Chapter 25.
Providing Information -
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25
PROVIDING
INFORMATION
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter details the roles and responsibilities of governing
bodies, headteachers, Local Authorities (LAs) and other
educational establishments in providing information to each
other, parents and the Secretary of State for Children, Schools
and Families. The main types of information covered include
careers guidance, arrangements for pupils with special
educational needs (SEN), Children and Young People’s Plans
(CYPP), the school prospectus, the School Profile, the
Governors’ Annual Report to Parents, homeschool agreements,
pupils’ educational records and pupil reports. Guidance is also
provided for governors on the
Freedom of Information Act
and sets out their responsibilities under the Act.
GENERAL
1.
School governors will receive information from the Local
Authority (LA), the headteacher and the Department for Children,
Schools and Families (DCSF). Some of this will be background
information that they receive when they first join the governing
body. Other material will be sent to the whole governing body
from time to time to help it carry out its duties.
2. The
governing body must provide certain information: some to parents
or pupils, some to the LA, some to the headteacher and some to
the DCSF and other government bodies such as Ofsted.
3. Schools
should notify themselves as data controllers under the
Data Protection Act 1998
(DPA),
unless certain exemptions apply. Advice on this subject can be
obtained from the
Information Commissioner’s
Office (ICO).
INFORMATION
SUPPLIED BY THE LA
4.
When
a governor is appointed, he or she should receive background
information from the LA. This should include a copy of the
instrument of government for the school, which sets out the
composition of the governing body.
5. The
LA supplies the governing body and the headteacher with
financial information concerning the school.
INFORMATION FROM
THE GOVERNING BODY TO THE LA
6. The
governing body must give the LA any relevant information or
reports in connection with the discharge of the governing body’s
functions that the LA may require.
7.
The
governing body must make available to the LA details of the
arrangements made for pupils with special educational needs
(SEN). Governing bodies of community and foundation special
schools must provide certain information to parents of pupils or
prospective pupils, to LAs and to Primary Care Trusts,
including:
·
basic
information about the school’s SEN provision;
·
information
about the school’s policies for the assessment and provision for
all pupils with SEN;
·
information
about the school’s staffing policies and partnership with bodies
beyond the school.
8. Full
details about the information to be published are contained in
the
Education (Special
Educational Needs) (Information) (England) Regulations 1999.
These Regulations are contained in the Code of Practice on
Identifying and Assessing Special Educational Needs.
9.
The governing body must publish the
information in a single document and make copies available free
of charge to parents, the LA and the Primary Care Trust. The LA
may publish the information referred to above if the governing
body agrees. Where there is such an agreement, the governing
body must supply the LA with the information, which must be
published without alteration.
Children and
Young People’s
Plan
10.
The Children and
Young People’s Plan (CYPP) is an important element in the Every
Child Matters (ECM) agenda. The CYPP contributes towards
better local integration of children’s services and the
effective functioning of children’s trust partnership
arrangements, and helps define local priorities for LAs and
partners, including schools, within the framework of Local Area
Agreements.
11.
LAs and schools
have a shared responsibility for the improvement of services for
children and young people. That is why the
Children and Young People’s
Plan (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2007
place a duty on LAs to consult schools, school forums and school
admission forums during the preparation of the CYPP. These
changes ensure good practice and enable schools and forums to
have sufficient opportunity to comment on the plan, understand
local priorities and targets for improving outcomes for children
and young people, and understand how they are expected to
contribute to delivery of those priorities and targets.
12.
As schools are
the only universal service all children have contact with most
days of the week, it is crucial that they recognise their role
in the preparation and delivery of the CYPP. To achieve this aim
Section 21 of the Education
Act 2002 (as inserted by
Section 38(1) of the
Education and Inspections Act 2006) places a duty on
maintained schools to have regard to the CYPP when undertaking
duties to promote well-being, community cohesion and high
standards of educational achievement.
13.
The duty to have
regard to the CYPP means that schools will need to take account
of the plan when, for example, undertaking their own strategic
planning. The CYPP will be part of the core data for self
evaluation and School Improvement Partners (SIPs). Linking with
the CYPP will help schools identify and demonstrate how they can
deliver the five ECM outcomes: being healthy; staying safe;
enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution; and
achieving well-being.
14.
The duty will be
applied to Academies through their funding agreement with the
Secretary of State. It also applies to the provision of
community (extended) services. Trust schools count as maintained
schools for the purpose of this duty.
Setting targets
15. Under
the
Education Act 2005,
LAs set statutory targets once all primary and secondary schools
have reported on their targets. As part of the target-setting
exercise, LAs will provide support and advice to governors and
headteachers to help their schools set realistic, childbased
targets making effective use of the data available to them.
Details of the statutory targets the LA has set for pupils’
achievement should be included in the CYPP.
16.
Schools should
set targets which they believe in and can genuinely work towards
– this is the principle behind school-initiated target-setting.
