Updated September 2026
Under data protection law, individuals have a right to be informed about how the school uses any personal data that we hold about them. We comply with this right by providing ‘privacy notices’ (sometimes called ‘fair processing notices’) to individuals where we are processing their personal data.
This privacy notice explains how we collect, store and use personal data about pupils. We, Haslingden High School, are the ‘data controller’ for the purposes of data protection law. Our data protection officer is Justin Roper.
The categories of pupil information that we process include:
- Personal identifiers and contacts: (such as name, contact details, address, Unique Pupil Number (UPN), and the statutory Single Unique Identifier (SUI) used for multi-agency safeguarding).
- characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, and free school meal eligibility)
- safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
- special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
- medical and administration (such as doctors information, child health, dental health, allergies, medication and dietary requirements)
- attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
- assessment and attainment (such as key stage 1 and phonics results, post 16 courses enrolled for and any relevant results)
- behavioural information (such as exclusions and any relevant alternative provision put in place)
- details of trips and activities
- catering and free school meal management
- identity management/authentication
- CCTV images
We may also hold data about pupils that we have received from other organisations, including other schools, local authorities and the Department for Education.
Why we collect and use pupil information
a) to support pupil learning
b) to monitor and report on pupil attainment progress
c) to provide appropriate pastoral care
d) to assess the quality of our services
e) to keep children and staff safe (food allergies, emergency contact details)
f) to meet the statutory duties placed upon us for DfE data collections
g) to prevent, and if necessary detect crime
Our Lawful Basis for Processing
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, the primary lawful bases we rely on to process pupil information are:
-
Article 6(1)(c) – Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for us to comply with the law, including statutory duties outlined in the Education Act 1996 and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026.
-
Article 6(1)(e) – Public Task: 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 school (e.g., providing education and pastoral care).
Where we process highly sensitive “special category” data (such as health data, biometrics, or safeguarding records), we additionally rely on:
-
Article 9(2)(g) – Substantial Public Interest: In conjunction with Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018, specifically for the purpose of safeguarding children and individuals at risk.
Collecting pupil information
We collect pupil information via registration forms when your child enrols at Haslingden High School, Common Transfer Files (CTF) or secure file transfer from a previous school.
Pupil data is essential for the schools’ operational use. Whilst the majority of pupil information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the data protection legislation, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain pupil information to us or if you have a choice in this.
How we store this data
We keep personal information about pupils while they are attending our school. We may also keep it beyond their attendance at our school if this is necessary in order to comply with our legal obligations. We hold pupil data securely for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule, based on the IRMS Schools Toolkit. For most educational records, this is until the pupil reaches the age of 25.
Data sharing
We do not share information about pupils with any third party without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.
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. Where it is legally required, or necessary (and it complies with data protection law) we may share personal information about pupils with:
- schools that the pupils attend after leaving us
- Lancashire County Council
- youth support services (pupils aged 13+)
- the Department for Education (DfE)
- The pupil’s family and representatives
- Examining bodies
- Ofsted
- Suppliers and service providers – to enable them to provide the service we have contracted them for
- Financial organisations
- Our auditors
- Security organisations
- Health and social welfare organisations
- Professional advisers and consultants
- Police forces, courts, tribunals
- Professional bodies
Safeguarding and Multi-Agency Information Sharing
In accordance with the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, we have a statutory duty to collaborate with local agencies to promote child welfare and safeguard our students. We will proactively share relevant personal data with early help services, local safeguarding partners, and healthcare providers when it is necessary to facilitate targeted support or protective interventions.
This data sharing is strictly proportionate, prioritises the best interests of the child, and is conducted securely—often utilising a child’s Single Unique Identifier (SUI) to ensure accuracy and continuity of care across different public services.
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about our pupils with the Department for Education (DfE) either directly or via our local authority for the purpose of those data collections, under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.
All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls, which meet the current government security policy framework.
For more information, please see ‘How Government uses your data’ section.
Youth support services
Pupils aged 13+
Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we also pass pupil information to our local authority and/or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19-year-olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996. This enables them to provide services as follows:
- youth support services
- careers advisors
A parent or guardian can request that only their child’s name, address and date of birth is passed to their local authority or provider of youth support services by informing us. This right is transferred to the child/pupil once he/she reaches the age 16.
Pupils aged 16+
We will also share certain information about pupils aged 16+ with our local authority and/or provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19-year-olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.
This enables them to provide services as follows:
- post-16 education and training providers
- youth support services
- careers advisers
For more information about services for young people, please visit our local authority website.
Administration of Free School Meals
Under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, eligibility for free school meals has been expanded. We process and share relevant household and pupil eligibility data with our local authority (Lancashire County Council) and our catering providers. This processing is conducted under our legal obligation to ensure all eligible children receive their statutory meal entitlement and to facilitate accurate school funding allocations.
Children Not in School Registers
If a pupil is removed from our school roll—for example, if they are transitioning to Elective Home Education or their next educational destination is unconfirmed—we have a statutory duty under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 to notify the local authority. We will share the pupil’s personal identifiers, attendance history, and leaving destination with Lancashire County Council. This ensures the local authority can maintain accurate ‘Children Not in School’ registers and provide continuous educational oversight and safeguarding.
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 Justin Roper, Data Protection Officer.
You also have the right to:
- object to the 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
- a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the court
- restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e., permitting its storage but no further processing)
- request that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or directly to you (the right to data portability)
If you have a concern or complaint 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 at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Complaints
We take any complaints about our collection and use of personal information very seriously.
If you think that our collection or use of personal information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate, or have any other concerns about our data processing, please raise this with us in the first instance.
To make a complaint, please contact our data protection officer.
Alternatively, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office:
- Report a concern online at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
- Call 0303 123 1113
- Or write to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Contact us
If you have any questions, concerns or would like more information about anything mentioned in this privacy notice, please contact Justin Roper, our data protection officer:
How Government uses your data
We lawfully share pupil data with the DfE through statutory data collections, also known as the school census. This takes place three times a year; the purposes are to:
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 https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools
The National Pupil Database (NPD)
Much of the data about pupils in England goes on to be held in 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. To find out more about the NPD, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information
Sharing by the Department for Education (DfE)
The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:
- schools
- local authorities
- researchers
- organisations connected with promoting the education or well-being of children in England
- other government departments and agencies
- organisations fighting or identifying crime
For more information about the Department’s NPD data sharing process, please visit:
https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data
Organisations fighting or identifying crime may use their legal powers to contact DfE to request access to individual-level information relevant to detecting that crime. Whilst numbers fluctuate slightly over time, DfE typically supplies data on around 600 pupils per year to the Home Office and roughly 1 per year to the Police.
For information about which organisations the Department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) or to access a monthly breakdown of data share volumes with the Home Office and the Police please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares
To contact DfE: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe