do they take this data protection thing too far?

Deals_2

i am a mum who organises mums meet ups from the school to keep everyone aware of what is happening etc. however when i call up the school to say i need telephone/email numbers for the governors to contact them - we have to keep waiting until they get in touch with us as because of data protection! At nursery I asked the nursery if we could get some numbers (i put also some notes in mums bags but not everyone is good at socialising etc) which meant that i never got anyone 's number to stay in touch for my daughter or for my purpose!!

1) what are your thoughts on this data protection thing? has this gone too far? i can get hold of my MP via website, letter , email but cannot main people at my daughter's school! (though not sure if anything done on the MP side!!!)

2) Easier ways of getting in touch with mums from the school etc. any tips appreciated.


thanks in advance

Errata

In some areas there are some governors whom some parents would call on uninvited if they knew where they lived.

Some mums whose children attend nursery may not wish other mums to have their contact details in case it was passed onto others.

Some mums may have violent ex partners and they need to be confident their contact details are held securely.

These are some of the reasons why data is protected.

ChasingButterflies

Re getting contact details for other parents within class.

At the start of the school year one clever mum asked the teacher to pop a note in all the childrens homework bags. It was along the lines of "I am trying to put together a class list with contact details for Junior 1, please e-mail me if you wish your details to be included on the list". Once complied the list was passed to all parents via homework folders.

Most parents (but not all) replied. List covered, child's name, address, telephone numbers, parents names, email address and childs birthday. If there were things you didn't want to list then there was no need to - and it has been quite handy.

tbh I can see why the school govenors wouldn't want their details to be available to everyone (although I am under the impression that they volunteer) Your MP is different, you pay for them, they work (in theory) for you, so they should be easily contactable.

hth

Krystaltips

If someone asks me for someone elses number I always offer to pass on a message for that person to call... Not for data protection reasons but pure courtessy. I wouldn't want people handing my number out to just anybody...

Could you not hang around at the nursery and ask people for their numbers as the collect / drop off children? That gives them the opportunity to decline if they wish.

Reggie_Rebel

MP's a paid a chuffing big salary to serve us. School Governers are not.

That is why there is and should be a difference in making contact with them.

To be honest it sounds like what you are trying to do is the role of the Home School Association/PTA. Does your school have one? If not that is probably your best route

bunty109

I'm a school governor and I wouldn't be overly happy if the school just passed my number on to anyone who asked (and they wouldn't!): I'd like some choice over who I give my ex-directory number to and if something is an emergency the school are able to get hold of me pretty quickly.

I appreciate you are organising things for mums and children but there will always be people who aren't interested and I think an "opt-in" scheme where they choose to give you their number is better than the School just handing it out; data protection or no data protection.

gairlochgal

Yes I'm a governor too and have had a parent arrive on my doorstep shouting. In this case she knew me so no data protection issue but I wouldn't be happy for my details to be freely available.

oystercatcher

I joined one of the school parent support groups, gave my name and address for them to contact me.
I was absolutely furious when they then sent everybody on the list a list of everybodys details , name, address, phone number , names and ages of children, e-mail address.

a) as a healthcare professional I like to keep my personal details private, I could end up with patients phoning me at home at all hours of day and night....they think they are the only pregnant woman in the locality and MUST have advice NOW!!

b) this information could easily get into the hands of rather undesirable people.

I complained to the school and refused to join any more parent groups !

Many people have reasons for not wanting their personal information shared and it is totally unacceptable to pass it on.

Oystercatcher

onlyroz

Rather than obtaining numbers and addresses of parents (and I would probably not want to give my own number or address out) why not produce a newsletter detailing events and hand that out instead? I'm sure that the school/nursery staff would be much happier handing out a newsletter than they would with handing out personal details - and I think the parents would find it less intrusive too.

Gingham_Ribbon

I don't think the data protection act goes far enough to be honest - it's a regular gripe of mine.

However, re school meets etc, there are a couple of options. You can put a poster up at the door advertising a meet and hand out flyers in the playground (or ask the class teacher if she'd mind doing it as the parents arrive to collect their children.)

Or you can ask for a note to go in the school bulletin asking people who want to be kept informed of events to contact you with their email addresses or phone numbers. (It's worth putting a sheet up where people are invited to add their names and numbers and I know places where that has been very successful, but some people would be happy to pass their details on to one or two people, but not to have them up on a wall for anyone to see.)

I would not be happy with my details being passed to ANYONE without my consent, and I think the governors should be contactable but only through school channels to be honest.

Savvy_Sue

Years ago, I know a couple of mums from the PTA were able to have a list of parents' names from the Reception class so that they could write a personally addressed letter to all the 'new' parents. However, I then heard them commenting on how few parents had the same surname as their children. Which might have demonstrated an interesting social trend, but was, frankly, none of their business.

The best - actually the only effective way! - to get parents involved is to go right up to them and say "Hi, I'm Savvy_Sue, my sons are X and Y in such and such a class. We're having a get together on this day next week at that time for coffee, biccies and a chat about how what's going on at school, would you like to come?"

And then when they come - as a few will - make sure that all the 'old hands' stop chatting to the people they know already and introduce themselves to the people they don't know / don't know so well. Then you share your ideas for events at school (because I assume that's the kind of thing you're talking about!), LISTEN to what other people are saying, and let them try things out even if

• you've done them before and they didn't work
• you haven't done them before and you don't think they will work
• you don't like the idea personally

If you don't offer that personal touch you will be perceived as an exclusive clique (even if you're not).

As for the governors, I would recommend a personal note to each of them saying how pleased parents would be if they could come to your next meeting on ... and ask the school to pass them on. Do it every time! You could do this by email for the school to forward, but a personal note will speak volumes. Give your phone number and say they can contact you.

And bear in mind many governors are professional people with daytime jobs and not a lot of time to spare. I know that's the case for many mums, too, but my point is that they may have set aside a certain amount of time for their Governor's meetings and activities directly linked to that (subgroups etc) BUT not a lot of time for coming to every event at school or events to talk about events, IYSWIM.