PRIVACY NOTICE – PICKNALLS FIRST SCHOOL 2023-24

Why do we collect and use personal information?

We collect and use personal information:

  • to support pupil learning
  • to monitor and report on pupil progress
  • to provide appropriate pastoral care
  • to assess the quality of our services and how well our school is doing
  • statistical forecasting and planning
  • to comply with the law regarding data sharing

The categories of personal information that we collect, hold and share include:

  • Personal information (such as name, unique pupil number, date of birth and address)
  • Characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, nationality, country of birth and free school meal eligibility)
  • Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons) and exclusions
  • Assessment information
  • Modes of travel
  • Relevant medical, special educational needs and behavioural information

The General Data Protection Regulation allows us to collect and use pupil information with consent of the data subject, where we are complying with a legal requirement, where processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of a data subject or another person and where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller. When the personal information is Special Category Information, we may rely on processing being in the substantial public interest in addition to consent of the data subject and the vital interests of the data subject or another.

Our requirement for this data and our legal basis for processing this data include the Education Act 1996, 2002 and 2011, The Children’s Act 1989 and 2004, Education and Skills Act 2008, Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Equalities Act 2010.

Picknalls First School collects and uses pupil information to comply with legal obligation and protection of vital interests

(ref: Article 6, and Article 9 where data processed is special category data from the GDPR)

Collecting personal information

Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain personal information to us or if you have a choice in this. Where we are using your personal information only on the basis of your permission you may ask us to stop processing this personal information at any time.

Storing personal data

We hold pupil data for in accordance with our retention policies. This schedule will detail the length of time for which the personal data will be stored.

Who do we share pupil information with?

We routinely share pupil information with:

  • Schools that the pupil’s attend after leaving us
  • Our local authority
  • Children’s Services
  • The Department for Education (DfE)
  • Health Professionals (School Nurse, Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapists, CAMHS)
  • SEND professionals or educational settings
  • Uttoxeter Leisure Centre (Everyone Active)


Why we share pupil information

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

We share pupils’ data with the Department for Education (DfE) on a statutory basis. This data sharing underpins school funding and educational attainment policy and monitoring.

We are required to share information about our pupils with our local authority (LA) and the Department for Education (DfE) under section 3 of The Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

Data collection requirements

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education (for example, via the school census) go to the Data Collection and Censuses for Schools page.

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

The NPD is owned and managed by the Department for Education and contains information about pupils in schools in England. It provides invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department. It is held in electronic format for statistical purposes. This information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and awarding bodies.

We are required by law, to provide information about our pupils to the DfE as part of statutory data collections such as the school census and early years’ census. Some of this information is then stored in the NPD. The law that allows this is the Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

To find out more about the pupil information we share with the department, for the purpose of data collections, click here.

To find out more about the NPD, click here.

The department may share information about our pupils from the NPD with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children in England by:

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

The Department has robust processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of our data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access and use of the data. Decisions on whether DfE releases 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 store and handle the data


To be granted access to pupil information, organisations must comply with 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 click here.

For information about which organisations the department has provided pupil information, (and for which project), please visit this website.

To contact DfE directly click here.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, parents and pupils have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, or be given access to your child’s educational record, contact Penny Plant, Bursar.

You also have the right, subject to some limitations 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, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact:

Mrs Anne Tapp – Head Teacher – [email protected] who may contact the Uttoxeter Learning Trust Data Protection Officer – Natalie Morrisey (Information Governance Manager Staffordshire County Council)