Privacy Policy

  1.   WHAT IS A PRIVACY NOTICE & WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

We know your personal information is important to you and it is important to ‘The Carlow Academy’ too. This Privacy Notice tells you what we use your personal information for and explains your rights around how we use it. Please read this privacy notice to understand how and why we use your personal information.

If you give us personal information about someone else, please make sure you have their permission and make them aware of this Privacy Notice, as it also applies to them.

  1. WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND WHY

We use personal information to provide our service to students and parents. We must have a lawful basis to collect and use personal information. This is explained below:

*NEEDED FOR ATTENDANCE RECORDS

We need to collect and use your personal information in order to post or email out attendance records to you. This includes information such as your name, home address and email address.

*‘The Carlow Academy’ LEGITIMATE INTEREST

We collect information on each student’s date of birth and name of school. This is for market research purposes to gain intel on what age group and schools are most popular with the Academy.

*NEEDED FOR COMMUNICATION

We collect phone numbers of parents and students in order to keep them up to date on study times, absenteeism and changes happening in the day to day running of the study Academy. We also keep parents numbers on file in the event of an emergency.

*NEEDED IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY 

We collect information on all medical conditions of our students. This is only collected in order to be fully prepared in the event of an emergency or if any extra staff training is needed or extra student support.

  1. HOW AND WHERE DO WE GET YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM?

You provide us with your personal information when you contact us directly, complete forms, speak with us or visit our website, social media accounts and mobile apps.

  1. WHO DO WE PASS YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO?

To nobody

  1. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMAITON FOR?

For the length of time each student remains in the Academy

  1. WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

Ensure that data subjects are informed of their rights under the GDPR 

*The right to be informed 

You have a right to the information set out in this Privacy Notice. The most recent version of our Privacy Notice will always be accessible on our website at www.carlowacademy.ie. If we make any changes to the type of personal information we collect and/or how we use it we will inform you of the changes.
We have controls in place to protect your personal information and minimise the risk of security breaches. However should any breaches result in a high risk for you, we will inform you without undue delay.

*The right of access 

You have the right to know what personal information we hold about you and to receive a copy of your personal information.
We must tell you;
-Why we hold it,
-Who we pass it to,
-How long we keep it for,
-Where we get it from.
This does not allow you to access personal information about anyone else.

*The right to rectification 

You can ask us to correct and update personal information we hold about you.

*The right to be forgotten 

You can have your personal information deleted if it is incorrect, if it is no longer needed or has been processed unfairly or unlawfully.
If you have withdrawn consent you can ask for your personal information to be deleted.

*The right to restrict processing 

You can restrict or object to any unfair and unlawful collection or use of your personal information.
You can withdraw consent and object to, for example direct marketing.

*The right to data portability 

You can ask for a copy of all personal information that you gave us (including throughout your interactions with us), and which we hold in automated format. 

  1. COMPLAINTS

 If you do not think that we have processed your personal information in line with this privacy notice please contact us.

If you are not happy with how we have processed your personal information or handled your privacy rights, you can complain to the Data Protection Commissions by contacting them below:

  1. What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Contact forms

When you submit to our contact form we collect your name, e-mail, phone number and any other information you provide us with. We collect this information to allow us to process your request.

Gift Voucher Orders

When you submit an order we collect your name, address, e-mail, phone number and any other information you provide us with. We collect this information to allow us to process and ship your order.

Booking Form

When you submit to our booking form we collect your name, date of birth, address, education details, e-mail, phone number and any other information you provide us with. We collect this information to allow us to process your booking.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment. 

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics to monitor traffic on our website this data is anonymous. See the following link for more details on how Google uses your data. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en 

Who we share your data with?

We do not share your personal data with any third parties.

How long we retain your data?

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Personal data such as name, date of birth, address, education level and previous services with us, this information is kept for as long as students are a member of ‘The Carlow Academy’. Some students are repeat students year on year so the information is kept.

What rights you have over your data?

