Parent Permissions

The following pages detail various permissions that are important for parents to understand.  Please read them carefully and consent via the Update Information Page on EduLink.

• Permission 1: Consent for Trips, Visits and Extra-Curricular Activities
• Permission 2: Home-School Agreement
• Permission 3: School Photographs, Social Media, Videos and Audio Recordings
• Permission 4: Safe Use of the Internet in School
• Privacy Notice - Data Protection Act 2018

PERMISSION 1: Consent for Trips, Visits and Extra-Curricular Activities                                                     
I understand that my child may leave the school premises for curriculum-related, regular or routine visits including all school trips, or for sports fixtures when representing Harpenden Academy as part of a team, and hereby give my consent for them to participate in such events. Insurance for these activities are covered by the School Policy.

PERMISSION 2: Home-School Agreement

The aim of this agreement is to support the partners in the educational process – the school, the students and parents – ensuring success.

The school will aim to:
Enable all students to make the most of their talents, to have the highest expectations for their future and enjoy a fulfilling life.

To achieve this, we will:

• Encourage excellence in intellectual, creative and physical activities.
• Value all students and celebrate their achievements.
• Achieve the best possible academic results for all students.
• Encourage self-respect, respect for others and for the world in which we live in.
• Develop critical faculties, independence of view and enthusiasm for learning.
• Provide equality of opportunity for all students.
• Encourage participation in a wide range of extra-curricular activities.
• Provide a curriculum which allows for a wide range of educational experiences.
• Maintain regular and early communication with parents on all aspects of the student’s schooling and development.

Staff and the students will follow the School Code outlined below:

• Be prepared to work hard in class and at home.
• Bring the right equipment.
• Attend regularly and be punctual.
• Be prepared to share ideas and ask for help and guidance.
• Listen to others and be polite to everyone, students, visitors and staff.
• Respect the opinions and beliefs of others.
• Encourage and support one another.
• Look after the school environment and take care of personal belongings and those of others.
• Take pride in high standards of work, behaviour and appearance.
• Walk quietly around the building.
• Eat only in designated areas and only at break times.

Parents will:

• Do their best to support the school’s aims.
• Ensure regular, prompt attendance throughout the term time.
• Provide correct school equipment and uniform.
• Support the school’s policies and guidelines for behaviour.
• Provide an appropriate environment and support for study at home.
• Avoid term time holidays.
• Attend Parents’ Evenings and discussions regarding their child’s progress.
• Communicate with the school about issues affecting their child’s work or behaviour.
• Encourage their child to respect and return school property.
• Encourage the family’s active involvement in school activities.
• Support the school approach to online safety and not deliberately upload or add any images, film, sounds or text that could upset or offend any member of the school community.

PERMISSION 3: School Photographs, Social Media, Videos and Audio Recordings, Publicity and Promotional Material

During the school year a variety of photographs and video and audio recordings are taken of students whilst they are working in class or participating in other activities including after-school clubs, trips, visits, performances, sporting fixtures, celebrations and other events that are held both within school and outside of school.

A small selection of these are then used in communications that help us to promote the school. These include the school brochure/prospectus, school video, newsletter, website, social media, displays, leaflets, presentations, advertising, publicity (including articles in the press in recognition of a significant achievement) and communications that are produced by Harpenden Academy’s PTA. They may also be used as part of teaching resources or staff training either within school or at carefully selected conferences.  The school’s suppliers, for example, those that produce our printed materials and our website may also show examples of their work as part of their own promotional activity and this would, by default, include any images or recordings that are included in this work.

Photographs, videos or audio recordings are always taken with great sensitivity and the school carefully selects those that are then used for these purposes. At no time are these files passed on to another organisation for reasons other than those expressed in this information.

It is extremely important to us that we protect the welfare and safety of our students and therefore, to comply with the Data Protection Act, we will not permit any photographs or videos to be taken without the permission of the parent or carer.  We will also not permit any external organisations to take photographs or to make video or audio recordings of your son or daughter, regardless of their good intentions, unless they are in direct connection with the reasons that we have given within this document. If there are ever any circumstances that fall outside of the scope of this document then we will seek further written permission from you.

We will take all reasonable measures to ensure that images are used solely for the purposes for which they are intended. However, please note that we cannot always guarantee this and therefore can take no responsibility for the way images are used by other websites or publishers or for any consequences arising from publication.

