5.              Documentation

5.1.       Maintenance of records

5.1.1.                       Data protection

Privacy Notice ‐ Data Protection Act 1998

We Forton nursery group are the Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect information from you, and may receive information about you from your previous settings.

 We hold this personal data and use it to:

∙ support your teaching and learning;

∙ Monitor and report on your progress;

∙ provide appropriate pastoral care, and

∙ Assess how well the setting is doing.

This information includes your contact details, attendance information, characteristics such as ethnic group, special educational needs and any relevant medical information.

We will not give information about you to anyone outside the school without your consent unless the law and our rules permit it.

We are required by law to pass some of your information to the Local Authority (LA), and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

If you want to see a copy of the information we hold and share about you then please

Contact Sophia Murray.

If you require more information about how the LA and/or DCSF store and use this data please contact the LA or the DCSF as follows:

∙ Directorate for children, young people and families

   Early years and childcare services

   Tipping Street

   Stafford

   ST16 2DH

TEL: 01785   277903/ 278206/ 278298/ 

FAX: 01785   278207

 www.staffordshire.gov.uk

 

5.1.2.                       Data Protection Children’s records

             

Policy statement

There are record keeping systems in place that meet legal requirements; means of storing and sharing that information take place within the framework of the Data Protection Act and the Human Rights Act.

This policy and procedure is taken in conjunction with the Confidentiality Policy and our procedures for information sharing.

Procedures

We keep two kinds of records on children attending our setting:

Developmental records

                        These include observations of children in the setting, photographs, video clips and samples of their work and summary developmental reports.

                        These are usually kept in the kitchen and can be freely accessed, and contributed to, by staff, the child and the child’s parents.

 

Personal records

 

These include registration and admission forms, signed consent forms, and correspondence concerning the child or family, reports or minutes from meetings concerning the child from other agencies, an ongoing record of relevant contact with parents, and observations by staff on any confidential matter involving the child, such as developmental concerns or child protection matters.

                        These confidential records are stored in a lockable file or cabinet and are kept secure by the person in charge in an office or other suitably safe place.

                        Parents have access, in accordance with our Confidentiality policy, to the files and records of their own children but do not have access to information about any other child.

                        Staff will not discuss personal information given by parents with other members of staff, except where it affects planning for the child's needs. Staff induction includes an awareness of the importance of confidentiality in the role of the key person.

                        We retain children’s records for three years after they have left the setting. These are kept in a secure place.

 

Other records

                        Issues to do with the employment of staff, whether paid or unpaid, remain confidential to the people directly involved with making personnel decisions.

                        Students and volunteers are advised of our confidentiality policy and are required to respect it and to sign a confidentiality agreement. 

 

Legal Framework

                        Data Protection Act 1998

                        Human Rights Act 1998