Schools should discuss their “bottom-up” targets with their SIP
or LA adviser whose role is to challenge (using conversion and
comparative data) where expectations for individual pupils or
groups of pupils are too low compared with other schools, and
ensure that support is provided to help the school achieve
improved outcomes. Targets do not have to match a particular
formula for improvement but schools should be able to
demonstrate that their targets seek to maximise all children’s
progress so that all children achieving national expectations at
the end of one key stage will move on to achieve at least
national expectations by the end of the next key stage. Pupils
with severe learning difficulties should have targets which seek
the best possible ambition for them.
17.
Where a school
proposes to set targets below the LA’s expectations for its
pupils, SIPs/link advisers will discuss the support that might
be available (from the LA, National Strategies or others) to
help the school to raise attainment further. If the school
continues to believe it cannot raise standards further, the Head
of School Improvement and Director of Children's Services may
need to review the targets set and determine how best to support
the school. This could include providing support from other
agencies via the LA’s ECM strategy.
Further
information on, including case studies, is available on the
Department’s
target-setting website.
INFORMATION FROM
THE GOVERNING BODY TO PARENTS
School
prospectus
18. Each
year the governing body must publish a school prospectus for
parents and prospective parents. Since 1 September 2005 the
compulsory content of the prospectus has been simplified and is
now only the information about the school’s SEN and disability
arrangements that was previously required in the Governors’
Annual Report to Parents. This ensures parents continue to have
easy access to this information. Other content is for the school
to decide upon. In doing so, it will want to consider what
information will best serve parents in their decision-making.
19. The
obligatory content of the prospectus is detailed below. Content
in addition to this is for each school to decide. Obligatory
content includes:
·
arrangements for
the admission of pupils with disabilities;
·
details of steps
to prevent disabled pupils being treated less favourably than
other pupils;
·
details of
existing facilities to assist access to the school by pupils
with disabilities;
·
the
accessibility plan (required under the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995) covering future
policies for increasing access to the school by pupils with
disabilities;
·
information
about the implementation of the governing body’s policy on
pupils with SEN and any changes to the policy during the last
year.
20. The
prospectus must be published during the school year immediately
preceding the admissions school year, i.e. prospectuses
published in 2006–7 will be for admissions in 2007–8. The
prospectus must be published at least six weeks before the final
date by which parents are asked to apply for admission to the
school, or to express a preference for a place.
School Profile
21.
Governing bodies of maintained schools, except maintained
nursery schools, are required to complete a School Profile every
year. This is an online system with all the data for each school
provided by the DCSF.
22. The
Profile and the school prospectus outline the minimum
interaction that schools should have with parents. Schools are
free to communicate and interact with parents above and beyond
this requirement in any way they wish.
23. The
School Profile has three elements:
·
performance data
supplied by the DCSF;
·
a summary of the
latest Ofsted report;
·
narrative
sections written by the school.
24. The
narrative sections for the school to complete include the
following headings:
·
What have been
our successes this year?
·
What are we
trying to improve?
·
How have our
results changed over time?
·
How are we
making sure that every child gets teaching to meet their
individual needs?
·
How do we make
sure our pupils are healthy, safe and well supported?
·
What have we
done in response to Ofsted?
·
How are we
working with parents and the community?
The narrative
sections are all the same size, allowing schools to enter
approximately 200 words in each section.
25.
Validated performance data will be entered onto School Profile
templates as soon as this is available, usually at the start of
the spring term. However, schools are now also able to enter
their own provisional data should they wish to. This will be
replaced with validated performance data as soon as it is
available.
26.
Schools must prepare and publish their Profile once in every
school year. However, a School Profile can be amended and
updated throughout the year, should a school wish to do so.
27. More
information and guidance can be found at on the
School Profile webpage
on TeacherNet.
Governors’
Annual Report to Parents
–
maintained nursery schools only
28. Since
1 September 2005 only maintained nursery schools have been
required to produce a Governors’ Annual Report to Parents. All
other maintained schools are required to produce a School
Profile (see paragraphs 21–27). No schools (including maintained
nurseries) are required to hold an annual parents’ meeting but
they may do so if they wish.
29. The
Governors’ Annual Report to Parents should explain how the
governing body has put into practice its plans for the school
since the last report. The report, which must be given to
parents, must include:
·
the names and
status (parent, staff, foundation governor or otherwise) of the
members of the governing body, the date when their term of
office ends (except for ex officio governors), and the name and
address of the chair and clerk (the school address may be used);
·
a financial
statement giving a summary of the school budget, how the
governing body spent the funds given in the past year, details
of any gifts made to the school, and governors’ travelling,
accommodation and meal expenses in the period covered by the
report;
·
information
about school security;
·
details
regarding arrangements for admitting disabled pupils to the
school;
·
details of the
steps the school has taken to prevent disabled pupils being
treated less favourably than other pupils;
·
information
about the facilities provided to help with access to the school
for disabled pupils;
·
the
accessibility plan, covering future policies for increasing
access by those with disabilities to the school;
·
information
about the implementation of the governing body’s policy on
pupils with SEN and any changes to the policy during the last
year;
·
details of how
teachers’ professional development has improved the quality of
teaching and learning;
·
the number of
pupils on roll;
·
the schools to
which pupils transfer on leaving the nursery.
