1. WHO WE ARE

 

Methodist Independent Schools Trust (MIST) is an educational charity operating in England and Wales. MIST London Office is based at 25 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SF. MIST London Office can be contacted on 020 7935 3723 and admin@methodistschools.org.uk. MIST’s charity registration number is 1142794 and company number is 07649422.

 

The MIST Group is comprised of eight Trust Schools, each school has a separate Privacy Notice. MIST London Office is the Data Controller for the London Office only; the Schools are Data Controllers in their own right. MIST London Office acknowledges its responsibility under the Data Protection Act (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation, together with any other related legislation (referred to in this Privacy Notice as “Data Protection Law”), as a data controller.

 

Throughout this Privacy Notice a distinction is made between MIST London Office (a single administrative office based in London) and the Group which encompasses the Trust Schools and their subsidiaries.

 

2. WHAT THIS PRIVACY NOTICE IS FOR

 

This policy is intended to provide information about how the MIST London Office will use (or “process”) personal data about individuals including: staff; volunteers; pupils and their parents or guardians (referred to in this policy as “parents”) past or present.

 

This information is provided because Data Protection Law gives individuals rights to understand how their data is used. Staff, volunteers, parents and pupils (past and present) are all encouraged to read this Privacy Notice and understand the MIST London Office’s obligations.

 

This Privacy Notice applies alongside any other information MIST London Office may provide about a particular use of personal data, for example when collecting data via an online or paper form.

 

This Privacy Notice also applies in addition to the MIST London Office’s other relevant terms and conditions and policies, including:

• Any contract in place between you and MIST;

• MIST London Office’s retention of records policy;

• the Trust’s safeguarding, pastoral, or health and safety policies, including how concerns or incidents are recorded; and

• MIST London Office’s IT policies, including its Acceptable Use of IT policy.

 

Anyone who works for or acts on behalf of, MIST London Office (including staff, volunteers and service providers) should also be aware of and comply with this Privacy Notice and, if applicable, the Data Protection policy for staff/volunteers, which also provides further information about how personal data about individuals will be used.

 

3. RESPONSIBILITY FOR DATA PROTECTION MIST

 

London Office has appointed the Information and Communications Manager as Data Protection Lead (DPL). The DPL will deal with your requests and enquiries concerning MIST London Office’s uses of your personal data (see section on Your Rights below) and will endeavour to ensure that personal data is processed in compliance with this policy and Data Protection law. The Information and Communications Manager may be contacted as follows:scommins@methodistschools.org.uk, 020 7935 3723.

 

4. WHY MIST London Office NEEDS TO PROCESS PERSONAL DATA

 

In order to carry out its ordinary duties to staff, volunteers, pupils and parents, MIST London Office needs to process a wide range of personal data about individuals (including current, past and prospective staff and volunteers, pupils or parents) as part of its operations.

 

Some of this processing the MIST London Office will need to carry out in order to fulfil its legal rights, duties or obligations – including those under a contract with its staff, or parents of its pupils.

 

Other uses of personal data will be made in accordance with legitimate interests, provided that these are not outweighed by the impact on individuals and provided it does not involve special or sensitive types of data.

 

MIST London Office expects that the following uses will fall within the category of its “legitimate interests”:

• For the purposes of management planning and forecasting, research and statistical analysis, including those imposed or provided for by law (such as tax, diversity or gender pay gap analysis); • For the purposes of staff and volunteer recruitment, to confirm their identity and retain a record if appropriate for the purposes of future applications or openings;

• To enable relevant authorities to monitor performance and to intervene or assist with incidents as appropriate;

• To safeguard pupils’ welfare and provide appropriate pastoral care;

• To monitor (as appropriate) use of MIST London Office’s IT and communications systems in accordance with MIST London Office’s Acceptable Use of IT policy;

• To make use of photographic images of pupils in publications and on the MIST London Office website in accordance with the schools’ policy on taking, storing and using images of their pupils (MIST London Office does not use social media);

• To carry out or cooperate with any MIST London Office, Group or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process; and

• Where otherwise reasonably necessary for the MIST London Office’s purposes, including to obtain appropriate professional advice and insurance.

 

In addition, MIST London Office will on occasion need to process special category (sensitive) personal data (concerning health and religion for example) or criminal records information (such as when carrying out DBS checks) in accordance with the rights or duties imposed on it by law, including as regards safeguarding and employment, or from time to time by explicit consent where required. These reasons will include:

• To safeguard pupils’ welfare;

• To ensure that MIST’s requirements for diversity in religious affiliation (as set out in the Articles) are adhered to;

• In connection with employment of its staff, or volunteers, for example DBS checks, welfare or pension plans;

• As part of any MIST London Office or Trust complaints or external complaints, disciplinary or investigation process that involves such data, for example if there are health or safeguarding elements;

• For legal and regulatory purposes (for example child protection, diversity monitoring and health and safety) and to comply with legal obligations and duties of care.

