These notes are intended only as a guide to completing the Subject Access Request form, not as a guide to the Data Protection Act . The Data Protection law is set out in the Data Protection Act 1998 obtainable from The Stationery Office. Further information and advice is also available from the website of the Data Protection Regulator – the Information Commissioner – see www.ico.org.uk

Under the Act you have (subject to certain exemptions) the right to be told whether Seaham High School, as a Data Controller, is holding or processing any information about you; and if so, to be provided with a copy of that information upon specific request. The records covered by the Act include all computer records and limited categories of manual records. Under the Act a student, or someone acting on their behalf, has the right to access their personal information held by Seaham High School. The Act does not specify an age at which a child can make their own request. The information from the Information Commissioner’s website will give you further advice.

Where an exemption is available under the Act, the School may not provide you with the information covered by the exemption. The main exemptions that may be applied are where the information held relates to:

• The prevention or detection of crime; or
• The apprehension or prosecution of offenders.
• Child Protection and Safeguarding- various Acts and Statutory Guidance
• Children Act 1989 – Section 47
• Children Act 2004 – Section 10 & 11
• Education Act 2002 – Section 175

Where the disclosure of the information would be likely to prejudice any of these purposes the School is not required to tell you whether any exemptions have been applied to any information that the school may provide, or whether any information has been withheld or the reason for the withholding of any information. A further exemption exists when information may be withheld in relation to the provision of examination marks before they are officially announced and copies of examination scripts.

A fee of £10 is payable for each Subject Access Request that you submit. Please send a cheque made payable to Seaham High School.  Applications that do not include the correct fee in an acceptable form will not be processed. Similarly, cheque payments that fail to clear will also result in the application not being processed. The School will contact you should this occur.

Applications will be processed promptly, but in any event a response will be made within 40 calendar days, as permitted under the Data Protection Act, from the date that the School accepts the properly completed application form along with your proof of identity, fee and any supporting documentation the School has requested from you. Further guidance on Access to students’ information held by schools in England can be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.gov.uk

The information about yourself will assist the School in finding the information you require. You should complete this section fully and carefully as the information will be used as the basis for our internal searches.

For your protection, any correspondence that the School sends you (including any information that the School sends to you in response to your request) will be sent only to the home address that you give in section 1.

Where you have submitted the request via any legal representative you are still required to complete the form in full and provide proof of identity. The School’s response will be sent to your legal representative’s registered offices.

The School has a duty to ensure that the information it processes is secure; the School will only provide the information relating to you if satisfied regarding your identity, i.e. that you are entitled to the information. The School therefore requires you to provide reasonable proof of your identity. Examples of the types of identity documents that the will be accepted are listed in the form. Applications that do not include acceptable identity will not be processed, but the School will contact you should this be the case.

The School does not have to give you any information that might identify any other individual unless that person agrees. If you believe that any information the School holds about you may identify another person, you may wish to obtain that person’s written consent (to you being given his/her information). That should be submitted to the School with this application, along with their proof of identity (to the same standard as is required for yourself).

In order to assist with the data information search, please give as much detail as possible. The guidance from the Office of the

Information Commissioner states:-

“Data subjects frequently make open-ended requests for access (‘Give me a copy of all the data you hold on me’). However, the Act [Section 7(3)] specifies that a data controller is not obliged to comply with a request. . . Unless he is supplied with such information as he may reasonably require in order to locate the information which that person seeks. In most cases an open ended request will not satisfy this provision”.

The School is unable to accept applications that have not been signed by the person whose details are supplied in Section 1.  The School will not process any application unless it has been signed and dated.

This is a brief checklist to ensure that you have completed the form properly.

When you have completed the form, please send it together with your proof of identity and fee to:

The Headteacher,

Seaham High School
Station Road,
Seaham
SR7 0BH

Please click here to access the Subject Access Request form

Forms that are incomplete will be returned for the person to complete in more detail, together with an explanation for the form being returned to you.