Freedom of Information
RAINFORD CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY SCHOOL
AND RAINDROPS PRESCHOOL
‘Learning and growing together to achieve our best in the love of God’
Freedom of Information Policy & Publication
Scheme
For approval by Governors: 26th February 2019
To be reviewed on or before: Spring 2022
Signed…………………………………………… Chair of CDCS Committee
Signed…………………………………………… Headteacher
Our Mission Statement
‘Learning and growing together to achieve our best in the Love of God’
School Aims
In order to prepare today’s children for tomorrow’s challenges, Rainford CE Primary Schools aims to achieve the following:
- Every child will be encouraged to understand the meaning and significance of faith, experience God’s love and develop the spirituality to enable them to live out our Christian values of love, joy, peace, friendship, forgiveness, perseverance and justice
- Every child will achieve their full potential through being a highly motivated, resilient and independent learner who embraces new experiences, has confidence to tackle challenges and go onto develop a lifelong love of learning.
- Every child will value themselves as a unique individual with special qualities and strengths developing self-discipline and honesty; taking responsibility for their own actions and appreciating their ability to make a positive difference in the world.
- Every child will appreciate and respect others, celebrate differences between individuals and groups and respect and care for God’s creation and the environment.
- Every child will be encouraged to make healthy choices and appreciate the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
In order to do this, we will constantly reflect the Christian ethos of our school in our relationships with our children, their families, our staff, the church and the wider community.
Background
Rainford C E Primary School is committed to complying with and implementing the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and related legislation. This provides a general entitlement to any person to be able to access information held by school, subject to exemptions and conditions laid down by law.
Scope
This policy applies to all information held by school regardless of how it was created or received. It applies irrespective of the media on which the information is stored and whether the information is recorded on paper or held electronically. The Act’s powers are fully retrospective and thus information is accessible no matter how old it may be. Similarly, information in draft form will also be accessible under the Act.
It should be noted that access to personal information (that is information from which a living individual can be identified) is still governed under GDDR (2018). Requests for access to such information will be governed in line with the requirements of this legislation.
Dealing with Requests
Rainford C E Primary School will offer advice and assistance to anybody wishing to make a request for information. We are committed to dealing with requests within statutory guidelines, which means a response will be made no more than one month from the date of request and more speedily if possible.
A copy of the information will be supplied to the individual free of charge; however, the school may impose a ‘reasonable fee’ to comply with requests for further copies of the same information.
In the event of numerous or complex requests, the period of compliance will be extended by a further two months. The individual will be informed of this extension, and will receive an explanation of why the extension is necessary, within one month of the receipt of the request.
Where a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive, a reasonable fee will be charged. The school also holds the right to refuse to respond to the request. The individual will be informed of this decision and the reasoning behind it, as well as their right to complain to the supervisory authority and to a judicial remedy, within one month of the refusal.
In the event that a large quantity of information is being processed about an individual, the school will ask the individual to specify the information the request is in relation to.
School will claim exemptions as appropriate whilst maintaining a commitment to openness, scrutiny and the public interest. Rainford C E Primary School will put in place an appropriate procedure for measuring the public interest when considering a qualified (also known as “non- absolute”) exemption which requires such a test.
Any request in writing will be considered a Freedom of Information request including those received by email and fax. There is no need for requests to indicate that they are made under the Act and all requests will be dealt with under this policy. School reserves the right to refuse requests where the cost of locating, retrieving and editing (where necessary) the information would exceed the statutory maximum (currently £450).
The school will take into account the costs it reasonably expects to incur in carrying out the following permitted activities in complying with the request:
· determining whether the information is held;
· locating the information, or a document containing it;
· retrieving the information, or a document containing it; and
· extracting the information from a document containing it
The school will calculate the time spent on the permitted activities at the flat rate of £25 per person, per hour. This means that the appropriate limit will be exceeded if it would require more than 18 hours work.
