to think this is breaching confidentiality and what should I do?

[SecretMinceRinser]

I visited the office of ds's school today to do a crb check so I can help out at the school. I was sat down at the desk of someone else who worked there but wasn't in that day. Laying in full view on the desk was a piece of paper that said 'Safeguarding Alert'. I glanced down at it and saw the title and though I'd better not look at it but as completing the crb application was dragging on I became more and more uneasy that it was left there for visitors to the office to see so I decided to read what was on the paper in more detail.
It had the full personal details of a mum of a child at the school, her child and the childs father - full names, dob even a physical description of each of them. It also detailed the fathers criminal convictions. It went on to say where the family had moved from and how they hadn't been co-operating with ss and that there was a history of domestic violence along with a ton of other personal stuff about the family/finances etc.
I don't know the family in question and won't repeat what I've read but that's not the point is it? There were drawers in the desk that the paper could easily have been put into out of sight.
I want to mention it to someone to ensure that personal stuff like that is stored more carefully in future but not sure who to speak to/what to say.
It did occur to me after the event that I could have mentioned it to the man in the office who was dong my application but he is a bit of an arse to be honest and not the sort of person that would take kindly to being told how to do his job. Anyway I didn't say anything at the time so too late to do that now. WWYD?

I don't think it takes a huge leap of imagination to realise that there are all sorts of circumstances which might be covered by data protection but which for reasons of safety, might need to be known by all school staff- from head teacher to dinner ladies

• child with life threatening allergy
• child with may behave violently to other children and who has had a risk assessment drawn up
• child who is at risk of being snatched by parent who mustn't have unsupervised contact

I have never even worked in schools and even I can imagine those examples so no doubt there are many more. And of course the office staff would need to know, because they are the first port of call for anyone attempting to enter the building.

There's no point in continuing with this thread because we are all occupying entrenched positions

"There's no point in continuing with this thread because we are all occupying entrenched positions."

Well it's pretty entrenched that you don't volunteer to help somewhere if your intention is to be nosy.

Parents entrust their children to schools. Schools are responible for ensuring that they allow suitable people have access to the children in their care. Someone who is going to share information that they have been privy to on a public forum is not suitable to be helping in a school.

The document should not have been left on the desk. A serious breach of confidentiality.

But no way should the OP have read it, then posted on an internet forum. As soon as she realised what it was she should have informed someone. Or just turned it over on to its blank side if she has so little self control with regards to reading it.

Oh I do hope this was a test set by the school to see whether the op could be trusted! With luck this document is just a dummy, made up entirely for the purposes of finding put which parent could safely be let into the classroom among the children.

Fail, op, EPIC FAIL!!!!

crystalglasses But would you them have come on the internet & shared those details with everyone?

*then

How would you ensure all of the above act with respect for the confidential nature of the information they are exposed to?

You can't ensure it really, so you put your faith in the people you allow into the heart of the school to keep it confidential. And as adults, they should be more than capable of doing that!

We discussed something at our first Gov Council meeting of the yr recently (and my first in this school). It was a very sensitive topic that there has been lots of gossip about. We were instructed that if we hear the gossip we are to say 'that isn't correct, please stop spreading this gossip' and leave it at that. For many reasons we are not allowed to discuss it out of our group. Guess what...NONE of us have.

Because we respect the principal & the privacy of those involved. It is easy to not share confidential info. I just did it...I do it all the time. You just don't do it. It really IS that simple!

I don't really understand why the op is getting a hard time. It's the schools responsibility to protect that data- frankly they should assume everyone will read it, and only make it available to those who have a duty of confidentiality- which a visitor doesn't.

I agree with Serenity - and I think the holier than thou bollocking of the OP is a bit off the point.

You can't ensure it really, so you put your faith in the people you allow into the heart of the school to keep it confidential. And as adults, they should be more than capable of doing that

This is the funniest thing I have read on here

Not.. you make sure you have a clear policy on data protection and information sharing and it is the responsibility of all staff to ensure that all personal information is only available as appropriate; based on level of staff and need to know basis

But... we'll trust any adults who might see it

Ooh has the op had some sudden name changes lol

We lock our computers when away from them ( even when at the toilet) We shred scrap paper with notes on. We file everything away. Our desks are clear. If we find a document on printer or photocopier, we shred it ( heh heh) This is the public sector.

You should say something. You shouldn't have read it.

callmems - why do you say that?

Yep. I'm with Serenity too. OP is taking time out of her schedule, unpaid to help out at the school. Since when did you have to be some kind of infallible saint to volunteer at a school? A quick peek? So bloody what? She's not published what she read with all the details in the Daily Mail! The fault is wholly with the school. ALL public bodies in this country are bound by very strict data protection laws and the school seems to have a very lax attitude.
If it were my data and I found out it had been compromised, I wouldn't be blaming the person who read it. I'd be blaming the school who held the data and allowed it to be read through carelessness. So would the law.
Best of luck, OP, with the volunteering. I'm sure you'll be great! If only everyone on this thread castigating you had the inclination to volunteer somewhere.

She did not have a "quick peek". The "quick peek" revealed the title which indicated the confidentiality of the item in questions. So she read it in more detail. A deliberate action, not an accidental glance.

Yes, it should have been put away but, equally, it should have been mentioned to someone not read in detail.

TBh I'm not actually not sure I get why reading it is a bad thing. Nosey maybe, but that's hardly a hanging offence. A member of the public isn't under any obligation to not read confidential data they've accidentally had access to- if I picked up a peice of paper on the pavement and it was interesting i'd read it (would probably regret having read about child abuse, but still)

Well, "equally" in law....no.

I suspect she was so surprised that she read it out of disbelief. I can read upside down an A4 page in seconds - skim read but the general gist will be mine and tbh it's a fairly automatic reaction.

Exactly, Serenity. Is no-one ever curious? She's not reading it for personal gain, nor is she going to spread it around...it was there in front of her. But, regardless, of that, I do think whether she read it or not is a complete red herring.

And, again, I wonder how many of you castigating her are going to be volunteering any time soon.

The point is that she read the title and thought she had better not read it. Then she felt uneasy that had been left there so she read it in detail. She made a conscious decision to read a document she knew she should not be reading.

It was no accidental glance, she didn't skim read it as her eyes passed over it.

Morally, just as wrong.

I love the way the op says 'I could have mentioned it to the man in the office who was doing my CRB check but tbh he's a bit of an arse'.

Blimey, the op sounds like a great catch. Wouldn't you just love her volunteering in your workplace? Not only will she read things she finds on people's desks out of sheer nosiness, but she'll also comment on how the workforce are 'arses'.

Let's face it, in the average classroom there is probably going to be information which isnt strictly confidential so isn't covered by data protection, but which may be private and sensitive. With an attitude like the ops, she will clearly have zero respect for that fact and will be reading whatever she likes.

Let's hope the school steer well clear.

"I wonder how many of you castigating her are going to be volunteering any time soon."

No because I wold be crap at it. I've done my volunteering with the PTA.

Kind of irrelevant really.

Morally just as wrong as what?