Questions and Answers

Why should my school do this?

By providing Slough Borough Council with access to live data on pupil attendance at your school, you will be helping them safeguard and promote the health, welfare and attendance of children at your school.

Studybugs offers Slough a way to access this data, without adding to the reporting burden already placed on schools. They would appreciate your support so they are best placed to help you and the children at your school.

Why does Slough Borough Council need this data?

All local authorities – Slough included – have statutory duties which include:

• Ensuring all children get a suitable education (regular attendance at school)
• Identifying children missing education
• Identifying and safeguarding children in need
• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in general
• Monitoring exclusions
• Providing home-school transport for eligible children
• Protecting public health including children’s health
• Ensuring co-operation of relevant partners to improve the five “Every Child Matters” outcomes for children: be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing

With access to live individual-level data on school attendance, Slough will be able to carry out these duties more efficiently and effectively.

What does this cost my school?

Nothing at all.

How does this work for academy or free school trusts?

If you’re an academy or free school, we’re happy to speak with your trust if they’d like to manage participation centrally. For trusts we can offer facilities to control data sharing with local authorities. We can also offer live data, on-demand analysis and alerts in the same way we do for local authorities. Please feel free to put them in touch with us (trusts@studybugs.com).

Are other LAs doing this?

Yes, other LAs are live with this system, with all of their schools, academies, nurseries and sixth-form colleges participating.

How does this relate to the DfE’s data collection?

From September 2024, schools are legally required to share data with both the Department for Education (DfE) and their home LA.

This initiative relates to the latter part – sharing with your home LA. It is focused on the needs of local authorities and schools, ensuring all the necessary attendance information is channelled to the key people within the LA (such as attendance officers, the virtual school and social workers) in real time. This in turn supports safeguarding and enables early intervention to improve wellbeing, school attendance and educational outcomes.

Do we have to use the other tools that Studybugs offers?

To take part in this initiative you only need to agree, and configure Studybugs’s MIS integration.

Studybugs also provides a platform for schools to help you take a ‘whole-school approach’ to pastoral care. The core of this is free, including an absence-reporting app for parents, parent-school instant messaging, a map of illnesses going around (reported by parents) and live alerts of cases of chicken pox, stomach bugs and other illnesses. After agreeing to participate, you will have the option to access this if you wish, or to schedule a call with a Studybugs consultant to learn more.

You can also read about Studybugs’s platform for schools here.

How does this relate to the DfE?

The Department for Education (DfE) collects aggregate attendance statistics via the school census and the “Educational Settings Status” form put in place in response to Covid.

Slough Borough Council’s initiative is separate and focused on individual-level, live data to support safeguarding and enable early intervention to improve wellbeing, school attendance and educational outcomes.

What about data protection and GDPR?

Studybugs is fully GDPR-compliant and secure. Studybugs serves as data processor for your school, and the school remains data controller. We will not share your data with third parties except on your instructions, which is why we need your agreement to share your data with Slough Borough Council. Your agreement to participate includes agreeing to our data processing terms (as required by GDPR) which we will email to you for your records.

Please note that as data controller it is your responsibility to ensure you have a valid legal basis for sharing any data with Slough Borough Council (irrespective of how you share that data).

What if I change my mind?

If you change your mind about sharing your school’s data with Slough Borough Council at any point, just let us know and we will stop sharing any further data. If you’d like to stop using Studybugs completely you are also free to do so at any point (we will delete your account and any data we hold for you).

Who are Studybugs?

Studybugs (studybugs.com) is a unique, live online platform that enables responsible parties – local authorities, schools, academy trusts, NHS, parents and more – to work together closely to keep children happy, healthy and in school.

We’ve been working with schools since 2014, developing our platform with backing from the Department for Education, the NHS and UK Research and Innovation among others.

Alongside more than 4,000 schools, Studybugs is used by a rapidly growing list of local authorities and several hundred thousand parents.

Who should I contact with any questions?

Studybugs’s lead consultant for Slough is Shell White. You can email her on shell@studybugs.com or call 01135 178583.

For product usage or technical questions please contact support@studybugs.com, or if you’re signed in to the Studybugs School Portal simply type your question into Studybugs Assistant.