The main points of legislation covering confidentiality is that the information of a child should not be shared with other people or agencies who has no relevance or right to access it unless it is agreed previously and an agreement or consent has been signed by a parent or guardian. These information are usually directly relevent such as the child’s health and medical records, records from previous schools and records for children with special education needs. The school’s policies and procedures should be followed always regarding confidetiality and sharing information and it’s vital that we read and are fully aware of it’s content.

Under the data protection act 1998 any organization who holds information on individuals should be registered with the data protection commission. According to the data protection act 1998 the schools should comply with eight principles of good practice when processing personal information. These principles include that the information should be fairly and lawfully processed and only be used for the purpose which it is gathered. The data should be adequate, relevant and not excessive and must be accurate and kept up to date. The school needs to inform the information commissioner about the the data being held. If the stuation of a child changes it must be updated. Information should not be kept longer than necessary and should be processed with accordance to the individual rights. It should be kept secure and should not be transferred to countries without adequate protection.

There could be instances where parents or carers may talk to to us about their problems or share details about their families or a work colleague may disclose information about a particular pupil, to help us understand about the situation or the person so that we could provide support more effectively. In such circumstances we should never pass on the information to anyone. For children with special education needs SENCO will co-ordinate additional support whilst liaising with parents, teachers and other professionals who are involved with the child directly so that the necessary support can be provided to the child. Nevertheless under exceptional circumstances where we think that a child is in danger or at risk we could make a decision to pass on the information but only to safeguard the welfare of the child and by having the best interest of the child at heart.