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Hi, rang the college reception number and asked it it would be possible to speak to the Principal, wasn't able to speak to her but was able to speak the deputy Principal, managed to arrange a meeting with her for this Thursday, the SENCO and the safeguarding lead for Thursday. They originally suggested a zoom meeting due to covid but managed to agree an actual in person meeting at the college. Was told the principal will attend "if at all possible".

Got a call back from my daughter's specialist ASD and ADHD nurses, they advised the same as chestnuttree and said to deal with this data breach first and then deal with the exclusion appeal. They also said they would be happy to attend the exclusion appeal meeting.

Have called the police again on the non emergency number and have been told that somebody will come out to see us tonight (yesterday they just said at some point today. Will ask the police if the college have committed any offence under the Computer Misuse Act and/or Data Protection Act. Will show the police the emails where the college refuse to give me information regarding what was disclosed and who by.

windfalls, will try and get in touch with a solicitor tomorrow. Will ring AUK either in a bit or tomorrow.

Serrakunda27, exactly! That's what annoys me is that they will just take birth mum’s word. I would go down to the college and ask to speak to the principal however the SENCO said the following when I hinted (never directly said I would) I might:

"As xxx (my daughter) is currently excluded, neither you nor her must enter onto our site without a pre planned meeting/appointment."

chestnuttree, will ask if someone from the police may be able to attend the meeting on Thursday. I have already made them aware that there is no way they have this situation "under control". Will ask them if they have reported this incident themselves to the ICO as well.

After I spoke to the deputy principal on the phone she did email me the safeguarding and child at risk policy. And did manage to get her direct phone number for her office desk!

I did ask the deputy principal if she would be willing to provide me with details of what was disclosed to birth mum, she said she didn't have the information on hand there and then while she was on the phone but said she would do absolutely everything she could to get it to me before the end of the day tomorrow and apologised for how the SENCO and the rest of the team have handled this matter!

When I first rang the deputy principal she hadn't even been made aware of the data breach Incident so said she would look into and it and call me back as a matter of urgency, she called me back about an hour later when she had spoken to the SENCO and the other staff involved. According to the deputy principal, the principal was currently in a meeting but the deputy principal said she will speak to her as soon as possible and see if she can attend the meeting on Thursday.

One thing ... lots of people watch stuff like Long Lost Families and still believe that adoption is about babies being torn from loving but stigmatised single mothers. There’s still an awful lot of ignorance about the realities of modern day adoption - this might not be a factor here ... but on the other hand something to bear in mind maybe

Will bear that in mind! Thank you.

The deputy sounds a bit more on the ball, I bet there are a lot of headless chickens running round now.

It will be very illuminating to know how on earth they found the contact details, who obtained them and why they looked in the first place

Do you think the birth parents could have tracked you down and contacted the school

It may simply be that the birth parents' details were never deleted from your daughter's school records and definitely should be sorted out as a matter of priority. I agree that this is a serious GDPR breach and in the NHS it is a major disciplinary matter and I'm guessing it's the same for the education sector.

It is quite shocking that the SENCO and safeguarding officers of all people seem to be particularly clueless.

It wouldn't surprise me if the principal knows nothing about this and that it was the Senco herself who disclosed the information and is now on a massive bum covering exercise, trying to contain it all and fob you off - seems fishy that she has been given the " authority" to deal with such a serious breach of confidentiality by the principal.

The police have been out to see us, discussed everything and discussed that birth mum is a risk. They've placed a marker on our house. Said that if anyone comes to our door and we don't know them and they don't work for a organisation (royal mail, British gas etc) then we are to call 999. I did ask if they think the college has committed an offence under the Computer Misuse Act and/or Data Protection Act.

Serrakunda27- yes the deputy seems more on the ball. I agree it will be illuminating to find out how they got details of birth family and why they tried to find them in the first place. I hadn't thought of that, but how could they have tracked us down and how would they have known what college she goes to!

Kazzie- it could be that but when we adopted she was just under 3.

chestnuttree- yes it is shocking that they seem to be particularly clueless!

windfalls- the more I think about that the more I think that's what has happened! Surely if the principal couldn't contact us herself then she would at the very least have asked the deputy principal or the head of safeguarding to contact us?

Thank you so much!

We did also speak to the police about getting a restraining order in case birth family know where we live etc.

This my to do list for tomorrow:

Find a solicitor that offers the first 30 minutes free and get advice from them.

Report this incident to Ofsted.

Call AUK for advice.

As birth family are a risk would it be worth trying to get in touch with the adoption agency and also social services? Or do you think there's going to be nothing they can do?

Is there anything I've missed from this list that I need to do tomorrow before the meeting on Thursday?

Sorry I'm just so stressed and worried.

Thank you so much.

