From Vision to Strategy to Daily Good Practice
How can growing MATs develop a high-profile culture of privacy, efficiency and trust?
The School’s Bill may be gone, but the government has indicated that it is wedded to its principles. And although that means we no longer have academisation as a statutory target, the juggernaut is unlikely to be halted in its tracks.
However, the DfE itself has called existing academy rules “complex,” “inconsistent” and “ineffective”; coupled with revolt sparked last year by the widening of the handbook beyond finances – Multi Academy Trusts are in a no man’s land when it comes to this area of compliance. The bottom line is, there is no constitutional framework that addresses privacy and data protection. Therefore, as any good teacher will tell you, if you leave a void where behaviour expectations should be – the behaviour that fills that void is unlikely to be the behaviour that you hoped for.
So how do MATs develop and prioritise that high profile culture of privacy, efficiency and trust, beyond mere compliance without a framework? The answer is obviously – work with us at Education Data Hub! We are very much aware that ‘one size’ fits no-one, so we work with Trusts in an entirely bespoke way.
There are many reasons this matters from a regulatory perspective, audit, reputation, publicity etc; but we think the most important reasons are respect, trust, transparency, well-being, time, and pride.
Understanding and documenting where all the elements of compliance sit; from HR to Safeguarding, from records management to IT acceptable use, from CCTV to DPIAs, from curriculum to business management, from recruitment to parent communications, from policies to privacy notices, from ROPAs to cyber security; we work with Trusts to understand and reflect on their own position so an effective gap analysis can be devised to assess new schools coming on board.
This proactive work makes your reactive work with us so much easier. If the basics above are in place, responding to data breaches, cyber incidents, SARs and FOIs becomes much more straight forward and less draining. All of our staff have a background in education so we know first-hand and inside out the pressures faced by your staff and the impact they can have – be assured you will always get not only an expert but also an empathic and supportive hand to hold. Please contact us at [email protected] to find out how we can help you.
Further reading: although based on US research and commercial enterprises, this study shows the impact and return on investment a good privacy programme will have: From Privacy to Trust and ROI – Cisco Blogs
Education Data Hub work with Education Providers across the UK. Our team members are all former school staff who understand the pressures of a school environment, meaning our support is mindful of the school day/calendar.