Sharing personal information
Working in partnership
All the work we do with children, young people and their families is based on informed consent. This means that we want you, as parents or carers, to know about and agree to any actions that we propose to take on your child’s behalf. For example
We only work with children and young people if their parents or carers understand and agree to our involvement
- We will send you copies of any reports we write, and
- We will try to ensure that you are included in any plans to help your child
You also need to know what information we keep about your child and how we might share it. This leaflet explains
- Why we need to collect information
- What information we might ask for
- How you can access the information we have
- How we keep it, and for how long, and
- When we might share it
The same information applies to children and young people. Young people over the age of 16, and those who are 18 and over have particular rights of their own in law.
Why do we need to collect information?
We need information to help us to understand the situation that you or the school would like us to assist with.
In many cases this is to help the school or the education authority in meeting a pupil’s additional support needs. It can also help you, as parents, in your legal duty to educate your child.
What information do we collect?
We begin to collect information as soon as we have consent to start working with a young person and their family. This information might come from
- The young person themselves
- You as parents or carers, or from
- Teachers at your child’s school.
We might also get information from other people who are already involved with your child. This could, for example, be
- A specialist teacher who knows your son or daughter
- A health visitor or a speech and language therapist
- The school doctor, or another medical adviser
- A social worker who knows you and your family.
If you tell us that another professional has been involved with your child, we might ask them if they will share any relevant information with us. However, we will do this only if you agree to us contacting them.
Access to personal information
We will send you copies of any reports we write about your child
In addition you can ask to see your child’s education record, and young people can also request access to the information we have about them.
We would like you to make your request in writing. We are required to respond to you within 40 working days. During this time we will
- Contact other people who have written to us about your child, but not to you, to ask them to release their letter or report, and
- Arrange for someone to go through the file with you.
Parents often find that they already have most of the information we keep in our files. We are happy, nonetheless, to do some additional copying for you but we would have to charge you for any bulk photocopying.
Access to information is covered by the Data Protection Act, 1998, and the School Pupils Records (Scotland) Regulations, 2003.
How do we keep this information?
Pupils who have been referred to Psychological Services have a record on a secure, password protected database. At present this record contains limited information such as names, contact details, and the schools the pupils attend.
Some information may be held on emails on a secure, password protected server.
Most of the information we have is in paper form, and is kept in an individual, working file. This file is confidential, although parents and young people can have access to it if they wish to do so.
How long do we keep information about pupils?
When we have completed a piece of work with a pupil, we close the file: it can be opened again if the pupil is referred back to us. Closed files are archived and stored securely.
We do get a number of requests from pupils later in life for information from their records and so we retain the files until young person reaches the age of 24. The files are then confidentially destroyed.
When do we share information?
To ensure that children and young people get the help they need, we often have to share some of the information we have with other agencies. For example information on our involvement is usually sent to the school, and sometimes to education authority staff, the school doctor or a hospital consultant who is already involved with your child.
We only share information which is relevant to providing an adequate and efficient education for your child, and we will normally ask your permission to do so. When we send copies of information to other agencies, we will always put a ‘Copy to’ list at the end of our reports to show who it has gone to.
There are a limited number of exceptions where we do not have to get your permission before sharing information but we must have a strong lawful reason for doing this. For example if we believe that a child is at serious risk, we must share this information with other agencies, e.g. such as a child protection concern or allegation.
We are sometimes asked to give information to partner agencies that are not involved with your child, but that will be involved with them in the future. For example, you may have moved to another part of the country and your new authority asks for information to help them plan for your child’s education. We might be approached by a further education college as your son or daughter comes to leave school. In these circumstances we would ask your permission before sharing any information with them, and we may only send information which is recent and relevant.
If you have any questions or concerns about our policy on holding and sharing information, please contact the Principal Psychologist at:
Argyll and Bute
Community Services: Education
Psychological Service
Argyll House, Alexandra Parade, Dunoon, PA23 8AJ
Tel. 01369 708537