Data Protection and compliance policy: S4 Swansea Science for Schools Scheme

Updated Aug 2020

 

The S4 Swansea Science for Schools Scheme is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) via the Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) and the Welsh Government (WG) via the Welsh Government Office for Science (WGOS) and is based in the College of Science, Swansea University.

For data that WEFO requires the S4 project to collect (See – What information do we collect WGOS below), WG via the WGOS is the data controller and Swansea University is the data processor.  The Data Protection Officer for the Welsh Government can be contacted on Data.ProtectionOfficer@gov.wales

For other personal data collected by the S4 project (See – What information do we collect S4 below) Swansea University is the Data Controller.

Swansea University is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Swansea University has a Data Protection Officer who can be contacted via dataprotection@swansea.ac.uk

 

What information do we collect?

Welsh Government Office for Science (WGOS)

Data that the WGOS, on behalf of WEFO, requires the S4 Swansea Science for Schools project to collect is as follows:

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• School
• Contact details
• Migratory details
• Ethnicity
• Caring responsibilities
• Household details
• Disabilities

 

S4

Personal data for which Swansea University (S4 Project) is the data controller:

• Free school meal entitlement
• Physical / Educational needs
• A level and GCSE qualifications (where applicable)
• Allergies
• Medical conditions
• GP details
• Cultural requirements
• Dietary requirements
• Photographs and film – permission to take and use photographs in our events for marketing/social media purposes
• Focus groups 

 

Legal Basis

For data where WEFO is the data controller, processing is ‘necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller’

For data collected by WEFO on an optional basis, it will be processed with your consent

We rely on legitimate interests to process your data i.e. your data will be used as part of a study we are completing to see how the students’ attitude towards science has changed since they joined S4 in Year 7 or Year 8 through to year 9. S4 are carrying out this longitudinal research plus the lead partner WGOS are carrying out a longitudinal cohort evaluation which will include data from all five partners.

 

Why we collect individual data and how we use it

We collect data on individuals for the following reasons: –

1. For monitoring purposes – to be used as evidence for our funders, and to help give us a clear insight of the activities we provide and who we work with, so we know if we are working with those who will benefit the most from our outreach scheme.
2. For evaluation purposes – we use personal data to support individual feedback on our workshops to assess the effectiveness of our outreach initiatives on expanding science capital in young people (with our ultimate goal being increasing participation in higher education (HE) of certain socioeconomic demographics).
3. For health and safety purposes – to ensure we provide the best level of care and a safe learning environment for our participants, i.e. by ensuring we are aware of any allergies or medical needs.

 

How data is processed and stored

• For interactions that involve S4 working directly with schools, forms and an explanatory letter are sent home to parents/guardians of participating pupils via the school asking for required information and the consent to use the information for the outlined purposes. The forms are then brought along to the workshop by the teacher organising the activity, where it is securely logged and stored.
• For our Residential Summer School Scheme (historic only, since we no longer offer this), students directly registered interest through an initial enquiry form, they were sent information packs containing consent form asking for necessary information, which students return to us by the start of the scheme. The data is then securely logged and stored.
• All individual personal is kept in hard copy, filed away in locked filing cabinets in our secure office, entry of which requires key card access, which is restricted to project personnel only.

 

 Who receives your information?

This project is co-funded by the ESF and the WGOS. As detailed above ‘What information do we collect – WGOS’, the WGOS are the data controller for certain elements of data and we will share only this with them for their long-term research purposes. All data that is provided during your child/wards’ participation in the programme will undergo a process of anonymisation. Survey information from this project may be made available, in an anonymised dataset, to external professional evaluators for evaluation and analysis purposes.

 

How long will your data be held?

S4 will retain personal information for a minimum of 10 years, in accordance with ESF policy

 

What are your rights?

If you have any concerns about what information is being held, you have a right to access your personal information, to object to the processing of your personal information, as well as the right to rectify, erase and restrict your personal information. If you have any concerns about the use of data for these purposes or would like a copy of the data we hold about you, requests should be made in writing to the University Data Protection Officer:

Mrs Bev Buckley

University Compliance Officer (FOI/DP)
Vice-Chancellor’s Office
Swansea University
Singleton Park
Swansea
SA2 8PP

Email: dataprotection@swansea.ac.uk 

Further questions?

If you have further questions about how we process individual monitoring data, please feel free to get in touch with Will Bryan the Nominated Data Officer for the S4 project w.a.bryan@swansea.ac.uk

How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy about the way in which your personal data is being used or processed, or if you have any issue with the accuracy of the information, you can contact the University Data Protection Officer using the details above.