This privacy policy sets out how Action Tutoring uses and protects any information that you provide us with when completing an online application form to become a volunteer tutor, as well as any further information we record relating to your active volunteering with us.
Action Tutoring is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy.
Action Tutoring may change this policy from time to time. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. The current version of this policy is effective from 19th January 2021.
How to get in contact
To contact us in relation to any of the information contained in this policy notice, or to pursue any of your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (further information below), please email: [email protected].
What information we record and use
We record and use the following information only if and when you apply to volunteer with us:
- name, occupation, contact details and postal address;
- demographic information such as your gender, date of birth and ethnicity (provided optionally);
- academic qualifications, experience, availability and volunteering preferences;
- indication of any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not “protected” as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013);
- other information directly relevant to volunteer applications or volunteering in schools.
If you are successful in applying to volunteer with us, we may record and use the following further information:
- your DBS status including its issue date and certificate number, and a copy of your certificate where relevant (see section on ‘How we process and use DBS checks);
- your volunteering history with us, and notes on your engagement and attendance at tutoring sessions;
- content of any feedback surveys, case studies or quotes you voluntarily provide;
- pupils you have worked with and academic topics covered in your sessions.
- video recordings of any sessions you deliver online.
Why we record and use this information
Action Tutoring considers the information we record and use to fall within the reasonable expectations and legitimate interests of individuals who voluntarily complete our online application and go on to volunteer with us. Information recorded from when you apply to volunteer with us is primarily used to assess your suitability as a volunteer in schools with the young people we specifically support, and for the following reasons:
- to meet our responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding;
- to ensure we are engaging and recruiting a diverse range of volunteers;
- to tailor our volunteering opportunities to your preferences and availability;
- to record your engagement on our tutoring programmes;
- to advertise location-specific volunteer opportunities and logistical information to you during your volunteer activities, as well as additional Action Tutoring-related communications (detailed in following section);
- to analyse and improve our programme delivery and impact.
Further information we record or request if you are successful in applying to volunteer with us may be used in order to:
- meet our responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding;
- record your engagement on our tutoring programmes;
- analyse and improve our programme delivery and impact.
How we process and use DBS checks
To meet our responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding, it is necessary for all our volunteer tutors to complete a full enhanced DBS check, of which Action Tutoring will cover the cost.
You will need to complete an initial online DBS application form, and then show us the necessary identification for a member of our team to complete your application. Completing the DBS application will involve providing some of your personal details to uCheck, and allowing Action Tutoring to take temporary copies of your ID documents, such as your passport or driving licence. These copies will be destroyed after your application is complete.
If your DBS certificate is clear, we will share your DBS certificate details with partner schools in order to meet our safeguarding responsibilities. If your DBS certificate has a caution or conviction, we will request further details from you in order to complete a risk assessment, which we will then ask you to approve as consent for us to share this information and a copy of your certificate with our partner schools.
Please note that once you have given permission for us to share details of a DBS certificate to a partner school, we cannot guarantee a school’s policy to securely store the information, or only retain the details for a limited time.
How we communicate with you using this information
Action Tutoring may contact you via email, phone text or post.
Aside from advertising volunteer opportunities and communicating logistical or safeguarding information to you, or inviting you to complete compulsory and optional training sessions during your volunteer activities (‘core communications’), Action Tutoring may periodically contact you via email or text with ‘additional communications’ if you consent to receiving these. You are able to specify which topics you would like to receive communications about, including:
- Our charity news and campaigns. Termly newsletters with news and updates on the charity and its work, as well as information about other ways to support us, including charity campaigns and fundraising activities.
- Additional tutor learning and development. Occasional emails with: News and research about education, inequality and volunteering; tips, resources and articles to help you improve as a tutor; information about events, surveys and focus groups, to aid our work and enrich your volunteering experience.