The
governing body may want to include other information as well,
such as details of the foundation stage curriculum, standards of
behaviour and how to make complaints.
The homeschool
agreement
30.
The governing body is required to have
a written homeschool agreement in place, drawn up in
consultation with parents. The agreement should explain the
school’s aims and values and the respective responsibilities of
the school and of the parents, and what the school expects of
its pupils. The governing body must invite parents to sign a
declaration in support of the agreement. It can also invite
pupils to sign where they consider that the pupils are
sufficiently mature to do so. Guidance on homeschool agreements
can be found in the DfEE booklet
HomeSchool Agreements
Guidance for Schools and at the
home–school agreements area
on the DCSF website.
Pupils’
educational records
31. The
Education (Pupil
Information) (England) Regulations 2005,
require maintained schools (other than nursery schools) and any
special school not so maintained to keep a curricular record for
each pupil and disclose on request a pupil’s educational record
to their parent. Under these Regulations, maintained schools
must transfer a pupil’s educational record to their new school
when they change schools.
32.
Schools should note some changes from superseded Regulations.
The duties outlined above regarding pupils’ educational records
have passed from headteachers to governing bodies, in line with
the norm of powers and duties sitting with governing bodies as
those legally responsible for the management of schools.
However, a governing body may delegate these duties to the
headteacher, having regard to their largely strategic role and
the headteacher’s responsibility for day-to-day organisation,
management and control of the school.
33. Any
Personal Educational Plan (PEP) for a pupil is now part of their
educational record. The PEP is the document initiated by
children’s social services when a child is taken into care and
maintained by the child’s school, which provides a record of
educational needs, objectives and progress and achievements.
From 3 October 2005, when a pupil transfers to a school in
Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, his or her educational
record, including the common transfer file (see the link in
paragraph 49 below for details)
must be
transferred to that school in line with the arrangements for
transfer within England.
Keeping a
curricular record for every pupil
34. The
governing body is responsible for ensuring that a curricular
record is kept for every pupil registered at the school and that
it is updated at least once every school year. The curricular
record means a formal record of a pupil’s academic achievements,
his or her other skills, and abilities and progress in school.
Parents’
requests to see or have copies of their child’s
educational record
35. The
governing body is responsible for making available a pupil’s
educational record to his or her parent, free of charge, within
15 school days of receipt of the parent’s written request. If a
parent makes a written request for a copy of the record, this
must be provided to them, also within 15 school days of that
request being received. The governing body can charge a fee for
the copy, but if it does this, it must not be more than the cost
of supply. The educational record should include the curricular
record, but also other information about the pupil that may be
kept by the school, such as details of behaviour and family
background (definition given below).
The educational
record
36. The
pupil’s educational record is comprised of any record of
information, other than information which is processed by a
teacher solely for the teacher’s own use, which:
·
is processed*
by, or on behalf of, a governing body of, or a teacher at, any
school maintained by an LA and any special school not so
maintained;
·
relates to any
person who is or has been a pupil at any such school; and
originates from, was supplied by, or is on behalf of:
– any
employee of the LA who maintains the school (or former school)
attended by the pupil to whom the record relates;
– any teacher
or other employee at the school or at the pupil’s former school
(including any educational psychologist engaged by the governing
body under a contract for services) where the school is a
voluntary aided, foundation or foundation special school or a
special school not maintained by an LA;
– the pupil
to whom the record relates;
– a parent of
that pupil.
In addition, the
educational record includes:
·
any statement of
SEN held in respect of the pupil;
·
any PEP held in
respect of the pupil.
*N.B. The “basic interpretative provisions” provided in the
Data Protection Act 1998,
Section 1
are quoted below and provide the definition of “processing” to
be applied.
Processing, in
relation to information or data, means obtaining, recording or
holding the information or data or carrying out any operation or
set of operations on the information or data including:
·
organisation,
adaptation or alteration of the information or data;
·
retrieval,
consultation or use of the information or data;
·
disclosure of
the information or data by transmission, dissemination or
otherwise making available;
·
alignment,
combination, blocking, erasure or destruction of the information
or data.
