Updated Data Protection Privacy Statement for Parents, Guardians and Pupils

Data Protection Privacy Statement for Parents, Guardians and Pupils

 Effective from the 25^th May, 2018

 Individuals have a number of rights in relation to their personal information – i.e. personal data – and these rights have been enhanced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This Data Protection Statement describes how we at St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown collect and process personal data, in accordance with the GDPR and the school’s legal obligations generally in relation to the provision of education.  Processing is the legal term used to describe various acts including – the collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, alteration, use of, retrieval, disclosure or transmission of information.

 This Statement applies to pupils, parents and guardians. By enrolling your child in and/or by attending St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown you acknowledge and agree to the collection and processing of personal information by the school.  

 For your information this Statement outlines:

• Who we are and how to contact us;
• What information we collect, process and retain;
• How information is collected and processed and the purpose and legal basis for so doing;
• Sharing information with third parties;
• Individual legal rights.

1. WHO WE ARE AND HOW TO CONTACT US

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown is a data controller responsible for personal data – i.e. information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown processes personal data, i.e. the school collects, records, stores, retains and uses personal data. St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown will respond to your questions in relation to this data protection statement and our approach to privacy. 

If you have any questions about this data protection statement, including any request to exercise your legal rights, please contact us using the details below:

stmarys1ttown@eircom.net

2. INFORMATION COLLECTED

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may collect the following personal information on pupils and parents/guardians:

• Pupil Information
• Personal details such as name, address, date of birth, gender, PPS number, nationality, emergency contact information and information in relation to the pupil’s family as may be required,
• Any Special Education Needs (SEN),
• Any Child Protection information,
• Academic records, school reports, pupil learning needs, pupil behaviour needs, permission for access to educational reports, individual education and learning support plans,
• Personal pupil profiles (including whether English is the pupil’s first language or if exempt from any subjects e.g. Irish or religion),
• Psychological referral/assessment documentation and permission for access to psychological reports,
• Information for the Primary Online Database (POD),
• Information for Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO),
• Information for TUSLA (the Child and Family Agency) and/or the Health Service Executive (HSE),
• Attendance records and explanatory notes in relation to absences,
• Disciplinary records including notes that may be held by the teacher(s), incident and accident reports, investigations and sanctions if imposed,
• Permission notes in respect of school activities e.g. school tours/trips and outings, extra-curricular activities, (including Curricular, RSE/Stay Safe Programme(s)),
• Photographs and recorded images of pupil(s) (including at school events),
• School Transport information,
• CCTV footage and other information obtained through electronic means

• Sensitive Personal Information – Pupils

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may collect and process the following special categories of more sensitive personal information such as:

• Information about pupil’s health, medical certificates, medical needs, allergies and consent for administration of medicine,
• Religious belief and confirmation of engagement or not in Religious Sacraments,
• Membership of the Traveller Community,
• Racial or Ethnic origin.

• Parent / Guardian Information

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may collect and process the following personal information from parents/guardians such as:

• Contact details of parent / guardian e.g. name, address, email address, telephone number(s)
• Information regarding legal orders in respect of any family law disputes in respect of guardianship, custody or access,
• Occupation and nationality,
• Number of children, position of pupil(s) in family,
• Consent in respect of medical/other emergencies,
• Consent in respect of school activities e.g. school tours/trips and outings, extra-curricular activities,
• Consent to publish photographs and schoolwork of pupils on school website / print media etc,
• Records, correspondence or notes arising from interaction with Parents / Guardians

3. PURPOSE & LEGAL BASIS FOR COLLECTING & PROCESSING INFORMATION

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown collects and processes personal information (as listed above) about pupils and parents / guardians for a variety of purposes and relies on a number of legal grounds to do so. St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown requires this information to perform our duties and responsibilities and to comply with our legal and statutory obligations.  In addition, St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown requires this personal information to pursue the legitimate interests of the school and our dealings with relevant third parties (see below). The legitimate interests upon which we rely are the effective operation and management of St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown, and managing the education and welfare needs of our pupils. St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown processes personal data on the basis of the following lawful purposes:

1. Legal Obligation

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown collects and process personal information to comply with our legal and statutory obligations, including, but not limited to those under the Education Act 1998 (as Amended), the Education (Welfare) Act 2000, the Education for Persons with Special Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, the Health Act 1947, the Children First Act 2015, the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017, the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 and Safety Health and Welfare at Work legislation

1. Legitimate Interests

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may also process personal information to:

• Enable Pupils to develop to their full potential and meet the educational, social, physical and emotional requirements of the pupil,
• Enable Parents and Guardians to be contacted in the case of emergency, school closures and to inform Parents and Guardians of their child’s educational progress,
• Secure and benefit from the support and services of relevant third parties.

1. Consent

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown sometimes process some of pupils’ personal information with consent e.g. photograph which may be displayed on the school’s website or on social media platforms or in the print media. Please note that consent can be withdrawn at any time by contacting the school.

4. HOW PERSONAL INFORMATION IS COLLECTED

• Pupils

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown collect personal information about pupils through the enrolment process and/or through expressions of interest in relation to enrolment. Additional information is collected from third parties, including former schools and through school activities and general interaction(s) during the course of the pupil’s time at St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown

• Parents and Guardians

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown collect personal information about parents and guardians through the enrolment process or expressions of interest for enrolment. We collect additional personal information through general interaction during the course of the pupil’s time at St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown  

5. INFORMATION AND THIRD PARTIES

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may receive from, share and/or transfer information to a range of third parties such as the following:

• The Department of Education and Skills
• TUSLA / the Child and Family Agency
• The National Council for Special Education
• National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)
• Department of Social Protection and/or other state benefit providers
• An Garda Síochána
• School Insurance Provider
• Third Party Service Providers: We may share personal information with third party service providers that perform services and functions at our direction and on our behalf such as our accountants, IT service providers including, printers, lawyers and other advisors, and providers of security and administrative services, including data processing / cloud storage service providers e.g. Aladdin, G Suite for Education.

6. DATA RETENTION

We will only retain personal information for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes the information was collected for, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

7. TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown may transfer the personal information we collect to countries outside the EU.  Where there is no adequacy decision by the European Commission in respect of any such country that means that that country is deemed not to provide an adequate level of protection for your data.  However, to ensure personal information does receive an adequate level of protection we will in such circumstances put in place appropriate measures such as the use of model contractual clauses as approved by the European Commission to ensure personal information is treated by those third parties in ways that are consistent with respect to EU and Irish Laws on Data Protection. 

8. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

Individuals have several rights under GDPR which in certain circumstances are limited and/or constrained. These individual rights include the right – free of charge and subject to any limitations as may apply – to:

1. Request a copy of the personal information held about the individual;
2. Rectify any inaccurate personal data held about the individual;
3. Erase personal information held about the individual;
4. Restrict the processing of individual personal information;
5. Object to the use of individual personal information for our legitimate interests;
6. Receive individual personal information in a structured commonly used and machine-readable format and to have that data transmitted to another data controller.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights please contact us at the school at stmarysttown@eircom.net. 

St. Mary’s NS, Thomastown will endeavour to respond to your request within a month.  If we are unable to deal with your request within a month we may extend this period by a further two months and we will explain why.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint to the office of the Data Protection Commission

9. UPDATES

We will update this data protection statement from time to time. Any updates will be made available and, where appropriate notified to you.