Data Protection and GDPR

The Bridge School is committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal data. We process personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This page provides a summary of how we manage personal data. For full details, please refer to our Data Protection Policy and associated documents, which are available on our Policies page.

How we use personal data

We process personal data for a range of purposes related to our role as an education provider, including:

  • Providing education and pastoral support to pupils.
  • Meeting legal and statutory requirements.
  • Maintaining records of attainment, attendance and safeguarding.
  • Communicating with parents, carers, staff and external agencies.
  • Managing admissions, staffing and school operations.

Categories of data subjects

We may hold personal data about:

  • Pupils and prospective pupils.
  • Parents and carers.
  • Staff, governors and volunteers.
  • Contractors and visitors.

Legal bases for processing

We process personal data under one or more of the lawful bases set out in the UK GDPR, including:

  • Public task (performing our official functions as a school).
  • Legal obligation (complying with statutory requirements).
  • Contract (for employment or service agreements).
  • Consent (for certain optional activities, where required).
  • Vital interests (to protect someone’s life in an emergency).

Sharing personal data

We may share personal data with relevant third parties where necessary and lawful, for example:

  • Local authority and safeguarding agencies.
  • The Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted.
  • Health professionals and support agencies.
  • External service providers such as education platforms or school photographers.

We only share the minimum data necessary and ensure appropriate safeguards are in place.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Our Data Retention Schedule, which follows guidance such as the Information and Records Management Society (IRMS) toolkit, sets out typical retention periods.

For website-specific data (such as contact form enquiries and analytics data), retention periods are described in our Website Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Your rights

Under data protection law, individuals have rights including:

  • The right to be informed about how their data is used.
  • The right of access to their personal data.
  • The right to request correction of inaccurate data.
  • The right to request erasure of data in certain circumstances.
  • The right to restrict or object to processing in certain circumstances.
  • The right to data portability in some cases.

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, or have questions about how we handle personal data, please contact us.

Data Protection Officer

The school’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) is:

DPO:Halton Borough Council
Email: dpo@halton.gov.uk

Contact details

If you have any questions or concerns about data protection at The Bridge School, please contact:

Email: admin@thebridge.halton.sch.uk
Telephone: 01928 581 301
Address: The Bridge School – Chadwick Road – Runcorn – Cheshire WA7 1PW

Further information

For more information about how we use personal data, please see our full Data Protection Policy and related policies on our Policies page.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, you can raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk