1. Aims
Gomersal St Mary’s Primary School recognises that by efficiently managing its records, it will be able to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations and to contribute to the effective overall management of the school. Records provide evidence for protecting the legal rights and interests of the school and provide evidence for demonstrating performance and accountability.
This policy supports the school in meeting its responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. The policy is created from a template provided by the information and Records Management Society.
2. Scope of the policy
This policy applies to all records created, received or maintained by permanent and temporary staff of the school in the course of carrying out its functions. Also, by any agents, contractors, consultants or third parties acting on behalf of the school.
Records are defined as all those documents which facilitate the business carried out by the school and which are thereafter retained (for a set period) to provide evidence of its transactions or activities. These records may be created, received or maintained in hard copy or electronic format e.g. paper documents, scanned documents, e-mails which document business activities and decisions, audio and video recordings, text messages, notes of telephone and Skype conversations, spreadsheets, Word documents, presentations etc.
3. Roles and Responsibilities
This policy applies to all staff employed by our school, and to external organisations or individuals working on our behalf. Staff who do not comply with this policy may face disciplinary action.
3.1 Governing body
The governing body of a school has a statutory responsibility to maintain the school records and record-keeping systems in accordance with the regulatory environment specific to the school. This responsibility is delegated to the Headteacher.
3.2 Headteacher
The Headteacher is responsible for day-to-day operational management in the school.
3.3 Data Protection Lead
The Data Protection Lead will give guidance on good records management practice and will promote compliance with this policy so that information will be retrieved easily, appropriately and in a timely way. They will also monitor compliance with this policy by surveying at least annually to check if records are stored securely and can be accessed appropriately.
3.4 All Staff
Individual staff and employees must ensure, with respect to records for which they are responsible, that they:
- Manage the school’s records consistently in accordance with the school’s policies and procedures
- Properly document their actions and decisions
- Hold personal information securely
- Only share personal information appropriately and do not disclose it to any unauthorised third party
- Dispose of records securely in accordance with the school’s Records Retention Schedule.
4. Relationship with existing policies
This policy has been drawn up within the context of:
- Freedom of Information publication scheme
- Data protection policy
- Computer acceptable use policy
Appendix 1 – Record Retention Schedule
Gomersal St Mary’s Primary School deletes or disposes of information according to a retention schedule recommended by the Information and Records Management Society, the IRMS Toolkit for Schools 2019. The full schedule can be viewed online here https://irms.org.uk/page/SchoolsToolkit
In summary retention periods for the various types of record that school holds are as follows;
- Pupil and parent records are passed on to the next school
- School management (including finance and staff records) are generally kept for the current year plus 6 years, with exceptions
- Governance Records are kept for the current year plus 6 years, with the exception of instruments of governance which are kept for the life of the school
- Government and Local Authority returns are retained as required by statute
This list is provided as a summary only and the IRMS Toolkit should be referred to for detail on all record retention periods.
