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Confidentiality Policy
The nursery work with children and families and may sometimes bring volunteers/students, parents/carers and the practitioners into contact with confidential information. To ensure this confidentiality:
Parents/carers will only have access to information and records about their own child.
Practitioners will not discuss individual children other than with the parent/carer of that child, unless it is for purposes of curriculum planning/group management. This confidentiality clause is written into their job description and therefore forms part of their contract.
Information given by parents/carers to the nursery manager will not be passed onto other adults without permission.
Any people involved with the nursery including paid staff, student, volunteers and parents/carers of other children will be advised of our confidentiality policy and required to respect it.
Issues to do with the employment of staff, whether paid or unpaid, will remain confidential to the people directly involved with making personnel decisions.
All the above undertakings are subject to our main commitment at nursery, which is the safety and well-being of all the children.
Privacy Policy
Hopscotch is registered with the ICO and has a designated Data Protection Lead. It is the responsibility of the Data Protection Lead to ensure all personal data collected is kept safe and secure. All practitioners have access to the personal data, in order for them to find relevant contact information in case of emergencies. Practitioners also have access to their personal files only, after gaining consent from the Data Protection Lead.
Hopscotch’s Data Protection Policy follows ‘The General Data Protection Regulation, (GDPR) 2018’ which addresses certain requirements for all Organisations that collect & process personal data as part of their on-going business operations. Personal data is defined by: any information relating to an ‘identifiable living individual; & will therefore, apply to the nursery’s clients (children attending the nursery, and their parents/carers). We only collect personal information that is required for specific business purposes.
We respect and consider each individual’s rights when collecting personal data and allow them to retract/change their information at any time, however it is important we always have some form of contact for the child whilst still in our care. If a parent/carer/employee/volunteer/ student wishes to retract their personal information they must ask in writing to the nursery owner, Lucy Yeandle.
Data Retention Policy
All personal data is processed according to the six data protection principles:
Processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.
Collected only for specific legitimate purposes.
Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary.
Accurate and kept up to date with help from parents/carers.
Stored only as long as is necessary.
Appropriate security, integrity and confidentiality is applied.
Should there be a data breach, Hopscotch will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.
Access to the information we hold:
To fulfil our legal obligations and for the purposes of claiming the Nursery Education Grant, eligible children's personal information (excluding photographs) are either sent through Royal Mail to the Local Education Authority (LEA) or delivered by hand.
As part of the statementing process for Special Educational Needs (SEN) educational background data including children's personal information will also be posted to the LEA Special Educational Needs Officer (SENCO).
All personal data sent through the Royal Mail is always via the recorded mail service.
In the case of SEN, onsite meetings may take place between staff and the LEA SENCO. Children's personal information will only be shared with parental permission.
Ad hoc telephone queries regarding children will always be investigated to verify caller's identity before imparting personal information. Similar checks are made when making outgoing calls. The amount of personal information given out over the phone is limited and followed up by face-to-face meetings if necessary.
Employee information is shared only with Payman Ltd via post for the purpose of annual tax, and national insurance returns and, with the employees permission, with NEST workplace scheme to administer a pension. All posted personal data sent through the Royal Mail is always using the recorded mail service.
Hopscotch acknowledge that all employees have a right to access their own records, and parents/carers have a right to their own children's records. If other people's information is contained in the response, steps will be taken to conceal their identity.
Accuracy of the information we hold:
Contact information for parents and children is updated every year via the registration process. The information is re-confirmed once the child joins. Parents are also asked to inform Hopscotch of any changes to their personal information that we may need to know, such as contact details throughout the duration of their contract. The contact sheet for staff is updated annually.
Discarding Personal Data:
When a contract is terminated, Hopscotch will have twelve months to destroy any hard copies of personal data they may have on that individual, unless they have obtained consent, for example to keep photographs on display. This includes all contracts between Hopscotch and a child/parent/carer/employee/student/volunteer which contains any personal information. The personal information will be shredded and disposed of accordingly. This is following point five of the data protection principles. If consent has been given to use any personal data, including photographs, this information is kept for the duration of the data being used. It is possible to withdraw consent at any time and must be done so in writing, addressed to the nursery owner, Lucy Yeandle.
Further information can be found in more depth in our Data Protection Policy.
Mobile Phone Policy
It is our intention to provide an environment in which children, parents and staff are safe from images being recorded and inappropriately used. This in turn eliminates our concerns towards staff being distracted from their work, or more importantly, the inappropriate use of mobile phone cameras around children. Due to this we have a strict no mobile phone policy for all parents/carers/visitors when on the nursery premises. The Nursery allows staff to bring in personal mobile telephones and devices, however these are locked in the staff lockers throughout the day, with the option of checking them during the staff members allocated break. Personal mobile phone calls may only be taken during staff breaks or in staff members’ own time and in the designated staff area. If staff have a personal emergency they are free to use the setting’s phone or make a personal call from their mobile in the designated staff area of the setting, i.e. Kitchen/Office/carpark. If any staff member has a family emergency or similar and require their mobile phone to hand, prior permission must be sought from the Manager, Mathilda Norris and the mobile phone should be placed in eye sight of the Manager.