Rainford C E Primary School has adopted a Publication Scheme (see below) in accordance with Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act and is committed to updating and maintaining it to keep it current and relevant. The Publication Scheme contains many of the documents, policies, plans and guidance which are regularly asked for. Material contained within the publication scheme, and a copy of the scheme itself, will be readily available. Where charges are applied these will be stated in the Scheme. The scheme can be accessed in school on request. School staff will give advice and assistance on how to use the scheme as appropriate.
Relationship with GDPR 2018
Rainford C E Primary School is under a legal duty to protect personal data under GDPR 2018. We will carefully consider our responsibilities under this Act before releasing personal information about living individuals, including current and former employees and pupils.
Responsibilities
Rainford C E Primary School has a responsibility to make information available in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act. Responsibility for compliance with this and related policies will rest with the Governing Body who have delegated these responsibilities to the Head Teacher. Complaints regarding the use of this policy should be directed to the Governing Body.
All School staff have a responsibility to ensure that any request for information they receive is dealt with under the Act and in compliance with this policy. They are also responsible for good information handling practice and for implementing records, management policies and procedures as appropriate to their post.
Contact Details
For advice and assistance please contact the Head Teacher.
Further advice and information about the Freedom of Information Act, including full details of exemptions and advice on the public interest test, is available from the Information Commissioner’s website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Publication Scheme
Rainford C E Primary School’s Publication Scheme on information available under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 is detailed below.
The governing body is responsible for maintenance of this scheme.
1. Introduction: What a publication scheme is and why it has been developed?
One of the aims of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) is that public authorities, including all maintained schools, should be clear and proactive about the information they will make public. To do this we must produce a publication scheme, setting out:
O The classes of information which we publish or intend to publish;
O The manner in which the information will be published; and
O Whether the information is available free of charge or on payment.
The scheme covers information already published and information which is to be published in the future. All information in our publication scheme is on our website to download and print off or is available in paper form. Some information which we hold may not be made public, for example personal information. This publication scheme conforms to the model scheme for schools approved by the Information Commissioner.
2. Categories of information published
The publication scheme guides you to information which we currently publish (or have recently published) or which we will publish in the future. This is split into categories of information known as ‘classes’. These are contained in section 6 of this scheme. The classes of information that we undertake to make available are organised into three broad topic areas:
O Information relating to the school and governing body – information published on the school website and in other governing body documents.
O Pupils & Curriculum – information about policies that relate to pupils and the school curriculum.
O School Policies and other information related to the school – information about policies that relate to the school in general.
3. How to request information
If you require a paper version of any of the documents within the scheme, please contact the school by telephone, email, fax or letter. Contact details are set out below:
Address: Rainford C E Primary School, Cross Pit Lane, Rainford, Merseyside, WA11 8AJ
Phone: 01744 883281
Fax: 01744 886495
Email: rainfordp@sthelens.org.uk
To help us process your request quickly, please clearly mark any correspondence “PUBLICATION SCHEME REQUEST” If the information you’re looking for isn’t available via the scheme, you can still contact the school to ask if we have it.
4. Paying for information
Information published on our website is free, although you may incur costs from your Internet Service provider. If you don’t have Internet access, you can access our website using a local library or an Internet café.
If your request means that we have to do a lot of photocopying or printing, or pay a large postage charge, or is for a priced item such as some printed publications, cds or dvds we will let you know the cost before fulfilling your request. Where there is a charge this will be indicated on the Guide to Information Available table.
5. Classes of Information Currently Published
Information related to the school and other information relating to the governing body – this section sets out information published and in other governing body documents.
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Instrument of Government |
o The name of the school o The category of the school o The name of the governing body o The manner in which the governing body is constituted o The term of office of each category of governor o The name of anybody entitled to appoint any category of governor o Details of any trust o If the school has a religious character, a description of the ethos o The date the instrument takes effect |
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Minutes of meeting of the governing body and its committees |
Agreed minutes of meetings of the governing body and its committees [current and last full academic school year] Some information might be confidential or otherwise exempt from the publication by law – we cannot therefore publish this. |
Pupils & Curriculum Policies – this section gives access to information about policies that relate to
Pupils and the school curriculum. Paper copies are provided on request.