Yes I would contact the adoption agency and social services. Someone outside college has given that information to them. Surely the potential sources are limiited? Thats a key question isnt it - who gave then the information. The more you unpick this, the stranger it gets. Presumably only your name is on the school record because she wasn’t at school before you.

Hopefully when the SENCO sees how seriously the police are taking this and the legal measures you are considering, she will realise she hasn’t quite got it under control and the implications of what has happened, I would also go to the governors, I would go through those policies line bt line and highlight where there has been a breach. There is so much wrong here. And yes for someone it may mean disciplinary action against them

A last thought - is there any way your daughter has found them herself ?

You are doing great!

Call the ICO and tell them about the situation. Find out the exact rules for schools and what they should have done once this breach became clear. Find out what your rights are and if the school can withhold information. If not, what should you do?

Make sure to mention your conversations with the police, the ICO and the solicitor in the meeting with the school.

Serrakunda27- contact the adoption agency and social services. The only other source I can think of would be if one of the staff at college know any member of birth family. I'm as sure as i can be that my daughter hasn't tracked down or contacted her birth family. I will try and get in contact with the governors tomorrow. Will go through through the polices tomorrow and highlight where there has been a breach.

chestnuttree- will call the ICO again tomorrow and ask them how the college should be handling this and if the college can withhold information. I will mention your conversations with the police, the ICO and the solicitor in the meeting with the college on Thursday.

Going to be a busy day tomorrow sorting all of this out before the meeting on Thursday!

I'm as sure as i can be that my daughter hasn't tracked down or contacted her birth family. Would it be a good idea to directly ask her tomorrow morning if she has contacted/been in touch with her birth family?

I've had a look at her phone etc. And as far as I can see she hasn't been in touch with her birth family.

Sending hugs. Sounds as though you are dealing with a whole set of tangles here.

I have a daughter with ASD/ADHD and her college was a nightmare too. Just a big bureaucratic mess, with the occasional frazzled tutor who couldn't help much. Vulnerable pupils were simply excluded and re-enrolled on different courses. Overstretched support service....

In colleges, you can start to lose parental influence earlier than in schools. Colleges deal with students of 16+ so they are well on the path of treating children as adults.

I would guess that other students or teenage contacts may have offered to find birth family - it's a popular offer, everyone likes to be a detective. It may possibly turn out that your daughter has been been involved somehow in the birth family email appearing on the school records. As a 16 year old, they fill in stuff for themselves. I'm only speculating here, but I do think it is worth you thinking through this scenario, before you go in all guns blazing with either college or your daughter.

Regarding the police, it's well worth asking them to list your daughter as a "vulnerable young person" at this stage. As she turns 17 and 18 you will find more and more difficulty in advocating for her due to data protection requiring organisations to not pass on details to parents. I've found that a police listing as "vulnerable" can sometimes help.

Hi, sorry I'm trying to sort everything out for the meeting tomorrow. I'll update later.

Lettice- I hadn't thought of that maybe other students or teenagers have offered to find birth family. Will ask my daughter about that when she has finished her Princess Trust for the day later. Maybe she provided it to the college and that's how it got on her record,but she insists she doesn't know any contact details etc. for birth family. I'm not going to go in all guns blazing and if my daughter was involved somehow in the birth family email appearing on the school records then obviously I won't be as angry at the college than I am right now.

Will speak to the police about getting her listed as a vulnerable young person.

Sorry if anything in my last post came across as rude, I'm just stressed trying to sort everything before the meeting tomorrow.

This sounds a lot like you're being fobbed off. I've worked in both schools and colleges. At 16, the contact details would have been taken from the original application form which would have been signed by the parent/carer. There is a database showing contact details and any other information. Any requests to change contact details would have to be made formally - it couldn't just be changed or added to by an individual teacher on a whim after a conversation with the young person. If a young person requested a change it should raise alarm bells, especially if the young person is vulnerable or, as in your case, adopted. Whether or not your daughter provided the details, it is still a serious safeguarding issue.

Hi, managed to call a solicitors that offers the first 30 minutes free. He's calling me tomorrow morning (the meeting with the college is in the afternoon).

Haven't managed to call Ofsted yet.

I did manage to contact the adoption agency and social services, they both say they haven't spoke with the college regarding my daughter and haven't given the college any details for my daughter's birth family.

Called the ICO again and they say the college should be informing me exactly what details were disclosed to birth family.

I've spoke to my daughter again and she insists that she hasn't got any contract details for birth family and hasn't tried to find them and hasn't asked anyone to track them down for her.

Calypso - as you said I singed the original application form. So if the college did change or add birth families details onto the database then should I have been informed first?

Thank you so much.

Is it worth reporting the incident to Ofsted? Or do Ofsted only inspect schools and not colleges?