Technology & Innovation - Issue 12

Data without THE DRAMA Elliott Lewis presents an IT leader’s guide to achieving GDPR mastery... P icture this – your school’s data ecosystemhums like a well-tuned server room. Dashboards glow, strategy meetings run on evidence and teachers have all the insights they need to make every lesson count. Then someone mentions GDPR, and suddenly, the room feels a little colder... If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Compliance can feel like a bureaucratic labyrinth, but for IT decision-makers it’s also a chance to lead. It provides an opportunity to show how rigorous protection and real-world access can, in fact, happily coexist. Culture first, tech second GDPR success isn’t solely about the use of clever tools; it’s about adopting the right culture and mindset. When every staff member, from governors to classroom assistants, understands their role as a data custodian , the risk curve flattens. Regular training, clear privacy notices and leaders who model best practice create a ‘compliance reflex’, where doing the right thing becomes routine. Consider onboarding. A new staff member’s first week is often a blur of lesson plans and logins. Slip GDPR training into that moment, and you’ll set expectations early. The use of short, scenario-based sessions – ‘ What would you do if you received a pupil’s medical record by mistake? ’ – can make the rules both tangible and memorable. That said, don’t stop after week one. Quarterly refreshers – ideally built around recent real-world incidents – will help to keep the subject alive. A 5-minute segment during staff meetings – ‘Breach of the Month’ or ‘Privacy Pitfall Spotlight’ – could help to reinforce lessons, without coming across like another compliance lecture. Securitymeets accessibility Locking information in a digital vault is pointless if no one can use it. Well-planned, role-based permissions will let teachers view only what they genuinely need, while safely affording broader access to safeguarding leads and IT admins. Imagine a science teacher who simply needs to retrieve attendance and grades data for their own classes. Compare that to a pastoral lead, who might be tracking wellbeing across different year groups. The difference in need is obvious, so make sure your access controls reflect that. Good governance means every click is justified. External sharing demands encryption and formal agreements, but those controls shouldn’t slow down teaching and learning. When a school nurse needs to exchange information with a healthcare provider, for example, a secure file- transfer platformwith automatic logging can ensure that the process is both swift and auditable. Even routine interactions – like emailing a spreadsheet to a supply teacher – require scrutiny. Is the file password- protected? Have addresses been double-checked? Small habits reduce big risks. Breach Response Is a TeamSport And yet, even the most secure networks can still suffer a breach – a lost laptop, a phishing email, a misaddressed attachment. The difference between a scare and a scandal is preparation. Your playbook should therefore cover the following five essentials: 1 Immediate reporting lines so that no one hesitates 2 A focus on containment to ensure breaches are rapidly controlled and minimised 3 Forensic investigation to pinpoint what happened and which records were touched 4 Clear criteria for notifying the Information Commissioner’s Office and affected individuals (within 72 hours in cases of high risk) 5 ‘Lessons learned’ meetings that turn each incident, large or small, into a catalyst for tighter controls Rehearse these steps like a fire drill. A short tabletop exercise once a termwill help staff to react calmly when the real thing hits. After one UK school ran such a drill, they discovered that their contact list for emergency notification hadn’t been updated in a year – a simple fix that might otherwise have caused a regulatory misstep. TheAI wildcard Automated grading, predictive analytics, personalised learning platforms – these are all revolutionising education and complicating privacy. So before rolling out any AI solution, interrogate it. Is the data processing necessary and proportionate? Have you completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)? Could a simpler tool achieve the same outcome? These checks aren’t just about legality. AI systems can inherit biases from the data they’re trained on. If an algorithm starts flagging ‘at risk’ pupils based on skewed historical patterns, you could face not just regulatory trouble but ethical scrutiny. Treat these questions as a “Thedifference between a scareanda scandal is preparation” 52 teachwire.net