If you have an account on this website, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

  1. Additional information

How we protect your data

All student information and registration forms are kept in a folder which is locked in a filing cabinet and kept in a secure room. Any data submitted through this website is also stored on a password encrypted database. Only ‘The Carlow Academy’ tutors can access this data.

What data breach procedures we have in place?

We will inform all relevant parties within three days of detecting a data breach.

What automated decision making and/or profiling we do with user data?

We use anti-spam technology to block spam comments, reviews and e-mails

    

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

@ ‘The Carlow Academy’

Introduction
The Child Care Act (1991), Children’s Act 2001 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1992), enshrine in law the paramount principle of the welfare of children. They were designed to promote the welfare and protection of children (0 – 18 years). The Acts cover the rights and responsibilities of parents, the protection of children in emergencies, children in care, the supervision of pre-schools and the duty of the Health Service Executive (HSE) to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. In 2004 “Child Protection Guidelines for Post Primary Schools”, updated in 2011, was published by the Department of Health and Science and offers support and guidance to people who come into regular contact with children, and who are, therefore, in a position of responsibility in recognising and responding to possible child abuse. Legislative Basis for policy – Child Care Act 1991 – Children’s Act 2001 – Education Act 1998 – Education and Welfare Act 2000 – Protection for Persons Reporting Child Abuse 1998 – Freedom of Information Act 1997/2003 Copies of these acts can be found at http://www.education.ie. This Child Protection Policy is drawn up in conjunction with these acts and guidelines. At ‘The Carlow Academy’, the safety and protection of the child is of paramount importance in all situations.

General Purpose Statement

‘The Carlow Academy’ seeks to provide a safe and secure environment for the children who participate in our programmes and activities. By implementing the below practices, our goal is to protect the children of ‘The Carlow Academy’ from incidents of misconduct or inappropriate behaviour while also protecting our staff and volunteers (workers) from false accusations. 

Definitions

For purposes of this policy, the terms “Child” or “Children” include all persons under the age of eighteen (18) years old. The term “Worker” includes both paid and unpaid persons who work with children. The term “Volunteer” means anyone in a day care or school, in overnight activities involving minors, in counselling of minors, or in one-on-one mentoring of minors. 

Selection of Workers

All persons who desire to work with the children participating in our programmes and activities will be screened. This screening will include the following;

  1. Garda Vetting and Teaching Council number 
  2. Written Application – All persons seeking to work with children must complete and sign a written application in a form to be supplied by us. The application will request basic information from the applicant and will inquire into previous experience with children, reference and employment information, as well as the disclosure of any previous criminal convictions. The application form will be maintained in confidence
  3. Personal Interview – Upon completion of the application, a face to face interview may be scheduled with the applicant to discuss his/her suitability for the position.
  4. Reference Checks – Before the applicant is permitted to work with children, at least two of the applicants’ references will be checked. These references should be of an institutional   nature as opposed to personal or family references, preferably from organisations where the applicant has worked with children in the past. 

Responding To Allegations of Child Abuse

For purposes of this policy, “Child Abuse” is any action (or lack of action) that endangers or harms a child’s physical, psychological or emotional health and development. Child abuse occurs in different ways and includes the following; 

  1. Physical Abuse – any physical injury to a child that is not accidental, such as beating, shaking, and burns or biting.
  2. Emotional Abuse – emotional injury when the child is not nurtured or provided with love and security, such as an environment of constant criticism, belittling and persistent teasing.
  3. Sexual Abuse – any sexual activity between a child and an adult or between a child and another child at least 4 years older than the victim.
  4. Neglect – depriving a child of his/her essential needs, such as adequate food, water, shelter and medical care.

Supervisors may have the opportunity to become aware of abuse or neglect of the children under our care. In the event that an individual involved in the care of the children at ‘The Carlow Academy’ becomes aware of suspected abuse or neglect of a child under his/her care, this should be reported immediately to the Director of Education and Studies, Mr Niall Murphy, for further action and reported to the authorities as may be mandated by state law. Niall is a mandated person for TUSLA-Child and Family Agency.

