At Rushden Academy, we aim to provide a positive, aspirational learning environment to support all our students in improving their life chances. In order to achieve this we need to work in partnership with parents, students, governors, Tove Learning Trust and carefully selected outside agencies.

For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) we are the Data Controller and any personal data we hold is used to support teaching and learning, monitor and report on your child’s progress, provide appropriate pastoral care and assess how well your child is doing.

Due to GDPR, schools must provide parents with an opportunity to opt in or out of any data sharing. We will not give information about you to anyone outside the school without your consent unless the law or our rules permit it. However we are required by law to pass some of your information to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). We also subscribe to several systems and services that we see as necessary to assist with the education of your child, a list of these can be viewed on our website.

Once your child is aged 13 or over we are required to pass on certain information to the Careers Service. This is the Government’s information and advice service for all young people ages 13-19 in England. We must provide both yours and your child’s name and address and any further information relevant to the careers services’ role.

What information is collected and why?

We collect emergency contact information including names, addresses, mobile numbers and email addresses from you. In order to be more environmentally-friendly, we communicate school information via email, SMS text messaging and via a web portal.

We collect ethnicity information, special educational needs, meal preference and travel arrangements for use in the Government Census.

We collect medical information and food allergy information in order to provide appropriate care within school.

As part of our catering system, we use student biometric data in the form of a fingerprint, consent for this system is requested via a separate form.

We regularly collect Target and Assessment data in order to assess progress and identify additional areas of development that may be needed.

Some parts of our campus maybe monitored by CCTV. These areas are clearly marked by suitable signage. We use any video recorded to protect our pupils, staff and visitors while they are on site, to deter crime, and to help maintain good order within the School grounds. We retain this information for a period of up to three months. Access to CCTV footage is controlled. CCTV footage may be passed onto the Police or other relevant authorities.

How is data collected?

We ask for Data Sheets and Consent Forms to be completed by parents. We can also receive electronic data transfers from previous or primary schools via the DfE’s Secure Access site providing previous attendance history and KS2/Target data, etc.

Staff complete digital marksheets to provide progress and assessment data, which is then reported to parents via our progress systems.

How will the information be used?

We take your privacy seriously and data is only used to provide the best possible care and education for your child. It is used to assess learning, to set up user accounts to assist with personalised learning, to facilitate home-school communication and emergency information so we can contact parents.

Who will it be shared with?

Any third party that we share your data with has been rigorously checked by following our Due Diligence process. Currently we share information with the companies listed below.

We thank you for your continued support and are happy to answer any further questions you may have. All attached documents are available for viewing on the school website (www.rushden-academy.net) and we encourage you to check regularly for updated documentation.