On Wednesday, approximately 40 schools attended our free GDPR event in Witney. Our aim was to avoid another GDPR awareness session as we think most schools are aware by now that GDPR replaces the 1998 Data Protection act on 25th May 2018!
Instead we invited two companies that provide a GDPR platform, along with two local schools that have opted to use them:
GDPR365: https://www.gdpr365.com/ (demonstrated by Olivia Walton and used by Rush Common).
GDPRiS: https://www.gdpr.school/ (demonstrated by Matthew Parkinson and used by Long Furlong).
The feedback on the day was very good and our thanks go to Beth Rolfe from Rush Common and Rose-Marie Smith from Long Furlong for joining us on Wednesday as evaluations from schools are highly valued. We have emailed the slides and price list from the event and the links to the supporting GDPR resources mentioned by both companies can be found via:
http://help.gdpr365.com/support/home
https://www.gdpr.school/free-resources/
As Beth and Rose-Marie explained it is currently a work in progress for both schools and they would be happy to share their thoughts with you as they work towards GDPR compliance.
How can 123ICT help?
- Data security meetings with your staff / governors – (free of charge for contracted schools) which can form part of your staff awareness for GDPR. These are proving popular and we have recently appointed Sarah Allsopp who will be working with me to deliver these sessions during the summer term. Available to non-123ICT schools upon request.
- Configuration of data backup for teaching staff (free of charge for contracted schools) – prior to May 25th, 123ICT can work with your school implementing a cloud backup solution for your teaching staff using O365 OneDrive or Google Drive. Available to non-123ICT schools upon request.
- Order placing for the GDPR platforms above – trials and webinars of both products are available – please visit the websites above or call Nicola in the office for more details.
- “Hand holding” sessions to get you started with GDPR365 or GDPRiS. These are chargeable upon request and we anticipate that this will involve either Della or myself spending a half day or full day session on site.
Some schools may not want to invest time and money into a GDPR platform and are looking to work towards GDPR compliance by undertaking their own internal data audit, risk assessments and creating their own privacy notice using the DfE template. This is understandable as GDPR is designed to build on your existing data protection procedures. Schools may also be waiting for guidance from their local authority or MAT.
The latest advice from Oxfordshire county council is now available via school news:
http://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/schoolsnews/gdpr-update-april-2018
You will notice that OCC are looking to work with a provider and more information will follow in due course. There is still no confirmation on whether they will offer a DPO service for maintained schools.
Please contact 123ICT if you would like our latest copy of our free data audit spreadsheet for schools. It is pre populated with the type of data typically held by schools including retention periods. It can be tailored for your needs but we feel it gives schools a good basis to carry out their data audit with teaching staff, governors etc. Also let us know if you would like on-site support to help you get started with this.
123ICT will keep working with schools, our consultants and partners with a view of providing impartial GDPR advice for schools and academies. Just get in touch if you would like to more information.