 

5. TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA PROCESSED BY MIST HEAD OFFICE

 

This will include by way of example:

• names, addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and other contact details;

• bank details and other financial information, e.g., expenses paid to volunteers;

• personnel files, including in connection with academic achievements, employment history or safeguarding;

• where appropriate, information about individuals’ health and welfare, and contact details for their next of kin;

• correspondence with and concerning staff, volunteers, pupils and parents past and present; and • images of pupils (and occasionally other individuals) engaging in school activities, in accordance with the schools’ policies on taking, storing and using images of children).

 

6. HOW MIST London Office COLLECTS DATA

 

Generally, MIST London Office receives personal data from the individual directly (including, in the case of pupils, from their parents and school). This may be via a form (e.g., Trustee/Governor or job application forms or a Bursary application form), or simply in the ordinary course of interaction or communication (such as email).

 

However, in some cases personal data will be supplied by third parties (for example the Methodist Church, or other professionals or authorities working with MIST London Office); or collected from publicly available resources for example the Get Information About Schools service offered by the Department of Education https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/

 

7. WHO HAS ACCESS TO PERSONAL DATA AND WHO MIST London Office SHARES IT WITH

 

Occasionally MIST London Office will need to share personal information relating to staff, volunteers, pupils and parents, such as:

• professional advisers (e.g., lawyers, insurers, PR advisers and accountants);

• government authorities (e.g., HMRC, DfE, police or the local authority); and

• appropriate regulatory bodies (e.g., NCTL, the Independent Schools Inspectorate, the Charity Commission or the Information Commissioner).

 

MIST London Office provides administration to the wider Trust and therefore contact data is shared within the Group’s schools and volunteers. (e.g., the Directory of Group Contacts).

 

Personal data collected by MIST London Office will be processed by appropriate individuals only in accordance with access protocols (i.e. on a ‘need to know’ basis). Particularly strict rules of access apply in the context of safeguarding files.

 

Staff, volunteers, pupils and parents are reminded that MIST London Office, on behalf of the Group, is under duties imposed by law and statutory guidance (including Keeping Children Safe in Education) to record or report incidents and concerns that arise or are reported to it, in some cases regardless of whether they are proven, if they meet a certain threshold of seriousness in their nature or regularity. This is likely to include file notes on personnel or safeguarding files, and in some cases referrals to relevant authorities such as the LADO or the police. For further information about this, please view MIST’s Safeguarding Policy, which is updated and approved by the Trust annually.

 

MIST has issued guidance on Low-Level Concerns. Schools will also have appropriate privacy notices referring to the data collected and how it is processed by themselves as data controllers.

 

Finally, in accordance with Data Protection Law, some of MIST London Office’s activity is carried out on its behalf by third parties, such as IT systems or cloud storage providers (for example Breathe IT support and Board Intelligence). This is subject to contractual assurances that personal data will be kept secure and not processed for any other reason than the provision of contracted service.

 

8. HOW LONG WE KEEP PERSONAL DATA MIST

 

London Office will retain personal data securely and in line with how long it is necessary to keep for a legitimate and lawful reason. Please refer to the Retention Policy for further information. However, incident reports and safeguarding files will need to be kept much longer, in accordance with specific legal requirements.

 

If you have any specific queries about how our Retention Policy is applied or wish to request that personal data that you no longer believe to be relevant is considered for erasure, please contact the Information and Communications Manager (scomins@methodistschools.org.uk, 020 7935 3723). However, please bear in mind that MIST London Office will often have lawful and necessary reasons to hold on to some personal data even following such requests.

 

A limited and reasonable amount of information will be kept for archiving purposes, and even where you have requested, we no longer keep in touch with you, we will need to keep a record of the fact in order to fulfil your wishes (called a “suppression record”).

 

9. YOUR RIGHTS

 

Rights of access – Data Subject Access Requests(DSARs)

Individuals have various rights under Data Protection Law to access and understand personal data about them held by MIST London Office, and in some cases ask for it to be erased, or amended or have it transferred to others, or for MIST London Office to stop processing it – but subject to certain exemptions and limitations. You can find out more about your rights under applicable Data Protection Law from the Information Commissioner’s Office website available at www.ico.org.uk.

