please speak to  the School Business Manager.

Legal obligation

Where the School needs to use your information in order to comply with a legal obligation, for example to report a concern about your child’s wellbeing to Children's Services, we may also have to disclose your  information to third parties such as the courts, the local authority or the police where legally obliged to do so.

Legitimate interest

Personal data may be processed on the basis that the school has a legitimate interest in processing that data, provided that such legitimate interest is not overridden by your rights or freedoms.

The School must also comply with an additional condition where it processes special categories of personal information. These special categories include: personal information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, genetic information, biometric information, health information, and information about sex life or orientation.

Vital interests

To protect the vital interests of any person where that person cannot give consent, for example, if they are seriously hurt and are unconscious.

Legal claims

The processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. This allows us to share information with our legal advisors and insurers.

Collecting Personal Information

We may ask for your consent to use your information in certain ways. If we ask for your consent to use your personal information you can take back this consent at any time. Any use of your information before you withdraw your consent remains valid. Please speak to the School Business Manager if you would like to withdraw any consent given.

Sending information to other countries

We may send your information to countries which do not have the same level of protection for personal information as there is the UK. For example, we may store your information on cloud computer storage based overseas or communicate with you by email when you are overseas (for example, when you are on holiday).

The European Commission has produced a list of countries which have adequate data protection rules. The list can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/international-transfers/adequacy/index_en.htm

If the country that we are sending your information to is not on the list or, is not a country within the EEA (which means the European Union, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland) then, it might not have the same level of protection for personal information as there is the UK.

We will provide you with details about the safeguards which we have in place outside of this privacy notice. If you have any questions about the safeguards that are in place please contact the School Business Manager.

For how long do we keep your information?

We keep your information for as long as we need to in order to educate and look after your child(ren). We will keep certain information after your child has left the School.

In exceptional circumstances, we may keep your information for a longer time than usual, but we would only do so if we had a good reason and only if we are allowed to do so under data protection law.

What decisions can you make about your child’s information?

From May 2018 you will be able to make various decisions about your information. Some of these are new rights whilst others build on your existing rights. Your  rights are as follows:

  • if information is incorrect you can ask us to correct it;

  • you can also ask what information we hold about you and be provided with a copy. We will also give you extra information, such as why we use this information about your, where it came from and what types of people we have sent it to;

  • you can ask us to delete the information that we hold about you in certain circumstances. For example, where we no longer need the information;

  • you can ask us to send you, or another organisation, certain types of information about you in a format that can be read by computer;

  • our use of information about you may be restricted in some cases. For example, if you tell us that the information is inaccurate we can only use it for limited purposes while we check its accuracy.

Further information and guidance

This notice is to explain how we look after your  personal information. The School Business Manager can answer any questions which you might have.

Please speak to the School Business Manager if:

  • you object to us using your  information for marketing purposes e.g. to send you information about school events. We will stop using your information for marketing purposes if you tell us not to; or

  • you would like us to update the information we hold about you; or

  • you would prefer that certain information is kept confidential.

If you consider that we have not acted properly when using your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk.

 

Hillcross Primary School, Ashridge Way, Morden, Surrey, SM4 4EE

020 8542 6936

info@hillcross.merton.sch.uk