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Home – school agreement |
Statement of the school’s aims and values, the school’s responsibilities, the parental responsibilities and the school’s expectations of its pupils for example homework arrangements |
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Curriculum Policy |
Statement detailing how the National Curriculum is taught throughout the school. |
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Sex & Relationships Policy |
Statement of policy with regard to sex and relationship education |
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Special Education Needs Policy |
Information about the school's policy on providing for pupils with special educational needs |
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Equality Policy |
Statement of policy for promoting equality |
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Collective Worship |
Statement of arrangements for the required daily act of collective worship |
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Accessibility Plans |
Plan for increasing participation of disabled pupils in the school’s curriculum, improving the accessibility of the physical environment and improving delivery of information to disabled pupils. |
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Child Protection Policy |
Statement of policy for safeguarding and promoting welfare of pupils at the school (Whole School Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy). |
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Behaviour & Discipline Policy |
Statement of general principles on behaviour and discipline and of measures taken by the head teacher to prevent bullying |
School Policies and other information related to the school – this section gives access to information about policies that relate to the school in general.
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Published reports of Ofsted referring expressly to the school |
Published report of the last inspection of the school and, where appropriate, inspection reports of religious education in those schools designated as having a religious character |
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Charging and Remissions Policies |
A statement of the school’s policy with respect to charges and remissions for any optional extra or board and lodging for which charges are permitted, for example school publications, music tuition, trips |
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School session times and term dates |
Details of school session and dates of school terms and holidays |
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Health and Safety Policy and Risk Assessment |
Statement of general policy with respect to health and safety at work of employees (and others) and the organisation and arrangements for carrying out the policy |
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Complaints procedure |
Statement of procedures for dealing with complaints |
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Staff Appraisal |
Statement of procedures adopted by the governing body relating to the appraisal of staff and the annual report of the Head Teacher on the effectiveness of appraisal procedures. |
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Staff Conduct, Capability and Grievance |
Statement of procedure for regulating conduct and capability of school staff and procedures by which staff may seek redress for grievance |
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Pay Policy |
Statement of the school’s policy regarding teachers’ pay including procedures for determining teachers’ grievances in relation to pay. |
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Staffing Structure |
The School’s plan for the implementation of any changes to its staffing structure following statutory review. |
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Curriculum circulars and statutory instruments |
Any statutory instruments, departmental circulars and administrative memoranda sent by the Department of Education and Skills to the Head Teacher or governing body relating to the curriculum. |
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Admission Policy |
Statement of the school’s policy on admissions. |
7. Feedback and Complaints
We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have about the scheme. If you want to make any comments about this publication scheme or if you require further assistance or wish to make a complaint then initially this should be addressed to the Headteacher.
If you are not satisfied with the assistance that you get or if we have not been able to resolve your complaint and you feel that a formal complaint needs to be made then this should be addressed to the Information Commissioner’s Office. This is the organisation that ensures compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and that deals with formal complaints. They can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Or
Enquiry/Information Line: 01625 545 700
E Mail: publications@ic-foi.demon.co.uk.
