What would you do.....

[Upsy Daisy]

...if you had made a subject access request on behalf of your child under the Data Protection Act to the school they attend and you're pretty sure they haven't sent you a lot of the information they have on file?

 

I asked for everything held on any file in or for the school including but not limited to electronically held, handwritten and printed information, emails, minutes of meetings, informal notes, etc.

 

Should I assume they have shredded things they don't want to share with me?

 

The whole school ethos seems to be 'make it look like you're doing your job and lie through your teeth if anyone notices anything untoward'.

[sunnyday]

Oh no Upsy........

 

I can't possibly read and run - but goodness knows what you can do ........ ask again I suppose, tell them that you don't think that they have responded appropriately (or honestly) to your request........

 

So sorry not to be able to be of any real help x

[Froglet]

I don't really know what the answer is but if there is something specific you think should be there and isn't could you ask for that? Or is it just a gut feeling that you're not getting everything?

[Rea]

Nothing to add, its hard to prove a negative isnt it? :huh:

[Inge]

Not good.... have you tried the other agencies involved to get the same from them.. may cost you for them to do it but think there is a max they can charge.. it may highlight any differences or holes in information.

 

Governors... is that the next step of escalation...

 

to physically see all the records on your child not just the copies ..going into school to see them... did that for ours sons medical records (not for a bad reason just needed info and it was faster than getting copies sent) but may be different for those against school ones..

[Stargrower]

I agree with Inge. I'd go into the school and ask to see original copies of everything. Although I suppose that isn't a solution if you think they have shredded stuff... I do hope you get a good outcome in the end.

[Upsy Daisy]

Thanks everyone. I can't wait ti get her out of this school!

 

I have found a template letter which I can use to tell this I suspect they haven't sent everything but, like others have said, I have no proof.

[HappyMaz]

If you could find something specific that you know is missing it would help - so following the trail of emails and the chain of letter correspondence, and ensuring every one mentioned is actually there, then I think you could easily suggest that not everything has been made available to you.

 

I would have thought this kind of thing would be included in an FAQ on a website somewhere. So sorry they're not playing by the rules, Upsy. Although frankly I'm not that surprised. :angry:

[Upsy Daisy]

I will go through tomorrow and find the best examples I can.

 

There are hundreds of emails missing, reports from SALT and specialist teachers, letters I know the community paediatrician wrote to them, no minutes or notes from most of the meetings I had with them, no home/school diaries although they were used for three years, the list gets bigger the more I think about it.

 

I have to confess to being slightly surprised that they have been this blatant!

[HappyMaz]

The template letter on the website does look like it will be your best bet - and it does suggest you make a list of the specific things you know are missing, and you're interested in.

 

I reckon this is a stalling tactic - they'll know the system very well and will know that you have to follow the process. At which point they'll say 'oh sorry, we made a mistake' and then stuff will magically appear. I'm not sure what they hope to gain from this, except maybe they have engaged in a bit of shredding, or that they know they're going to get rapped over the knuckles and are putting off the day!

 

Nothing they do surprises me anymore! :angry: