Legal
Privacy Policy
How we collect, use and protect your personal information.
Who we are
Hawthorn Tree Community Children’s Centre is a registered charity (Charity No. 1161751) and the data controller for the personal information we hold about you.
Address: Toot Lane, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 0PT
Email: office@htccc.org.uk
Phone: 01205 362255
Data Protection contact: Lydia Avison, Manager
We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Our registration number is {{ICO_REGISTRATION_NUMBER}}.
What information we collect
Information you give us
When you contact us, complete our enquiry form or book a visit, we collect:
- Your name, email address and phone number
- Your child’s name and date of birth
- Details of your childcare enquiry
- Any other information you choose to share with us
Information we collect about children in our care
For children who attend our setting, we hold more detailed records including:
- Personal details (name, date of birth, address)
- Emergency contact information
- Health, medical and dietary information
- Development observations and learning journals
- Attendance records
- Photographs taken during sessions (with consent)
- Financial records relating to fees and funding
Information collected automatically
When you visit our website we may collect technical information including your IP address, browser type and pages visited. We use cookies to help our website function — see our Cookie Policy for details.
Why we use your information
To provide our childcare service
Processing is necessary to fulfil our contract with you as a parent or carer. This includes managing your child’s place, communicating about their care, recording their development and processing fees.
Legal obligations
We are required by law to keep certain records — including Ofsted registration requirements, safeguarding records, and financial records as a charity. We must share information with Ofsted, the local authority and other statutory bodies when required.
Legitimate interests
We use contact information to respond to your enquiries and keep you informed about your child’s progress. We may occasionally send information about upcoming events or changes to the setting.
Consent
Where we rely on your consent — for example, to use photographs of your child — we will always ask explicitly and you can withdraw consent at any time.
Who we share your information with
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share information with:
- Ofsted — as our regulatory body
- Local authority — for funding claims and safeguarding
- NHS and health professionals — where relevant to a child’s health needs
- Other agencies — where required by safeguarding obligations
- Our software providers — who process data on our behalf under data processing agreements
Any third parties we work with are required to keep your information secure and to use it only for the purposes we have agreed.
How long we keep your information
We keep different types of information for different periods:
- Enquiry and contact records — 12 months if no place taken up
- Children’s records — retained until the child’s 25th birthday (or 26th if they had an Education, Health and Care plan)
- Financial records — 7 years
- Safeguarding records — as required by statutory guidance
- Staff records — 7 years after employment ends
After these periods, your data is securely deleted or anonymised.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct inaccurate information
- Erase your information in certain circumstances
- Restrict how we use your information
- Object to us processing your information
- Portability — receive your information in a machine-readable format
- Withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact us in the first instance and we will do our best to resolve it.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
- Website: ico.org.uk
- Phone: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the date at the top of the page. For significant changes we will notify families directly.
Questions? Just ask us.
If you have any questions about how we handle your information, please get in touch — we’re happy to help.