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Accessing information about your child

Introduction

Schools, Local Authorities, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and other bodies that process personal data about children and staff are required by the Data Protection Act to issue a Notice to parents/pupils and staff to inform them of the purposes for which that personal data is being held and what it will be used for.

The Information Commissioner recommends the term 'Fair Processing Notice' (FPN) be replaced by 'Privacy Notice'.  The DCSF is adopting this approach in its data collections from 2010, and has reviewed the process of issuing Privacy Notices.

In the past, the FPN has included the use of school information made available by the Local Authority (LA) or the DCSF.  The new process will mean much simpler Privacy Notices, where details of any organisations with which the LA and DCSF share data are contained on the LA and DCSF websites, with links from the Privacy Notices.  This means that Privacy Notices do not need reissuing on an annual basis.  The aim is to make the Privacy Notices issued to children and staff general and constant.  Any changes to the details of organisations with which school or LA data is shared can by updated on the LA and DCSF websites.

The new approach is that a single, short and easily understandable Privacy Notice can be provided to pupils and staff by the school or LA at the same time as other communications.  For example, a pupil might receive the Privacy Notice as part of a school brochure or induction pack, or in a school diary, and it could be posted on the school notice board.  For staff, the Privacy Notice might be included as part of a contract, induction pack, and posted on the staff notice board.  A child receiving Social Care Services or a child looked after might receive their Privacy Notice as part of other information about the services that they are being offered.

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