Privacy notice for parents/carers for school admissions
Purpose for processing your information
The School Admission service is the coordinator body for the application process for schools and academies and the initial contact point for school admissions related enquiries.
We collect the following information:
Information we request from you is for processing your school application and to assess your child’s eligibility for a school place when considered against the Council’s and school’s policies for admissions. These are: full name of your child, date of birth, home address, parent/carers full name, address if different from your child, your contact details including phone numbers and email address, Council Tax number, current or previous education provision, professional supporting documents if relevant to your application, background education history of applying for as in-year admissions, country of origin if a new arrival to the country and length of stay in the UK.
This information is only used for the intended purpose but if we intend to use it for any other purpose; we will normally ask you first. In some cases, the Council may use your information for another purpose if it has a legal duty to do so, to provide a complete service to you, to prevent and detect fraud, or if there is a risk of serious harm or threat to life.
How we collect your information
The initial application for a school place can either be submitted online or a hard copy paper. Additional information will be requested either by letter, email, telephone or face- to-face. By completing and submitting your application you give your consent that all of the data and information you provide may be used for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice.
Who the information is shared with
The Admissions Team may also use your information for other legitimate purposes and may share (where necessary) with other Council departments and external bodies responsible for administering services to children and young people. Reasons for sharing information with the internal and external bodies will be; to enable the processing of school applications, to fulfil the council’s safeguarding duty and comply with the Prevent Strategy, and to provide Central Government bodies with mandatory data returns, The Home Office to notify of potential illegal immigration and the Police may request information at any time as part of a criminal investigation.
Internal bodies are; the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Teams, the Management Information Team, the Early Help Service, the Multi- Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) team and Safeguarding Services, Transport Team, School Meals Service and the Early Years’ Service.
External bodies are; schools/academies/private and voluntary nurseries (previous, current and applied for); other Councils/boroughs and the Police. Central Government bodies comprising of the Department for Education, the Local Government Ombudsmen and the Office of the School Adjudicator; the National Health Service; the Home Office and the Department of Work and Pensions.
For validating proof of address, the School Admissions Team will refer to data held by any of the services mentioned above, internal Council Tax records, the Housing Team, Parking Services and the Fraud Team.
How we store and transfer the data and information
Your application form and supporting information will be stored securely by the School Admissions Team both electronically and in hard copy. Any data shared outside the Council will be transferred in a secure, electronic format. Data and information will be retained for the duration of your child’s compulsory education.
Your rights and access to your information
You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. This does not include the details of any persons who have notified the Council of alleged fraud or the details of allegations or investigations that may have been carried out.
The new General Data Protection Regulation also gives you additional rights about the information we hold about you and how we use it including the right to:
- Withdraw consent and the right to object and restrict further processing of your data; however, this may affect service delivery to you.
- Request to have your data deleted where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing and if there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it.
- Request your data to be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
- Have your data transferred or copied should you move to another authority
- Not be subject to automated decision-making including profiling
The information can be requested by submitting a Subject Access Request via the Hounslow website.
Changes in your circumstance
You must notify us immediately if there are any changes in your circumstances and personal details so we can maintain an accurate and up to date record of your information.
April 2018