- Job and training opportunities. Occasional email alerts about job opportunities at Action Tutoring and our charity partners, including Teach First and Now Teach training opportunities or PGCE-related events (where interest is indicated in your application).
You are presented with a clear choice to opt into receiving any or all of these additional communications in your application form. If you decide at a later date that you no longer wish to receive these additional communications, our emails include clear and easy opportunities to opt-out of these additional communications, or you can also contact us at any time via email: [email protected]. You can also email us at this address if you would like no further contact from Action Tutoring entirely, including our core communications. Please allow five working days for us to process these requests.
After two years of inactivity, we will cease any further communication with you.
How we store, maintain and keep this information
We are committed to ensuring that your information is stored securely. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure it, including:
- the use of a limited access and password protected database;
- suitable cyber-security safeguards and best practices;
- secure and timely destruction of any additional digital or hard-copies of information beyond that which is recorded on our database.
Information is updated on an ongoing basis, as and when it is found to be inaccurate or when updated information is provided to us by individuals, without delay.
Information recorded at the volunteer application stage and during any voluntary activities with Action Tutoring may be retained on a long-term basis in order to:
- meet our responsibilities in relation to child protection and safeguarding;
- maintain a record of unsuccessful applications;
- maintain a record of individual requests to restrict further use or ‘processing’ of their personal information, or requests for Action Tutoring to cease contacting them, in order to respect these requests in future;
- to ensure we don’t accidentally duplicate information;
- to provide references for volunteers after they have volunteered with us.
The privacy policy of our online tutoring platform provider, Vedamo, can be found here.
Video recordings of online tutoring sessions are kept for approximately one full academic term after a programme of tutoring has finished.
You may also be requested to access further e-learning via an online platform called Looop. Their privacy policy can be found here.
If we share this information
Action Tutoring may use your information in an aggregated and anonymised format in order to undertake statistical analysis or share reports with third parties.
We may share some of your personal information, in an un-anonymised format, with our partner schools, in order to coordinate tutor-pupil pairings at your tutoring sessions. If your DBS is clear, we will share your DBS certificate details with partner schools in order to meet our safeguarding responsibilities. If your DBS is flagged, we will not share any details with our partner schools without your permission (see section on ‘How we process and use DBS checks’).
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to any other third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.
How to control your information
Action Tutoring is committed to accommodating your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, which include:
- Your right to be fully informed on how your information is processed by Action Tutoring. If you have any questions about the guidance provided in this policy notice, or would like further detail on specific sections, then please address your query to the contact details provided below.
- Your right to access the personal information Action Tutoring has recorded about you. If you require a copy of the personal data Action Tutoring has recorded about you, please make this request using the contact details provided in this notice and the information will be provided you in an electronic format as soon as possible, within one month at the latest. We will need to confirm your identity to provide this information.
- Your right to rectify the personal information Action Tutoring has recorded about you if it is inaccurate or incomplete. If you believe that any of the information we are holding is inaccurate or incomplete, please contact us as soon as possible using the contact details provided below. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
- Your right to erase the personal information Action Tutoring has recorded about you. You may request the deletion or removal of the personal data Action Tutoring has recorded about you where there is no compelling reason for it to be kept. We may need to retain some specific information recorded at the volunteer application stage and during any voluntary activities with Action Tutoring – for examples, see section: ‘How we store, maintain and keep this information’.
- Your right to restrict or object to the further use or ‘processing’ of your personal information by Action Tutoring. Please use the contact details provided to inform of us of any wish to restrict or object to the further use of your personal information. Note that we may need to retain some specific identifying information in order to respect your restriction or objection in future.
To contact us in relation to any of the information contained in this policy notice, to make a complaint, or to pursue any of your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, please email: [email protected].
Or write to us at: Action Tutoring, The Dock, Tobacco Quay, Wapping Lane, London E1W 2SF
Telephone: 0203 872 5894
To download this policy: Action Tutoring privacy and data policy for volunteers