 

Any individual wishing to access or amend their personal data or wishing it to be transferred to another person or organisation, or who has some other objection to how their personal data is used, should put their request in writing to the Information and Communications Manager.

 

MIST London Office will endeavour to respond to any such written requests as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within statutory time-limits.

 

MIST London Office will be better able to respond quickly to smaller, targeted requests for information. If the request for information is manifestly excessive or similar to previous requests, MIST London Office may ask you to reconsider or require a proportionate fee (but only where Data Protection Law allows it). Please note that schools are their own Data Controllers.

 

Requests that cannot be fulfilled

You should be aware that the right of access is limited to your own personal data, and certain data is exempt from the right of access. This will include information which identifies other individuals, or information which is subject to legal privilege (for example, legal advice given to or sought by MIST London Office, or documents prepared in connection with legal action).

 

MIST London Office is also not required to share any confidential reference given or received for the purposes of the education, training or employment of any individual.

 

You may have heard of the “right to be forgotten”. However, we will sometimes have compelling reasons to refuse specific requests to amend, delete or stop processing your personal data: for example, a legal requirement, or where it falls within a legitimate interest identified in this Privacy Notice. All such requests will be considered on their own merits.

 

Pupil requests

Pupils can make subject access requests for their own personal data, provided that, in the reasonable opinion of MIST London Office, they have sufficient maturity to understand the request they are making. A pupil of any age may ask a parent or other representative to make a subject access request on their behalf.

 

Indeed, while a person with parental responsibility will generally be entitled to make a subject access request on behalf of younger pupils, the law still considers the information in question to be the child’s: for older pupils, the parent making the request may need to evidence their child’s authority for the specific request.

 

Pupils aged 13 and above are generally assumed to have this level of maturity, although this will depend on both the child and the personal data requested, including any relevant circumstances at home. Slightly younger children may however be sufficiently mature to have a say in this decision, depending on the child and the circumstances.

 

Parental requests

It should be clearly understood that the rules on subject access are not the sole basis on which information requests are handled. Parents may not have a statutory right to information, but they and others will often have a legitimate interest or expectation in receiving certain information about pupils without their consent. MIST London Office may consider there are lawful grounds for sharing with or without reference to that pupil.

 

However, it should be noted that MIST London Office does not process pupil information unless there is a bursary application, a safeguarding concern or a complaint. Generally, pupil information is kept and processed at the school they attend. Parents will in general receive educational and pastoral updates about their children from their child’s school.

 

All information requests from, on behalf of, or concerning pupils – whether made under subject access or simply as an incidental request – will therefore be considered on a case-by-case basis.

 

Consent

Where MIST London Office is relying on consent as a means to process personal data, any person may withdraw this consent at any time (subject to similar age considerations as above). An example where we do rely on consent is bursary applications. Please be aware however that MIST London Office may not be relying on consent but have another lawful reason to process the personal data in question even without your consent.

 

That reason will usually be asserted under this Privacy Notice or may otherwise exist under some form of contract or agreement with the individual (e.g., an employment or parent contract).

 

10. DATA ACCURACY AND SECURITY

 

MIST London Office will endeavour to ensure that all personal data held in relation to an individual is as up-to-date and accurate as possible. Individuals must please notify the Information and Communications Manager (scommins@methodistschools.org.uk) of any significant changes to important information, such as contact details, held about them.

 

An individual has the right to request that any out-of-date, irrelevant or inaccurate information about them is erased or corrected (subject to certain exemptions and limitations under Data Protection Law): please see above for details of why MIST London Office may need to process your data, of who you may contact if you disagree.

 

MIST London Office will take appropriate technical and organisational steps to ensure the security of personal data about individuals, including policies around use of technology and devices, and access. All staff and volunteers will be made aware of this policy and their duties under Data Protection Law and will receive relevant training.

 

11. THIS POLICY

 

MIST London Office will update this Privacy Notice from time to time. Any substantial changes that affect your rights will be provided to you directly as far as is reasonably practicable.

 

12. QUERIES AND COMPLAINTS

 

Any comments or queries on this policy should be directed to the Information and Communications Manager (scommins@methodistschools.org.uk, 020 7935 3723).

 

If an individual believes that MIST London Office has not complied with this policy or acted otherwise than in accordance with Data Protection Law, they should utilise MIST’s complaints procedure and should also notify the Information and Communications Manager. You can also make a referral to or lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), although the ICO recommends that steps are taken to resolve the matter with the data controller before involving the regulator.