What information do we need?
¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ require information to provide you with Education services. This information is detailed in the registration form for nursery or school. For the purposes of this specific service, the personal data we require includes special category information about you (also known as ‘sensitive personal data’ which may include race / ethnic origin, religious beliefs or health details.
When we are using this more sensitive type of personal information, our legal basis is usually that we require the information for reasons of substantial public interest for aims that are proportionate and which contain appropriate safeguarding measures.
There will be times where we also receive information about you from other organisations, such as a previous school, the previous local authority where that school or ELC setting was based, NHS, Police Scotland, Social work, Additional Support Services, and sometimes other organisations or groups connected to your education.
Why we need this information?
Your information is being collected to help deliver an effective educational programme and to support your learning, monitor and report on your progress, provide appropriate pastoral care; and assess the quality of our services. We will also use information we hold to assess entitlement to Education initiatives such as the Scottish Government’s Summer Activities programme.
If you do not provide this information then we will be unable to provide those services to you. We will not collect any personal data from you that aren’t needed for delivery of those services.
The legal basis for collecting your information in these circumstances is:
Article 6(1)(e) - public task on the basis of the statutory obligations placed on the Council by:
- Education (Scotland) Act 1980
- Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2009
- Equality Act 2010
- Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006
- Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000
- Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
Article 9(2)(g) - special categories of data can also be collected for reasons of substantial public interest for aims that are proportionate and which contain appropriate safeguarding measures.
What we will do with your information?
The majority of the information we collect from you will be processed by staff in the United Kingdom. There may be times when data is processed outwith the European Union and although they may not be subject to the same data protection laws as in the UK, we will take steps to make sure they provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with UK data protection laws.
Your information will be shared with the recipients or categories of recipients as detailed below:
| Who we will share with | Reason for Sharing |
|---|---|
| SEEMiS (Education department’s Management Information System) | For processing your data |
| Parents/Carers | To involve them in your education |
| School Transport | If you apply for it |
| NHS including Allied Health Professionals | To work collaboratively in ensuring your continued health and wellbeing |
| Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) | For the provision of national qualifications |
| School/ELC Setting and central Catering staff and CRB Cunninghams (school meal account provisioning partner) | To set up a cashless catering school meal account for you, including special diet information where necessary |
| Scottish Government | For the reasons of census, assessment and any other requests as detailed by them. To view the privacy notice for Scottish Government please visit |
| Skills Development Scotland (SDS) | To support you in achieving a positive destination after completing your education and in order to ensure we support you in all your transitions and do all that we can to help your future be a success |
| Other schools, ELC Settings and Councils | To pass on information about your education when moving from one establishment to another in order to ensure we support you in all your transitions and do all that we can to help your future be a success. We have a legal requirement to do this. |
| Dunbartonshire and ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute Valuation Joint Board (DAB/VJB) | To assist in compiling the Electoral Register |
| Groupcall | To enable establishments to communicate with people who have been noted as a pupil contact and for inclusion in the Parents' Evening booking system for those schools that use it |
| Glow | To allow access to Education resources on a secure platform |
| ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute ICT department | To enable email accounts to be created for secondary pupils |
| Social Work Services, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA), Police and Health | When there is a child protection concern |
| Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements partnerships | In order to comply with the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 and Section 10 of the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 |
| Social Work Services, Police and Health | Where there is a wellbeing concern it could be shared with a single agency or shared collaboratively |
| Education Psychological Service | In order to assess potential input regarding Additional Support Needs |
| Visually Impaired and Hearing Impaired Services | In order to assess potential input regarding Additional Support Needs |
| Church affiliated to denominational schools | To provide religious input for those students that request it within a denominational school setting |
| School/ELC Setting Photography companies | To allow child/young person identification photos to be taken and to allow parents the chance to purchase photos |
| Outdoor trips/excursions/residential | To enable the trip host/organiser to fulfil their duty of care |
| Work Placement and Partner employers | To enable the employer to fulfil their duty of care where a young person is on a work placement |
| Education Scotland, HMIe and Care Inspectorate | To comply with legislation on inspecting educational establishments |
| Health & Safety Executive and relevant internal departments including Special Projects Team and Governance & Law | To meet legislation for recording accidents, incidents and assessing risk |
| ASN Team | To assess need and allocate resources |
| Central Education Staff | To support pupils, parents and schools /ELC Settings |
| Hostel Staff | For pupils who stay in Dunoon and Oban hostel |
