Cressing Primary School

• personal information (such as name, employee or teacher number, national insurance number) 
• special categories of data including characteristics information such as gender, age, ethnic group
• contract information (such as start dates, hours worked, post, roles and salary information) 
• work absence information (such as number of absences and reasons)
• qualifications (and, where relevant, subjects taught)
• relevant medical information
• other relevant payroll information

We use school workforce data to:

• enable the development of a comprehensive picture of the workforce and how it is deployed
• inform the development of recruitment and retention policies
• enable individuals to be paid
• ensure accessibility for staff

We collect and use this information under the Education Act 1996 and in compliance with Article 6 and Article 9 of the General Data Processing Regulations, which come into force on 25 May 2018

Whilst the majority of information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with data protection legislation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain school workforce information to us or if you have a choice in this.

For each reason why we use your personnel information there is often a legal reason as to why we need to keep it for a period of time.The details are included in the school Retention Schedule. We hold school workforce data for the duration of employment and for seven years after the employee has left.

We routinely share this information with:

• our local authority
• the Department for Education (DfE)

We do not share information about workforce members with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

Local authority
We are required to share information about our workforce members with our local authority (LA) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

Department for Education (DfE)
We share personal data with the Department for Education (DfE) on a statutory basis. This data sharing underpins workforce policy monitoring, evaluation, and links to school funding / expenditure and the assessment educational attainment.

We are required to share information about our pupils with the (DfE) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

The DfE collects and processes personal data relating to those employed by schools (including Multi Academy Trusts) and local authorities that work in state funded schools (including all maintained schools, all academies and free schools and all special schools including Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provision). All state funded schools are required to make a census submission because it is a statutory return under sections 113 and 114 of the Education Act 2005

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education including the data that we share with them, go to https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

The department may share information about school employees with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children or the effective deployment of school staff in England by:

• conducting research or analysis
• producing statistics
• providing information, advice or guidance

The department has robust processes in place to ensure that the confidentiality of personal data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access to it and its use. Decisions on whether DfE releases personal data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of:

• who is requesting the data
• the purpose for which it is required
• the level and sensitivity of data requested; and
• the arrangements in place to securely store and handle the data

To be granted access to school workforce information, organisations must comply with its strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.

For more information about the department’s data sharing process, please visit:

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

To contact the department: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to information about you that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, contact the school office.

You also have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
• prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means
• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
• claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you raise your concern with us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/