PERMISSION 4: Safe Use of the Internet in School Agreement                                

New Technologies continue to play an important part in transforming learning and teaching at Harpenden Academy.  We expect all students to be safe and responsible when using any digital device or accessing digital media, including the internet.  It is essential that students are aware of e-safety when using any type of digital media.

As part of the curriculum, children will be participating in activities which require the use of the internet.  Please note that the school cannot be held responsible for the nature and content of the materials accessed through the internet and mobile technologies, but we will take every reasonable precaution to keep children safe and to prevent them from accessing inappropriate materials.

These steps include an educationally filtered service, restricted email, employing appropriate teaching practice and teaching e-safety skills to students. By signing the agreement, please be aware that the school can check your child’s computer files, the internet sites they visited and that if the school has concerns about their e-safety or behaviour, you will be contacted.

Student Privacy Notice - Data Protection Act 2018

We, Harpenden Academy, are a data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act. We collect personal information from you and may receive information about you from your previous school and the Learning Records Service. We hold this personal data to:

• Support your learning;
• Monitor and report on your progress;
• Provide appropriate pastoral care, and
• Assess how well we are doing.

Information about you that we hold includes your contact details, national curriculum assessment results, attendance information¹ and personal characteristics such as your ethnic group, any special educational needs you may have and relevant medical information. If you are enrolling for post 14 qualifications, the Learning Records Service will give us your Unique Learner Number (ULN) and may also give us details about your learning or qualifications.

Once you are aged 13 or over, we are required by law to pass on certain information to providers of youth support services in your area. This is the local authority support service for young people aged 13 to 19 in England. We must provide the names and addresses of you and your parent(s), and any further information relevant to the support services’ role.

However, if you are over 16, you (or your parent(s)) can ask that no information beyond names, addresses and your date of birth be passed to the support service. This right transfers to you on your 16th birthday. Please tell the School Office if you wish to opt out of this arrangement. For more information about young people’s services, please go to the National Careers Service page at 

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

Some of the information you supply will be used by the Skills Funding Agency to fulfil its statutory functions, issue/ verify your Unique Learner Number (ULN) and update/check your Personal Learning Record. The Skills Funding Agency may share your ULN and Personal Learning Record with other education related organisations, such as your careers service, school, college, university, Government Departments and public bodies responsible for funding your education.  Further details of how your information is processed and shared can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lrs-privacy-notices

OTHER INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN COLLABORATIVE DELIVERY

Where secondary schools are involved in collaborative delivery with other schools/colleges and learning providers, pupil information may also be shared to aid the preparation of learning plans and use of data to achieve the objectives identified above.

TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS

Pupil information may be shared with technology companies to allow use of educational apps in school. The apps which we currently use are listed below, this is an ever-changing list which will updated on an annual basis.

Bug Club, Charanga, Educreations, EduLink One, Jolly Phonics, Junior Librarian, Kodable, Maths Shed, Microsoft Office 365, Spelling Shed, Tapestry, Teach Your Monster to Read, Class Dojo

We will not give information about you to anyone without your consent unless the law and our policies allow us to.

We are required by law to pass some information about you to the Department for Education (DfE) and, in turn, this will be available for the use of the Local Authority.

If you want to receive a copy of the information about you that we hold or share, please contact the School Office.

If you need more information about how the Local Authority and DfE store and use information, then please go to the following websites:

https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/about-the-council/legal/privacy-policy/privacy-policy.aspx²

or

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

If you cannot access these websites, please contact the Local Authority or DfE as follows:

Data Protection Team , Information Governance Unit , Room C1, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DQ

Email: data.protection@hertscc.gov.uk

Public Communications Unit Department for Education

Sanctuary Buildings

Great Smith Street

London

SW1P 3BT

Website: www.education.gov.uk

Email: http://www.education.gov.uk/help/contactus

Telephone: 0370 000 2288

Footnotes:

1. Attendance information is NOT collected as part of the Censuses for the Department for Education for the following pupils / children - a) in Nursery schools; b) aged under 4 years in Maintained schools; c) in Alternative Provision; and d) in Early Years Settings. This footnote can be removed where Local Authorities collect such attendance information for their own specific purposes

2. Local Authority provide a link to their website with information on uses they make of data and any other organisations they share data with. Ideally, they should also provide an address where parents/carers without internet access can write for information.