Website : www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
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Information to be published |
How the information can be obtained |
Cost |
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Class 1 – Who we are and what we do (Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts) This will be current information only |
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Who’s who in the school |
Website |
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Who’s who on the governing body and the basis of their appointment |
Website |
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Instrument of Governance |
Website in School |
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Contact details for the Head Teacher and for the governing body |
Website |
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School Prospectus |
Website |
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Staffing Structure |
Available on request |
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School session times and term dates |
Website |
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Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it (Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) Current and previous financial year as a minimum |
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Annual budget plan and financial statements |
Available on request |
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Capitalised funding |
Available on request |
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Additional funding |
Available on request |
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Procurement and projects |
Available on request |
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Pay Policy |
Available on request |
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Staffing and grading structure |
Available on request |
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Governors’ allowances |
Available on request |
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Class 3 – What our priorities are how and how we are doing (Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews) Current information as a minimum |
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Latest OFSTED Report |
Website |
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Appraisal Policy and procedures adopted by the governing body |
Available on request |
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Schools future plans |
Available on request |
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Policies and Procedures |
Available on request or Website |
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Class 4 – How we make decisions (Decision making processes and records of decisions) Current and previous three years as a minimum |
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Admissions policy/decisions (not individual admission decisions) |
Website |
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Agenda of meetings of the governing body and its sub-committees |
Hard Copy in School |
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Minutes of meetings (as above) |
Hard Copy in School |
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Class 5 – Our Policies and Procedures (Current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) Current information only |
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Finance & Personnel policies including: • Charges & Remission • Complaints Procedure • Conduct • DBS • Finance • Flexible Working Requests • Freedom of Information • Governors Allowances • Grievance • Information sharing and confidentiality • Maximising Attendance & Managing Sickness Absence • Maternity • Maternity & Adoption Support Leave • Staff Performance & Capability Issues • Pay • Performance Management & Staff Appraisal • Recruitment & Selection • Redundancy • School Financial Value Statement • Staff Leave & Absence • Statement of Procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against staff • Volunteer Helpers • Whistle blowing |
Website or available on request |
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Curriculum policies including: • Administration of Medicines • Admissions • Anti-Bullying • Children in Care • Children missing Education • Child Protection/Safeguarding • Curriculum Statement incl Homework and Collective Worship • Early Years Foundation Stage |
Website or available on request |
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• English as an additional language • Equality • E-safety • Exclusions • Governor Visits • Home/School Agreement • Intimate care of pupils • Management of Outdoor Educational Visits and Off Site Activities • Positive Handling • Pupil Premium Statement • Pupil Discipline incl Self Esteem & Positive Behaviour and Setting Standards of Acceptable Behaviour • SEND and Inclusion |
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Premises policies including: • Accessibility Plan • Emergency Procedure and Management Plan • Health & Safety including Risk Assessments • Lettings • Security incl Lone Workers |
Website or available on request |
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Records management and personal data policies including: • Information security policies • Records retention, destruction and archive policies • Data Protection (including information sharing policies) |
Website or available on request |
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Charging regimes and policies This includes details of any statutory charging regimes. Charging policies include charges made for information routinely published. It clearly states what cost are to be recovered, the basis on which they are made and how they are calculated. |
Website or available on request |
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Class 6 – Lists and Registers Currently maintained lists and registers only |
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Curriculum circulars and statutory instruments |
Website or available on request |
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Asset register |
Available on request |
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Any information the school is currently legally required to hold in publicly available registers (THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ATTENDANCE REGISTER or registers that would disclose personal details of third party information)
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Hard Copy in School |
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Class 7 – The services we offer (Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public and businesses) Current information only |
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Extra-curricular activities |
Website |
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Out of school clubs |
Website |
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School Publications |
Website |
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Services for which the school is entitled to recover a fee, together with those fees |
Available on request |
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Leaflets, books and newsletters |
Available on request or Website |
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SCHEDULE OF CHARGES
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TYPE OF CHARGE |
DESCRIPTION |
BASIS OF CHARGE |
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Disbursement Cost |
Photocopying/Printing per sheet (black & white) |
Actual cost* |
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Photocopying/Printing per sheet (colour) |
Actual cost* |
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Postage |
Actual cost of Royal Mail standard 2nd class |
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Statutory Fee |
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In accordance with relevant legislation |
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Other |
Purchase Cost of Publications, DVD’s etc
Dvds |
Actual Cost* |
*the actual cost incurred by the School