Website Privacy Notice

This notice relates specifically to use of the School’s website and initial website enquiries.

If an enquiry progresses to a formal application, a pupil joins the School, an individual becomes an employee, or another relationship with the School is established, other School privacy notices and retention arrangements may apply.

The data controller is:

St George’s School, Edgbaston
31 Calthorpe Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 1RX

Company number: 03861455
Registered charity number: 1079647

For questions about the use of personal information or your data protection rights, you can contact our Data Protection Officer:

Data Protection Officer
St George’s School, Edgbaston
31 Calthorpe Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 1RX

Email: dpo@sgse.co.uk

The School’s Data Protection Officer is Mr L Nicholas.

The information we collect depends on how you use the website.

Information you provide through our Admissions Enquiry Form

We may collect:

• parent or carer name;
• telephone number;
• email address;
• child’s name;
• child’s date of birth;
• intended year of entry;
• how you heard about St George’s School; and
• any additional information relevant to the enquiry that you choose to provide.

The additional-information field may include information about medical needs, special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Information about a person’s physical or mental health is classed as special-category personal data and receives additional protection under UK data protection law.

We ask parents and carers only to provide medical or SEND information at the initial enquiry stage where it is relevant to their enquiry.

Technical information

When you use our website, we and the services supporting it may process technical information including:

• IP address and network information;
• browser and device type;
• operating system;
• screen or device characteristics;
• date and time of access;
• pages requested;
• referring website or page; and
• technical information required to operate, secure and troubleshoot the website.

Website usage information

Where you permit Statistics cookies, Google Analytics may collect information about use of the website, including:

• pages viewed;
• scrolling;
• outbound links clicked;
• searches made using the website;
• form interactions;
• video engagement;
• file downloads;
• approximate location; and
• browser and device information.

Google Analytics is used for statistical and website-improvement purposes.

Cookie consent information

We use Cookiebot by Usercentrics to manage cookie preferences.

Cookiebot stores information necessary to remember and demonstrate your cookie choices, including information about the consent categories selected and when the choice was made.

More information is available in our Cookie Policy.

UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis whenever we process personal information.

Operating, maintaining and securing our website

We process technical information where necessary to:

• provide the website and its content;
• administer the website;
• maintain the security and integrity of our systems;
• detect and investigate technical problems or security incidents;
• prevent misuse; and
• maintain website performance and availability.

Our lawful basis is legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR.

Our legitimate interest is in operating, maintaining and protecting the School’s website and IT systems.

Responding to admissions enquiries

We use information submitted through our Admissions Enquiry Form to:

• respond to prospective parents and carers;
• identify the prospective pupil and appropriate year of entry;
• communicate about the enquiry;
• understand information relevant to the child and the enquiry;
• consider whether and how the School may be able to meet the child’s educational or support needs;
• make appropriate arrangements during the admissions process; and
• determine how the enquiry should progress.

Our lawful basis is legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR.

Our legitimate interests are in responding to prospective families and appropriately administering the School’s admissions process.

We consider that the information requested through the form is reasonably necessary for these purposes. We also take into account the rights and interests of the child and parent or carer when using this information.

Medical, disability and SEND information

Information supplied about medical conditions, disabilities or SEND may include special-category personal data, particularly health information.

Where we process special-category information, we only do so where it is relevant and necessary for the admissions enquiry, for example to:

• understand needs relevant to the enquiry;
• consider how the School may be able to meet a child’s needs;
• identify appropriate support or arrangements; and
• administer the admissions process appropriately.

Where special-category data is processed, the School identifies and documents an appropriate condition under Article 9 UK GDPR, in addition to the Article 6 lawful basis described above.

Do you have to provide information?

There is no general statutory obligation to submit an enquiry through our website.

However, certain fields on the Admissions Enquiry Form are marked as required because we need that information to identify the prospective pupil, respond to the enquiry and appropriately administer it.

If required information is not provided, we may not be able to process or respond fully to the enquiry.

The additional-information field is optional. Medical or SEND information should only be provided where it is relevant to the enquiry.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the website and to help improve its content, navigation and performance.

Optional Google Analytics cookies are placed only where you have permitted Statistics cookies through our cookie-consent system.

Our lawful basis for personal information processed using these optional analytics technologies is consent under Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR.

You can withdraw this consent at any time using our Cookie Settings.

Our Google Analytics configuration currently does not use:

• Google Signals;
• user-provided data collection; or
• advertising personalisation.

Google Analytics is used by the School for website measurement and improvement rather than personalised advertising.

Embedded YouTube videos

Some pages contain embedded videos provided by YouTube, which is operated by Google.

YouTube may use cookies and similar technologies when embedded content is enabled.

Our cookie-consent system blocks these optional technologies unless you permit the relevant cookie category.

Our lawful basis for personal information processed through optional YouTube storage technologies is consent under Article 6(1)(a) UK GDPR.

If you do not provide consent, you can continue to use the main website, although embedded videos may not be available.

Google-hosted fonts

Some website font resources are currently provided through Google.