| Chief Executive department - Finance | For children and young people who are educated in hospital, in residential schools or have additional support needs |
| Emergency contacts and overnight accommodation contacts | in cases of emergency or where you are required to be accommodated overnight |
| School to School Coordinators, SEEMiS and Scottish Government | When necessary to ensure children are not missing from Education |
| University of Highlands and Islands (UHI), UHI ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and other training providers | To provide courses/training/education in addition to those provided by the school |
| Heriot-Watt University trading as SCHOLAR | To provide online educational resources and a ‘virtual’ support network including access to materials hosted on a Virtual Learning Platform (VLP) covering 37 Curriculum for Excellence courses at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher level. |
| Students of University of Highlands and Islands, Dundee University and other training providers | To allow staff who are not Council employees to gain work experience in a school setting such as Student Inductees, Student Teachers on work placements and Trainee Education Psychologists |
| Live¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ | To help promote and develop their programme of activities |
| Parent Teacher Councils | For use in organising school based events and raising funds |
| ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Tax and Benefits Departments | For the purposes of preventing fraud and error in administering Council Tax Reductions and Housing Benefit |
Your information may be shared with other companies to help schools meet your educational needs and to provide education as defined in the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and other associated legislation. We will take steps to make sure these companies provide an adequate level of protection in accordance with UK data protection laws. Specific information of the companies involved can be obtained from your school.
In addition to the above, ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute Education department has a legal duty to promote, support and safeguard the wellbeing of children in our care. Wellbeing concerns can cover a range of issues depending on the needs of the child.
Staff are trained to identify when children and families can be supported and records are kept when it is thought that a child could benefit from help available in the school/ELC setting, community or another professional. You can expect that we will tell you if we are concerned about your wellbeing, and talk to you about what supports might help in the circumstances. Supports are optional and you will not be required to take them up.
If it would be helpful to share information with someone else, we will discuss this with you before we share it so that you know what is happening and why. The only time we may share information with another organisation without discussing it with you is if we believe that a child may be at risk of harm. In these situations, we have a duty to protect children, which means that we may be obliged to share information without your knowledge.
We will also generally comply with requests for, and share, specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.
You should also be aware that your data will be stored on servers located within the United Kingdom and some data will be processed outside the European Union. Your data will also be held as paper files which are stored securely. Correspondence is kept in email format for the current year plus 3 archived years. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is kept securely and more information on how we do this is provided on the Council website () or can be provided in paper format on request to your School Support 01369 704000.
If you have provided anyone else’s details on this form please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. We will only use this information to contact them in the event of an emergency or share their data in relation to legal requirements as detailed above.
How long will we keep your information?
We will usually keep your information for 5 years following your leaving date, after this period it will be destroyed under secure arrangements if it is no longer required for the lawful purpose(s) for which it was obtained. For children and young people who are currently or have been Looked After and Accommodated by a local authority, files will be kept indefinitely in line with the requirements and recommendations of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI). More information on our retention schedule is provided on the Council website () or can be provided in paper format on request to School Support 01369 704000.
We will provide details of the current information held for contact and personal information on an annual basis. If someone is no longer a contact we will remove their details from the SEEMiS Management Information system.
Automated Decision Making
Schools will not use automatic decision making or profiling but some may use assessment tools which will aid their decision making processes to provide support that may be required in your education.
Your Rights
When you provide information to the Council, you will have the following rights:
- to withdraw consent at any time, where the legal basis specified above is consent
- to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office
- to request access to your personal data
- to data portability, where the Legal basis specified above is i) consent or ii) performance of a contract
- to request rectification or erasure of your personal data, as so far as the legislation permits
If you would like this document in an alternative format, such as a hard copy, please contact School Support on 01369 704000.
Data Controller
¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ will act as the ‘Data Controller’ in regard to the personal data you provide to us. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at the Council’s headquarters is at Kilmory, Lochgilphead PA31 8RT. The email address is: data.protection@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Information Commissioner’s Office
The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 Email: casework@ico.org.uk
The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HL
Telephone: 0303 123 1115 Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk