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Longfield Academy Confidentiality Policy

This policy sits in conjunction with the schools policies on Child Protection, Behaviour, Sex and Relationships Education and Drugs.

The Confidentiality Policy has been considered and adopted by the whole school community including the School Council and the Pupil and Community Committee of the Governing Body

Date of Policy: February 2007
To be reviewed: February 2009

Introduction
All schools are asked on occasions to keep information confidential. This can relate to a variety of issues including under age sexual activity, drugs use, abuse or other dangerous or illegal activities.

It is important that the whole school community should follow the same clear and explicit policy.

Students, parents and carers should be made aware of the policy and how it works in practice. Volunteers, supply teachers, staff undertaking training and professionals from other agencies are asked to read this policy before undertaking work in the school.

Aims:

• To give clear guidance to all members of the school community around confidentiality
• To encourage young people to talk to a trusted adult if they are having problems
• To give staff confidence to deal with sensitive issues

Curriculum
During lessons there may be consideration of sensitive topics that might lead to students wishing to disclose personal information.

Key Points:
• Ground rules and distancing techniques should be used where sensitive issues are to be addressed
• Staff should not put pressure on students to disclose personal information and should discourage fellow students from applying any such pressure

Personal disclosures
Disclosures from students may take place at an inappropriate place or time. If this happens, the member of staff should identify a time before the end of the day to talk again, individually, to the student. The member of staff should discuss the issue with an appropriate colleague, to decide on suitable action, as soon as possible.

Key Points:

• Students should be reassured that their best interests will be maintained.
• Students should know that no member of staff may offer unconditional confidentiality.
• Students should be reassured that, if confidentiality has to be broken, they will be informed and then supported appropriately
• Students should be informed of sources of confidential help, for example, the school nurse, counsellor, GP or local young person’s advice service. The school will make access routes to such services available through discussions and displays.

Any personal information should be regarded as private and not passed on indiscriminately (for example in the staff room)

Where the disclosure relates to child protection information the information must be conveyed without delay to the Designated Child Protection Coordinator or other designated staff member. Students should be encouraged to talk to their parents or carers and be given support to do so where ever possible. Government guidance requires professionals to consult as much as possible with parents about their children when referring to another agency. In general, parents should be asked if they wish to be referred, unless there is reason to believe that in doing so the young person may be put at risk.

Additional Guidance

• For all children, staff members and governors to enjoy privacy from gossip, for the school to be fair to all its community, and for children and adults to have disciplinary matters dealt with according to the school’s own procedures and out of the eye of the wider school community, it is important that: Staff do not discuss details of individual cases arising from their role to any person without direct professional connection to and interest in the welfare and education of the individual concerned, and only in an appropriate forum.
• No member of staff discusses an individual child’s behaviour in the presence of another child in school.
• Staff do not enter into detailed discussion about a child’s behaviour with other children or their parents.
• Staff, when in consultation with students, parents or other agencies, only discuss issues relating to other staff members in a highly professional manner. Governors, in particular those sitting on the ‘Students and Community Committee’ or ‘Discipline Committee’, do not divulge details about individuals (be they staff, families/carers or individual children) to any person outside of the meeting.
• Parents in school, working or volunteering in any capacity, do not report cases of poor behaviour or student discipline to anyone except and appropriate member of staff. This allows teachers to deal with such matters in line with school policy.
• At full Governing body meetings matters such as student exclusion, personnel issues and personal details of any member of the school community will be dealt with in the Head teacher’s Report under ‘Part 2 Confidential’. This is not for the knowledge of persons outside the Governing body meeting. Minutes in Part 2 are minuted separately and minutes are not published. Staff performance management will be carried out privately. Targets for individuals, named lesson observation sheets and other performance information will be will be stored securely at the direction of the Headteacher.
• Matters of Child Protection are made known to staff on a need to know basis. All Child Protection records are stored securely and accessible only by the Child Protection Coordinator or Headteacher.
• It is important that class teachers and support staff are aware of some confidential matters in order to support individuals. These staff will respect the sensitivity of such cases and not divulge information to people unconnected professionally with the individual concerned. When volunteers are working in classes, they do not discuss educational matters outside the classroom. (For example the specific use of teaching assistant time for particular students or groups of students, teaching assistants have different roles within a class, including the support of children with Special Educational Needs, the provision and work with these children is for the teacher to discuss with the relevant parents or carers.)
• Volunteers, students and supply teachers are asked to read this policy before working in school.

Equal Opportunities
Staff may wish to discuss an individual case with a class or group. For instance it can support the inclusion of a child with Aspergers Syndrome or Autism, if their peers are made aware of the condition and so have some idea of what to expect. Similarly a child with visual impairment can be supported if his/her friends know how to look out for them in the playground. In such cases this will be undertaken in conjunction with the Special Needs Coordinator and/or Head of the Spectrum Centre as appropriate. As part of this process discussions will be undertaken with the student and his/her carers, and the necessary permission will be sought.

Health professionals
Health professionals are bound by their professional codes of conduct to maintain confidentiality when working in a one to one situation. When working in a classroom, they are bound by relevant school policies. In line with best practice guidance, like other school staff, they will seek to protect privacy and prevent inappropriate personal disclosures in a classroom setting, by negotiating ground rules and using distancing techniques.