Report Season · Module 1: The line
Pupil data: the hard rules
Schools handle some of the most sensitive data there is, and children have little say over where it goes. The rules here are firm and they come before any time saving.
Never into any AI tool: a child's full name with anything else about them, SEN and EHCP details, medical information, safeguarding notes, home circumstances, anything about a family, photographs. Never in a consumer tool: anything that could identify a child, even indirectly, such as an unusual first name plus a class and a school.
The working method is pupil numbers. "Pupil 14" is enough for the AI to draft from. Initials are weaker, because in a small class they can still point to a child. You keep the key. Coded notes still count as personal data, because the key exists, so they belong only in a tool your school has approved. The report is written about a code and you put the name back in your own document. It sounds clumsy for a day and becomes automatic in a week.
And check your school's policy. If there is none, ask, and do not use pupil data in any AI tool until there is one. This course does not override your school's rules.
| Never in any AI tool | Safe working method |
|---|---|
| Full names attached to any information | Pupil numbers, not initials; you hold the key |
| SEN, EHCP, medical, safeguarding detail | Describe the need in general terms only, never the diagnosis or record |
| Home or family circumstances | Leave out entirely; add by hand if a report needs it |
| Photographs and work with names on | Never upload; describe the work instead |
| Anything without a school policy allowing it | Ask first, use later |
In practice. A secondary teacher built her whole report process around a spreadsheet with pupil numbers in column A and her observations in column B, with the names in a separate file that never left the school system. The AI saw numbers. The parents saw names. Nothing about any child went anywhere it should not.
At your desk. Set up your anonymising key: a class list with a code per pupil, stored in the school system only. Find your school's AI or data policy and read the relevant part. If there is none, write one question to ask your data protection lead this week.
Write it down.
- Where my key lives:
- What the school policy says:
- My question for the DPO: