Introduction
Apollo Nursery is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This privacy notice describes how we collect, use, and store personal information about children and parents or guardians, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
The Categories of Information We Collect
We collect, store, and use personal information about children attending our nursery and their parents or guardians. This includes:
Child's Personal Details: Name, date of birth, home address, attendance records, and unique pupil numbers.
Parent/Guardian Details: Names, contact numbers, email addresses, home addresses, and National Insurance numbers (for funding checks).
Characteristics & Funding: Special educational needs (SEN) details, ethnic background, language, and eligibility for funded childcare.
Health & Care Details: Medical conditions, dietary requirements, allergies, and medication records.
Safeguarding & Welfare: Professional intervention records, incident logs, and child protection notes where relevant.
Progress & Development: Learning journals, observations, developmental assessments, and educational photographs.
Why We Collect and Use This Information
We use this data to ensure the highest standards of early years care and compliance. Specifically, we use it to:
Support children's learning, development, and wellbeing.
Monitor and report on child progress under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework.
Provide appropriate medical care, administer first aid, and manage dietary restrictions.
Meet our legal obligations regarding statutory safeguarding and child welfare.
Claim early years funding entitlements from Kent County Council.
Maintain essential operational contact with parents regarding invoicing, emergencies, and nursery updates.
The Lawful Basis for Processing
Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases to process your information:
Legal Obligation: To comply with our statutory requirements under the EYFS framework, Childcare Act 2006, and Safeguarding regulations.
Public Task: To provide government-funded early years education.
Contractual Necessity: To fulfil our childcare agreement and terms of service with parents/guardians.
Consent: For optional activities, such as using specific promotional photographs or running non-essential digital applications.
Data Security and Sharing
We protect personal data through secure digital encryption, password-protected systems, and locked physical storage units. Access is strictly limited to authorised personnel.
We do not sell your personal data. We only share information with third parties when legally required or operationally essential, including:
Kent County Council: To process funding, administer early education grants, and report statutory data.
Ofsted: During regulatory inspections to demonstrate compliance with early years standards.
Health & Welfare Professionals: Including the NHS, health visitors, speech therapists, or social services when essential for child wellbeing.
Future Schools: Transition records shared with primary schools when your child leaves Apollo Nursery.
Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Most statutory early years records and safeguarding files are kept for a mandatory period in line with Local Authority retention schedules and national law.
Your Data Protection Rights
Under UK data protection law, parents and guardians have specific rights:
Right of Access: You can request copies of the personal data we hold about you or your child.
Right to Rectification: You can ask us to correct information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to Erasure: You can request the deletion of data when it is no longer required for legal or contractual duties.
Right to Object/Restrict: You have the right to object to or restrict certain types of data processing.
Contact and Complaints
If you have any questions, concerns, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact the Apollo Nursery management team directly at the setting in Lydden, Kent.
You also have the right to raise a formal complaint at any time with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at https://ico.org.uk.