Material in the
pupil’s
educational record exempt from disclosure to parents
37. When
schools comply with a parent or carer’s request to see or have a
copy of a pupil’s educational record under the
Education (Pupil
Information) (England) Regulations 2005,
there is some information that must not be disclosed. This is
any information that the child could not lawfully be given under
the
DPA 1998
or to which he or she would have no right of access under that
Act or by virtue of any order made under
Section 30(2) or
Section 38(1) of
the Act. The following information must not be disclosed:
·
information, the
disclosure of which would be likely to cause serious harm to the
physical or mental health or condition of the child or someone
else;
·
information as
to whether the child is or has been subject to or may be at risk
of child abuse, where the disclosure of that information would
not be in the best interests of the child;
·
references
supplied to potential employers of the child, any national body
concerned with student admissions, another school, an
institution of further or higher education, or any other place
of education and training;
·
information
supplied by the school in a report to any juvenile court, where
the rules of that court provide that the information or part of
it may be withheld from the child;
·
information
recorded by the pupil during an examination;
·
information
concerning the child that also relates to another person who can
be identified from that information, or which identifies another
person as the source of that information, unless the person has
consented to the disclosure, or it is reasonable in all the
circumstances to disclose the information without his or her
consent, or the person is an employee of the LA or of the
school. (This exemption does not apply where it is possible to
edit the information requested so as to omit the name or any
other identifying particulars of that other person.)
Access to
information about pupils with statements of SEN
38. Access
to information about pupils with statements of SEN is governed
by the
Education (Special
Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations 2001
and the Code of Practice on Identifying and Assessing Special
Educational Needs. Where a child has a statement of SEN,
that statement forms part of the child’s educational record. The
parent must be sent a copy of the statement.
Requests by
pupils to see their educational record under the Data Protection
Act (DPA) 1998
39. Both
manual and computerised personal information held by schools are
subject to the
DPA 1998. Under
the Act, pupils who submit written requests to see or have
copies of their records must be allowed to do so within 40 days,
unless it is obvious they do not understand what they are asking
for. When schools receive requests from pupils for disclosure of
educational records under the DPA 1998, they must not disclose
any information which is prohibited from disclosure under that
Act.
40. If a
child seeks access to his or her statement of SEN, the school
should normally comply with the request unless there are
exceptional circumstances which suggest that access should not
be granted (for example, if the child is clearly unable to
understand the statement or disclosure of the statement could
cause serious harm to the child).
41.
Schools should always bear in mind that a statement may contain
sensitive personal information and if in any doubt as to whether
the statement, or any other information that forms part of the
pupil’s educational record, should be disclosed in any
circumstances they should contact either the DCSF or the
Information Commissioner (IC).
42.
Information about specific restrictions on disclosure of
statements is contained in the Code of Practice on the
Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs
and in
Regulation 24 of The
Education (Special Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation)
Regulations 2001.
Queries relating to charging for copies made for pupils should
also be addressed to the IC. More information can be found on
the
ICO website.
Dealing with
complaints
43. Ways
of handling certain types of complaints (for example, admissions
and curriculum, exclusions) are laid down by law (see chapters
3, 6, 12 and 13 of this Guide). Since 1 September 2003,
governing bodies of all maintained schools and maintained
nursery schools in England have been required, under
Section 29 of the Education
Act 2002,
to have in place a procedure to deal with complaints relating to
the school and to any community facilities or services that the
school provides. The law also requires the procedure to be
publicised (see chapter 3 of this Guide).
INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNING BODY TO OTHER SCHOOLS AND
EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS
Transferring the
curricular record when a pupil is under consideration for
admission to another educational establishment
44. When a
pupil is being considered for a place at another school or
institution of further or higher education, if the governing
body is asked by the “responsible person” at that institution
for the pupil’s curricular record, it must be provided, free of
charge, within 15
school days of the request being received. The responsible
person is the headteacher of an independent school, the
governing body of any other school or the person responsible for
the conduct of any institution of further or higher education.
The record sent must not include results of any assessments of
the pupil’s achievements.
Transferring a
pupil’s
educational record when he or she moves to a new school
45. When a
pupil ceases to be registered at one school and becomes
registered at another (either maintained or independent) in
England, the governing body of the old school is responsible for
transferring their educational record to the new school. This
must be done no later than 15 school days after the day when the
pupil ceases to be registered at the old school.
 46.
Since 3 October 2005, schools have also been required to
transfer pupil records to schools to which they transfer (either
maintained or independent) in Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. The record must be sent to the governing body of the
new school, or if the school is an independent one, the
headteacher. Any statement of SEN or PEP for a child forms part
of their educational record and as such must be forwarded to the
child’s new school.
When a school
doesn’t
know the pupil’s
new school
47. The
duty to transfer a pupil’s record doesn’t apply where the old
school doesn’t know the new school and it is not reasonably
practicable for them to find it out. What is reasonably
practicable will depend on circumstances, but schools might be
expected to ‘phone and write to the pupil’s parents. Where both
these approaches are unsuccessful, and it would involve
disproportionate effort to discover the pupil’s new school by
other means, the school will be justified in deciding it is not
reasonably practicable to fulfil the requirement.
When a school
receives a request for a pupil’s
educational record from a school to which he or she has
transferred
48. If the
pupil’s old school receives a request for their educational
record (which they still hold) from the headteacher of an
independent school or the governing body of a maintained school,
the governing body must ensure it is provided within 15 school
days of the request being received.
The common
transfer file
49. When
pupils transfer schools it is important their new school has,
and acts on, information about previous performance. The
requirement to send the common transfer file from the old school
to the new school ensures specific information about the pupil
is transferred with them. For full details on the common
transfer file, please see Schedule 2 in the
Education (Pupil
Information) (England) Regulations 2005.
50. The
file data must be transferred from any maintained school in
England to any other maintained or independent school in England
to which a pupil transfers within 15 school days of the pupil
ceasing to be registered at the old school. All such schools are
expected to have the capability to transfer and receive the
defined items of pupil data electronically.
51. Since
3 October 2005, where a pupil ceases to be registered at a
maintained school in England and moves to a school, maintained
or independent, in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, their
common transfer file must be transferred to that new school in
line with the arrangements for transfer within England. The
Education (Pupil
Information) (England) Regulations 2005,
which came into force on 8 July 2005, describe the information
that must be transferred and the method by which transfer must
take place.
52. Since
3 October 2005, wherever both the school transferring the common
transfer file and the school receiving it have the necessary
facilities, then transfer must take place either:
·
through the
secure file transfer service known as “School to School” or
“s2s” on the TeacherNet website;
or
·
through an
intranet provided for the purpose by or on behalf of an LA.
53.
Although the basic model is that the old school will send the
common transfer file to the new school by one of these methods,
the law allows the file to be provided by LAs where there are
agreed local arrangements to that effect.
54.
Previously schools have also been able to transfer the file by
floppy disc or email attachment, but they will appreciate the
need to transfer this data by the most secure means available.
Schools experiencing difficulties in transferring the data using
the DCSF secure file transfer service can find advice on
TeacherNet’s
School to School webpage.
55. Where
schools do not have the capability for electronic transfer
between themselves, either by means of the secure file transfer
service on the TeacherNet website or through an intranet
provided for the purpose by or on behalf of an LA, they may
agree between themselves how to transfer the information. An
example of this might be where, since 3 October 2005, a
maintained school in England is transferring the common transfer
file to a school in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Timing of
transfer
56. The
law requires that common transfer file data is sent to the
receiving school no later than 15 school days after the day on
which the pupil ceases to be registered at the old school. But
schools do not have to transfer all the data at the same time.
They might, for example, arrange to transfer basic data about
pupils transferring from primary to secondary school, together
with their end of Key Stage 1 assessment information, in
February, and follow that up later with a second transfer of
data, covering Key Stage 2 assessments and tests.
57. As
long as the unique pupil number is included, the new data will
be added to the existing record and there will be no danger of a
duplicate record being created for the pupil. Alternatively, the
data might be transferred by an LA in England when, through the
coordinated admissions process, it is able to notify the
maintained secondary schools in its area of the pupils who have
been offered and accepted a place in the secondary school.
What to do if
the old school does not know the identity of the new school
58.
Sometimes schools will not know the identity of the new school
to which a pupil has transferred. Although it is not a
requirement that they should do so, in these circumstances
schools are encouraged to send the common transfer file to the
special area of the
TeacherNet secure file
transfer website
which
forms a database of unclaimed pupil records. Schools that do not
receive common transfer files for new pupils can ask named
contacts in the LA to search this database to see if the files
are there.
Requesting the
common transfer file from a pupil’s
former school
59. If a
new school is aware of the identity of a pupil’s former school,
but hasn’t been sent the common transfer file or educational
record, these can be requested directly from the former school.
The former school is required to send the information held to
the new school within 15 school days of receiving the request.
INFORMATION FROM
THE HEADTEACHER TO PARENTS AND OTHERS
Pupil reports
60. It is
a requirement for headteachers of maintained schools to provide
an annual written report on pupils’ educational achievements for
every registered pupil at their school. This must be provided to
the pupil’s parent every school year, or if the pupil is 18 or
over, to the pupil. Where a pupil is 18 or over, a headteacher
can also provide the report to the pupil’s parent, as well as to
the pupil, where the headteacher considers there are special
circumstances which make it appropriate.
61.
Minimum content, prescribed by the Regulations, can be provided
in one or more such reports. Schools can, of course, provide
more than this minimum information required and headteachers can
have a report translated, if appropriate. The information
required in the annual pupil report must be provided by the end
of the summer term of the school year to which the report
relates. The only exception to this is in respect of some
specific information that may be received after that and which
is outlined below.