When these resources are requested, technical information necessary to deliver them, such as IP address and browser information, may be communicated to Google.

Our lawful basis for this processing is our legitimate interest under Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR in providing a consistent and usable website.

The School may review this arrangement and move these resources to school-managed infrastructure in future.

Access to personal information is limited to people who need it for their role.

Admissions Enquiry Form submissions are:

• sent to the School’s Admissions team;
• sent to a restricted website administration mailbox used for website-form delivery and integrity checking; and
• stored within the School’s WordPress website database.

Access to the restricted website administration mailbox is limited to authorised website administration and IT personnel.

We may also use organisations that provide technology necessary to operate the website.

These currently include:

• Google, in connection with Google Analytics, YouTube and externally hosted font resources; and
• Usercentrics / Cookiebot, in connection with cookie-consent management.

We do not sell website visitor personal information.

We may also disclose information where required by law, regulatory requirements or where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Where your information is stored

The School’s WordPress website and website database are hosted on school-managed server infrastructure in the United Kingdom.

Admissions enquiries stored through the website are therefore held on school-managed infrastructure.

Copies sent by email are held within the School’s email systems and are accessible only to authorised users.

Some external service providers, including Google and Usercentrics, operate internationally.

Where personal information is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we require an appropriate lawful transfer mechanism or safeguard where required by UK data protection law.

You may contact our Data Protection Officer if you would like further information about safeguards relating to international transfers.

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

Website admissions enquiries

Copies of website admissions enquiries retained in:

• the WordPress/Flamingo website database; and
• the restricted website administration mailbox

are normally retained for the current academic year and the two most recently completed academic years.

Older records are deleted unless there is a specific continuing reason to retain them.

Where an enquiry progresses to a formal application or enrolment, relevant information may become part of the School’s admissions or pupil records. Different retention arrangements and privacy information may then apply.

The Admissions team may retain relevant admissions information in accordance with the School’s wider admissions and records-retention arrangements.

Google Analytics

Our current Google Analytics retention configuration is:

• event data – 2 months; and
• user data – 14 months.

These settings do not necessarily apply in the same manner to aggregated statistical reporting.

Cookie choices

Cookiebot's consent information may be retained for up to one year so that the website can remember and demonstrate your cookie choices.

Current durations for individual cookies and similar technologies are available in our Cookie Declaration.

Technical and security information

Server, security and technical information is retained for the period reasonably required for website administration, security, troubleshooting, audit or legal requirements, in accordance with the School’s IT arrangements.

Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and other technologies that store information on or access information from your device.

Necessary technologies are used for functions required to operate the website.

Optional technologies are controlled through our Cookiebot consent-management system.

You can:

• reject optional cookies;
• allow selected categories;
• accept all optional cookies; and
• change or withdraw your choices later.

Please see our Cookie Policy and Cookie Declaration for more information.

Children’s information

Our website includes an admissions enquiry form intended primarily for parents and carers making enquiries about places at the School.

Because admissions enquiries relate to children, some personal information we process through the website relates to children.

We recognise that children’s personal information requires particular care. When relying on legitimate interests, we take particular account of whether the interests and fundamental rights of the child override the School’s interests.

We therefore aim to collect only information that is relevant to dealing appropriately with the admissions enquiry.

Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis involved, you may have rights including:

• the right of access to personal information we hold about you;
• the right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• the right to erasure in certain circumstances;
• the right to restrict processing in certain circumstances;
• the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• the right to data portability where applicable; and
• the right to withdraw consent where our processing is based on consent.

Where processing is based on consent, withdrawing consent does not affect processing that was lawful before the consent was withdrawn.

These rights do not apply in exactly the same way in every circumstance.

To exercise a data protection right, contact dpo@sgse.co.uk.

Objecting to legitimate interests

You have the right to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests.

If you object, we will consider your circumstances and whether there are compelling legitimate grounds to continue processing the information.

Automated decision-making

We do not make admissions decisions through solely automated processing of information submitted using the website.

Admissions enquiries are considered by people working for the School.

Website analytics are used for statistical and website-improvement purposes and are not used to make automated admissions decisions about individual children.

Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

• unauthorised access;
• accidental loss;
• alteration;
• disclosure; and
• misuse.

The website and database are hosted on school-managed infrastructure, and access to administrative systems and enquiry information is restricted to authorised personnel.

No internet-based system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we regularly maintain and review our systems and controls.

Links to other websites

Our website contains links to websites and services operated by other organisations.

When you follow an external link, the other organisation is responsible for its own website and privacy practices.

We recommend reviewing the relevant organisation’s privacy information before providing personal information to an external service.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we have used your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer:

dpo@sgse.co.uk

We would welcome the opportunity to investigate and respond to your concerns.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.

Further information is available from the ICO at www.ico.org.uk.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We keep this Website Privacy Notice under review.

We may update it where:

• the website or its functionality changes;
• we begin or stop using third-party services;
• our data-processing arrangements change; or
• applicable law or regulatory guidance changes.

The date shown at the top of this notice indicates when it was last updated.