Privacy Notice 2010 (formerly known as Fair Processing of Children's Personal Data)
Darlington Borough Council uses information about children for whom it provides services, to enable it to carry out specific functions for which it is responsible, such as the assessment of any special educational needs the child may have. It also uses the information to derive statistics to inform decisions on (for example) the funding of schools, and to assess the performance of schools and set targets for them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual children cannot be identified from them. The LA is also required to maintain the accuracy of the information held on ContactPoint about children and young people in their area.
The Local Authority may also share information about children with its partners, who are listed below:
Darlington Primary Care Trust (PCT) use information about pupils for research and statistical purposes, to monitor the performance of local health services and to evaluate and develop them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual pupils cannot be identified from them. Information on the height and weight of individual pupils may however be provided to the child and its parents and this will require the PCT to maintain details of pupils’ names for this purpose for a period designated by the Department of Health following the weighing and measuring process. PCTs may also provide individual schools and LAs with aggregate information on pupils’ height and weight.
Connexions Services for pupils of 13 years and over, schools are legally required to pass on certain information to Connexions services providers on request. Connexions [external link] is the government's information and advice service for all young people aged 13 to 19 in England. This information includes the name and address of the pupil and parent, and any further information relevant to the Connexions services’ role.
However parents, or the pupils themselves if aged 16 or over, can ask that no information beyond name and address (for pupil and parent) be passed on to Connexions. If as a parent, or as a pupil aged 16 or over, you wish to opt-out and do not want Connexions to receive from the school information beyond name, address and date of birth then please contact the school.
Darlington Children’s Trust use information about children to inform decisions on (for example) the a variety of education and child related issues and to assess the performance of education and Children’s services as a whole in Darlington. Under the remit of the Children’s Trust, data may be shared between the LA, schools, Darlington College and Darlington Queen Elizabeth 6th Form College for those pupils relevant by age and enrolment status. Data transmission methods use encryption to ensure data security.
The Local Authority is also statutorily required to share pupil data with the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF). The specific data required by the DCSF varies over time but the transmission method is by encrypted secure links.
Details of the uses the DCSF puts the data toward, plus the DCSF’s own Privacy Notices are available on the DCSF website [external link]
The Workforce in Schools
The Local Authority will use information about its school workforce for research and statistical purposes, and to evaluate and develop education policy and strategies. The statistics are used in such a way that individual staff cannot be indentified from them. The LA may also use it to support and monitor schools regarding sickness and recruitment of staff.