62. Where
a pupil is no longer of compulsory school age and has left the
school, or is proposing to do so, headteachers are required to
provide the pupil with a school leaver’s report (in place of the
annual pupil report). The school leaver’s report must be
provided by no later than 30 September following the pupil’s
last year at the school. Headteachers must make arrangements to
enable the recipient of the report to discuss it with the
pupil’s teacher if he or she wishes. The headteacher’s report to
school leavers must contain brief particulars of the pupil’s
progress and achievements in subjects and activities forming
part of the school curriculum, other than in relation to any
public examination or vocational qualification.
63. Since
8 July 2005 schools have no longer been required to report Key
Stage 1 task and test results in pupil reports, but they must
report teacher assessments. Also from 8 July 2005, where results
of public examinations, national curriculum tests or reviews
undertaken by the external marking agency of any national
curriculum tests taken are not received by headteachers until
after the end of the summer term, and cannot, therefore, be
provided to parents by the end of that term, then headteachers
must provide them to parents within 15 school days of receiving
them.
Minimum required
contents of pupil reports for pupils in Reception Year to Year
13
64. These
minimum contents include:
·
brief
particulars of achievements in all subjects and other activities
forming part of the school curriculum;
·
comments on
general progress;
·
the attendance
record (information about attendance showing the total number of
possible attendances and total number of unauthorised absences
expressed as a percentage of the possible attendances) during
the period to which the report relates, unless the child is in
Reception Year, or Years 12 or 13 and is no longer of compulsory
school age;
·
the results of
any national curriculum tests taken in the year where the pupil
is in Key Stages 2–3;
·
national
curriculum teacher assessment levels and national curriculum
test results, as appropriate, with explanatory material where
the pupil is in the final year of Key Stages1–3;
·
comparative
information about the attainments of pupils in that year in the
school and nationally where the pupil is in the final year of
Key Stages 1–3;
·
any public
examination results by subject and grade, including any
vocational qualification or credits towards any such
qualification gained;
·
arrangements for
discussing the report with the pupil’s teacher if the recipient
so wishes.
N.B.
The annual
Assessment and reporting
arrangements booklets
from
QCA provide detailed information about reporting from foundation
stage to the end of Key Stage 3.
65. Some
information is exempt from disclosure in pupil reports. This
includes:
·
information
concerning the pupil, but which also relates to another person
who can be identified from that information;
·
information
which identifies another person as the source of that
information;
unless, in
either case:
·
that other
person has consented to the disclosure;
or
·
it is reasonable
in all the circumstances to disclose the information without his
or her consent;
or
·
that person is
an employee of the LA or of the school.
66. So,
for example, this would include information that would disclose
the levels in any attainment target or subject of any other
child. (This exemption does not apply where it is possible to
edit the information requested so as to omit the name or any
other identifying particulars of that other person.) Other
exempt material is that outlined above in the information about
pupils’ educational records (see paragraphs 39-42).
Content of
reports where a pupil has a statement of SEN
67.
Reports for the annual review of a pupil’s statement of SEN may,
if schools wish, serve as the Governors’ Annual Report to
Parents. If so, headteachers should ensure the report provides
the minimum information required in respect of any other pupil
in the same school year. Additionally, schools should always
provide contextual information, in particular by supplementing
the minimum information with a more detailed account of a
pupil’s progress in relation to the curriculum that they are
following.
INFORMATION FROM
THE GOVERNING BODY TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CHILDREN,
SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES
68. The
governing body must give the Secretary of State for Children,
Schools and Families details of the results of national
curriculum assessments taken by pupils, for the preparation of
the national analyses that the DCSF publishes.
69. Each
year the governing bodies of all maintained schools have to
provide information to be used in the secondary school and the
primary achievement and attainment tables (formerly performance
tables). The most recent sets of tables are available at
www.dcsf.gov.uk/performancetables.
INFORMATION FROM
THE HEADTEACHER TO THE GOVERNING BODY
70.
The headteacher must give the governing body any information
requested by it for the purpose of the exercise of any of its
functions.
TRANSLATING
DOCUMENTS
71.
Governing bodies should consider whether any documents that have
to be published or made available for inspection at the school
should be translated into other languages. Examples might
include the prospectus or details of the LA’s arrangements for
considering complaints about the curriculum.
FREEDOM OF
INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) 2000
72. Under
the
Freedom of Information Act
2000
(FOIA), it is now a legal right for any person to ask a school
for access to information that it holds. The aim of the FOIA is
to promote a culture of openness and accountability amongst
public sector bodies, and therefore improve public understanding
of how public authorities (which includes the governing bodies
of maintained schools) carry out their duties, why they make the
decisions they do and how they spend public money.
73.
The FOIA is overseen by the
Information Commissioner (IC), whose Freedom of Information
(FOI) duties are to:
·
promote good
practice;
·
give advice and
guidance;
·
enforce
compliance and investigate complaints;
·
report to
Parliament on compliance;
·
approve
publication schemes;
·
and publicise
the Act.