In the event that an incident of abuse or neglect in alleged to have occurred at ‘The Carlow Academy’ or during our sponsored programmes or activities, the following procedure shall be followed;

  1. The parent/guardian of the child will be notified.
  2. The worker or member alleged to be the perpetrator of the abuse or misconduct will immediately be places on leave pending an investigation and instructed to remain away from the premises during the investigation. He or She should be instructed to have no contact with the victim or with witnesses.
  3. All allegations of abuse should be reported to the civil authorities, and the organisation will comply with the state’s requirements regarding mandatory reporting of abuse as the law then exists. The organisation will fully cooperate with the investigation of the incident by the authorities.
  4. The insurance company will be notified, and the organisation will complete an incident report. Any documents received relating to the incident and/or allegations will immediately be forwarded to the insurance company. 
  5. The advice of legal council will be sought before responding to media inquiries or releasing information about the situation to the public. All other representation of the organisation should refrain from speaking to the media.
  6. Any person who is not found innocent of the alleged abuse or misconduct will be removed from their position working with children or youth.

Open Door Policy

Classroom doors should remain open unless there is a window in the door or a side window beside it. Doors should never be locked while persons are inside the room.

Teenage Workers

We recognise that there may be times when we have work experience students (paid or volunteer) who are themselves under the age of 18 to assist in caring for children during programs or activities. The following guidelines apply to teenage workers;

  1. Must be at least aged 16 and be Garda Vetted
  2. Must be screened as specified above
  3. Must be under the supervision of an adult and must never be left alone with children

Check In/Check Out Procedure

A security check in/checkout procedure will be followed. The child will be signed in and signed out every day. We also adhere to keeping and updating daily attendance records which will be sent to parents at the end of every term or when requested.

Sick Child Policy

It is our desire to provide a healthy and safe environment for all of the children at ‘The Carlow Academy’. Parents are encouraged to be considerate of other children when deciding whether to place a child under our care. In general, children with the following symptoms should NOT be dropped off;

  • Fever, diarrhoea, or vomiting in the last 48 hours
  • Green or yellow runny nose
  • Eye or skin infections; and/or
  • Other symptoms of communicable or infectious disease 

Medications Policy

It is the policy of ‘The Carlow Academy’ not to administer either prescription or non-prescription medications to the children under our care. Medications should be administered by a parent at home. Parents are reminded about our Sick Child Policy. 

Exceptions to the Medications Policy may be granted to parents of children with potentially life-threatening conditions (such as asthma or severe allergic reactions). Parents of such children should address their situation with ‘The Carlow Academy’ to develop a plan of action. 

Restroom/Toilet Guidelines

For the protection of all, workers should never be alone with a child in a bathroom with the door closed and never be in a closed bathroom stall with a child.  

Accidental Injuries to Children

In the event that a youth or child is injured while under our care, the following steps should be followed;

  1. For minor injuries, scrapes, and bruises, workers will provide First Aid (band-aids, etc.) as appropriate and will notify the child’s parent or guardian of the injury at the time when the child is picked up from our care.
  2. For injuries requiring medical treatment beyond simple First Aid, the parent and/or guardian will immediately be summoned in additions to the worker’s supervisor. If warranted by circumstance, an ambulance will be called. 
  3. Once the child has received appropriate medical attention, an incident report will be completed in the case of injuries requiring treatment by a medical professional.

Training

‘The Carlow Academy’ will provide training on this Child Protection Policy to all new supervisors and will strive to provide opportunities for additional training classes or events on an annual basis. All workers are strongly encourages to attend these training events.

Child Protection Reporting Procedure

The Designated Liaison Person (DLP) to deal with Child Protection concerns in this organisation is Mr Niall Murphy. Should this person be absent, for whatever reason, the Deputy Designated Liaison Person (DDLP) is Mr Matthew Hughes. Niall and Matthew are both mandated persons for TUSLA.