Privacy notice for Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service - young people 13 plus

Introduction 

A privacy notice helps you to understand how we use your information which we call data about you. You can read it on your own or you might want to read it with your parents, guardians, or a teacher.

Who we are

The Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service (BSCS) works with young people from 0-25 who are deaf, have a hearing loss, vision or multi sensory impairment. We work together with six local authorities in Berkshire - Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire, Slough, Wokingham, Reading and Bracknell Forest. Achieving for Children hosts this arrangement on behalf of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.    

BSCS is a special educational needs and disability (SEND) service and we have responsibilities to carry out a number of different tasks under the law in the Children and Families Act 2014, the SEND Code of Practice and the Equality Act 2010 so that you have the best possible support to achieve your dreams and aspirations. 

We have someone in Achieving for Children called our Data Protection Officer, and their job is to protect your data. This means they make sure we are following all the rules, and your data is safe. If they see something wrong, they tell us how we can fix it. If you want to contact them you can using this email: [email protected]

What do we collect about you?  

We might collect personal details about you such as:

• your name, email address, where you live and phone number
• your date of birth and your National Health Service (NHS) number 
• information about your hearing or vision and the hospital you are seen in
• your family members contact details
• which school you attend
• which local authority you leave in 
• records of when you contacted us, or we contacted you, or when you asked us to do something
• photos of you
• your hobbies, likes and dislikes, how you feel about things and what makes you happy or sad. 

Your personal information is sometimes referred to as your personal data.

Special information

We may also hold and use special information such as:

• your ethnicity
• where you or your family members are originally from
• any religious beliefs
•  information about your health such as any injuries you have or times you may have been ill.

We will only collect and use this information if we have a really good reason, such as:

• to plan the support you might need from the BSCS 
• we have a lawful reason to use it
• the law allows us to use it
• you have told us you are happy for us to use it.

Where do we get this information from?

We normally get it from your parents and your school. We also get it from your doctor and other health professionals who you have been seen by for example the Audiology or Ophthalmology Clinic or school nurse. 

We may also collect your information from other places including:

• The Local Authority Special Education Department 
• Social Care if you or your family have had a social worker or family worker
• Previous schools or post 16 settings 

How we use your personal data 

It is used to help you, your family and school or college meet your needs so that you can fully access education and can make good progress with all areas of your development. We hold your personal data securely and use it to: 

• Identify and understand your deafness, hearing loss, vision or multisensory impairment  
• Identify the support you will require so that you can achieve good outcomes and be able to access learning in schools and colleges
• Provide advice to your local authority as part of a legal assessment of your needs and the writing of a document called an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. 
• Provide advice to your school or college so that they can make sure they understand your deafness, hearing loss, vision or multisensory needs when learning and accessing the curriculum and have a plan in place of any additional support which will help you. 
• Monitor the support you have been given by BSCS or as part of an EHC plan to make sure it meets your needs and you are making progress
• Work together with your family and other professionals who support you 

Legal basis for processing your personal data 

To find out about the law which allows us to collect and process your personal information have a look at our BSCS privacy notice.

How long your personal data will be kept 

• Until you reach the age of 25 years 
• Safeguarding pupil information: date of birth plus 40 years

Keeping your information secure 

We have security measures in place to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in a way which is not allowed. We only share your information to those who work with you or need to know that information to keep you safe. If we accidentally share information which we shouldn’t have done, this is called a data security breach. We will let you know and have a procedure to follow.  

Who we share your personal information with 

We will only share information where it is appropriate and legal to do so. Where this is necessary, we must obey all aspects of the Data Protection Act 2018. We share your personal data between Achieving for Children departments and services so that we can keep our information up to date to improve our services to you. 

Some of the external organisations that we may share your personal information include: 

• Other local authorities
• Education settings including further education colleges or sixth form colleges, schools,  universities or special schools and specialist colleges 
• Independent schools and independent specialist organisations who are approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014 
• Relevant Commissioning Boards
• Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)
• NHS Trusts / NHS Foundation Trusts 
• Other partner agencies that provide services on our behalf
• Agencies with whom we have a duty to cooperate, such as police
• Department for Education. 

If you want to know more about the individual organisations please ask us, your family or guardian or a teacher about their role.

Your rights and access to information 

Under data protection legislation you have the right to ask us to see the information that we hold about you and in some circumstances have it changed or removed.This is called an Access Request. To request a copy of your data, please read the Individual Rights Requests on this website and then send your request. 

If you have any questions about the way we process your personal information, or would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact the Service: [email protected] or the DPO.