Both the IC and
the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), formerly the Department of
Constitutional Affairs (DCA), have produced guidance on FOIA,
including two Codes of Practice providing guidance to public
authorities generally on the implementation of the Act and on
records management.
74. The
Lord Chancellor’s
Code of Practice on the
Discharge of Functions of Public Authorities under Part 1 of the
FOI Act (Section 45) provides guidance to public
authorities on good practice when handling requests for
information. For more information visit the
dedicated area on the former
DCA website.
75. The IC
also has responsibility for the
DPA 1998
and the
Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIRs).
The DPA 1998 enables individuals to access information about
themselves. The EIRs enable people to access environmental
information.
76. In
principle, the FOIA enables people to access all information,
including the reasoning behind decisions and policies, which do
not fall under the DPA or EIRs. Although FOI presumes openness,
it recognises the need to protect sensitive information in
certain circumstances and provides for exemptions.
77. Any
request for information made in writing to a school since 1
January 2005 and which is considered non-routine is a request
under the FOIA, ElRs, the DPA, or a combination of any of them.
Right to request
information
78. Since
1 January 2005 there has been a legal right for any person to
make a request to a school for access to information held by
that school. Schools are under a duty to provide advice and
assistance to anyone requesting information and must respond to
the enquiry promptly, and in any event, within 20 working days
of receipt (not including school holidays). See the
Freedom of Information (Time
for Compliance with Request) Regulations 2004
which excludes days which are not school days from the 20
working day period.
79.
Enquirers do not have to say why they want the information and
the request does not have to mention the FOIA. The request must
be in writing, which includes fax or email. All requests for
information that are non-routine and not covered by the
DPA 1998 (i.e.
from individuals to see their own personal information) or
EIRs
are covered by
the FOIA.
80. The
enquirer is entitled to be told whether the school holds the
information (this is known as the duty to confirm or deny), and
if so, to have access to it. Access can include providing
extracts of a document or a summary of the information sought,
or access to the original document. However, the Act recognises
the need to preserve confidentiality of sensitive information in
some circumstances and sets out a number of exemptions.
81. From 1
January 2005, there were four reasons for not complying with a
valid request for information under FOI. These include
situations where:
·
the information
is not held;
·
the £450 cost
threshold is reached;
·
the request is
considered vexatious or repeated;
·
one or more of
the exemptions apply (see below).
82.
The FOIA provides a series of exemptions. Some of the exemptions
are absolute and some are qualified, in that they can be
overridden by the public interest test. More information on
these can be found in the detailed guidance issued by the DCSF
on the
TeacherNet website under
Freedom of Information for schools.
83. Many
of the exemptions are intended to protect sensitive or
confidential information. However, some of the exemptions are
there simply to avoid the legal position where two pieces of law
cover the same information requested, or where the information
is already available by some other means. The exemptions most
likely to be used by schools include:
·
information
accessible by other means, for example, information available
from a publication scheme, or information that other legislation
requires a school to give;
·
a request for
personal information covered by the DPA (individuals may
continue to make a “subject access request” under the DPA –
these are where the enquirer asks to see what personal
information the school holds about him or her);
·
environmental
information: EIRs enquiries are those that relate to: air;
water; land; natural sites; built environment; flora and fauna;
health; and any decisions and activities affecting any of these.
These could therefore include enquiries about recycling, phone
masts, school playing fields, car parking, etc. For more
guidance on EIRs, go to the
dedicated areas on the ICO
website or on
DEFRA’s website.
84.
Expressions of dissatisfaction should be handled through the
school’s existing complaints procedure. After these are
exhausted, the case can be raised with the ICO which has a duty
to investigate complaints.
What action does
the governing body need to take?
85. School
governing bodies are responsible for ensuring a school complies
with the FOIA. The new legal presumption of openness since
January 2005 makes it more important than ever that a school
decides its policies and conducts its daytoday operations on a
basis that stands up to public scrutiny.
86. It
should be noted that wilfully concealing, damaging or destroying
information in order to avoid answering an enquiry is an offence
and so a governing body, or any person who is employed by, or is
an officer of, or is subject to the direction of the governing
body (as the public authority) may be at risk of criminal
proceedings where such unlawful concealment, damage or
destruction occurs. Therefore it is important that no action is
taken to delete or amend records that are subject to a request
for information.
87. Since
requests for information can be directed to the school through
anyone who works there, the governing body should ask itself
whether all members of staff are aware of the FOIA and how the
school handles requests for information. Governing bodies may
choose to charge a fee, which must be calculated according to
the
Freedom of Information and
Data Protection (Appropriate Limits and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Guidance on charging can be found in the
FOI area of the TeacherNet
website and on
the former DCA website.
