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Explain the importance of reassuring children, young

people and adults of the confidentiality of shared

information and the limits of this

Confidentiality, and the issues around it, can be a difficult area to understand in

practice, so it is really important that schools have a confidentiality policy that makes

clear to parents, pupils and staff the limits of confidentiality at school, and also the

protocols that make up the framework for the use and sharing of confidential

information.

Sometimes young people share more with teachers and support staff than they do

with their parents, and again, the limits of confidentiality should always be made

clear to them before they start, so that they can then make an informed decision as

to whether or not they wish to share with you.

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Gathering information In any situation where information is gathered, the reason for its collection must be

made clear, and it should also be clarified that no information will be used for anything

other than the purpose for which it was collected. If parents or children need

reassurance on this matter, they should be referred to the confidentiality policy in the

first instance, and it should also be pointed that it is unlawful to use the information

in any other way. When people know their rights in a situation, it empowers them, so

informing them of their rights around confidentiality is a positive practice that can help

their understanding.

Parental consent Although some older children may be legally able to agree to information about them

being shared with relevant others, such as external professionals, in most cases,

parental consent will be required. This means that parents must be informed as to

why the information is needed, and how it will be used. Again, knowledge is power,

and this way, if parents can see that the information has been used in an alternative

way, they are then empowered to act against that.

All staff aware Sometimes private information about a pupil will need to be shared with all staff in a

school, just for the pupil's safety. For example, if a pupil has epilepsy or severe

asthma. The confidentiality policy should cover the protocols around this, and every

school should have a tried-and-tested system of sharing this information in such a way

that all staff know it without anyone else knowing it too. An example of this might be

through staff email.

Limits to confidentiality It is important to understand the difference between absolute confidentiality and

limited confidentiality. There are few circumstances at school where absolute

confidentiality would be possible. This is because 'absolute' refers to the fact that it

would be keeping a secret, no matter what happened. The real world situation is that

nearly no secret between a child or a parent, and a member of school staff can be

considered to be absolute, since staff have a legal duty to disclose confidential

information to relevant parties if keeping the secret places the child at risk to

maltreatment, abuse or other vulnerable situation. In some cases, the school will have

a legal duty to disclose information.

Where the information is shared, the person to whom it is relevant (e.g. the child who

made the disclosure) must be informed as to with whom it is being shared, how, and

why.