88. The
governing body should:
·
agree the FOI
publication scheme and access policy if it has not already done
so. The policy will need to set out how the school proposes to
deal with requests and state that all staff should be aware of
the process;
·
agree a charging
policy for complying with requests. The DCSF recommends that
schools respond to straightforward requests for free, and charge
where the costs are significant;
·
delegate to the
headteacher the daytoday responsibility for FOI policy and the
provision of advice, guidance, publicity and interpretation of
the school’s policy;
·
consider
designating an individual with responsibility for FOI to provide
a single point of reference; coordinate FOIA and related
policies and procedures; take a view on possibly sensitive
areas; and consider what information and training staff may
need. For a generic PowerPoint presentation visit the
TeacherNet FOI website;
·
consider
arrangements for overseeing access to information and delegation
to the appropriate governing body committee;
·
ensure that a
wellorganised records management and information system exists
in order to comply with requests within 20 days excluding school
holidays;
·
keep a record of
refusals and reasons for refusals as well as appeals, allowing
the governing body to review its access policy on an annual
basis;
·
consider
publishing a disclosure log on the school’s website, setting out
responses to requests that have been made to which the school
can refer in responding to future requests for the same
information.
89.
Publishing a disclosure log is considered good practice and,
over time, can be useful in steering the school’s publication
strategy by highlighting areas of interest that the school may
wish to consider for future publication. However, it is
recognised that for small schools with few requests under the
FOIA, a disclosure log may be inappropriate.
90. On
receipt of a request for information the school should:
·
decide whether
the request falls under the DPA, EIRs or the FOIA;
·
decide whether
the school holds the information or whether it should be
transferred to another body;
·
provide the
information if it has already been made public;
·
inform the
enquirer if the information is not held;
·
consider whether
a third party’s interests might be affected by disclosure, and
if so consult them;
·
consider whether
any exemptions apply and whether they are absolute or qualified;
·
carry out a
public interest test to decide if applying the qualified
exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information;
·
ensure that the
personal information is removed as set out in the guidance for
schools if a request is made for a document that contains exempt
personal information;
·
decide whether
the estimated cost of complying with the request will exceed the
appropriate limit;
·
consider whether
the request is vexatious or repeated.
Further help and
other sources of information
91. Full
guidance for schools, a PowerPoint presentation, retention
schedule and electronic copies of relevant leaflets are
available on the
GovernorNet and
TeacherNet FOI webpages.
The MoJ leads on
FOI. For further information visit
www.dca.gov.uk/foi.
The site
includes the
Code of Practice on the
Discharge of Functions of Public Authorities and
the
Code of Practice on the
Management of Records.
The
IC is the independent authority responsible for administering
and enforcing the FOIA. For more information visit
www.ico.gov.uk.
THE LAW
N.B.
As
legislation
is
often
amended
and
Regulations
introduced,
the
references
made
in
this
Guide
may
be
to
legislation
that
has
been
superseded.
For
an
up to
date
list
of
legislation
applying
to
schools,
please
refer
to
the
GovernorNet
website
www.governornet.co.uk
Children and Young People’s
Plan (England) Regulations 2007
The
Education (Provision of
Information About Young Children) (England) Regulations 2007:
SI 2007/712
Disability Discrimination Act 1995: Section 28D
Education Act
1996:
Sections 404 (sex
education),
408,
537,
537A
(Information about Individual Pupils),
541(1), (4)
Education Act 2002 Section
30A,
as inserted by the
Education Act 2005
Section 104
School Standards
and Framework Act 1998:
Section 61
(behaviour and anti-bullying policy),
Section 92
(publication of information about admissions),
Sections 110 and
111
(home–-school agreements)
Data Protection Act 1998
Education Act 2002: Section
30
Education (School Curriculum
and Related Information) Regulations:
SI 1989/954 (as amended by
SI 1989/1136,
1990/1109
and
1992/1089)
Education (Further Education
Institutions Information) (England) Regulations:
SI 1995/2065 (as amended by
SI 1997/2173 and
1998/2220)
Education (School
Information) (England) Regulations:
SI 2002/2897 (as amended by
SI 2005/2152)
Education (School
Performance Information) (England) Regulations:
SI 2001/3446 (as amended by
SI 2002/2017,
2003/2135,
2004/1377
and
2004/2141)
Education (School Sessions
and Charges and Remissions Policies) (Information) (England)
Regulations
SI: 1999/2255
Education (Pupil
Information) (England) Regulations:
SI 2005/1437
Data Protection (Subject
Access Modification) (Education) Order:
SI 2000/414
Education (Special
Educational Needs) (Information) Regulations 1999:
SI 1999/2506
Education (Special
Educational Needs) (England) (Consolidation) Regulations:
SI 2001/3455
GUIDANCE
DfEE booklet:
HomeSchool Agreements Guidance for Schools, Ref PPY984
Information and
downloads of QCA booklets on Assessment and Reporting at Key
Stages 1, 2, and 3 are available on QCA's website at
Assessment and Reporting
Arrangements.
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