Skip to main content

Privacy Policy

The Association of Secondary Headteachers in Essex (ASHE) takes the privacy of your data very seriously. This Privacy Statement specifies how we treat personally identifiable information. We provide this Privacy Statement because you have a right to know what information we collect and how it is protected and used.  You automatically opt into receiving all ASHE communications when you pay your annual subscription.

ASHE is an unincorporated organisation representing Essex secondary schools and some affiliated schools from Southend and Thurrock. The Essex Special Schools Educational Trust (ESSET) and some Post 16 providers are affiliated members of ASHE.  For the purposes of Data Protection laws in the UK, ASHE is the Data Controller.

ASHE is an independent, not for profit organisation receiving subscriptions from schools and the Direct Schools Grant.  Occasional donations are made to ASHE from companies who subsidise events.

We aim to be clear about our purposes when we collect your data and not do anything you wouldn’t reasonably expect. Developing a better understanding of our schools and supporters through their personal data allows us to make better decisions about courses, conferences and advice. This ultimately helps us to reach our goal of supporting Headteachers to raise educational standards in Essex by providing a diverse programme of the highest quality events for all the schools in the region. This Privacy Statement sets out the ways in which we use your data and how you can hold us accountable for that. 

What information do we collect?

You give us your information when you book a conference, by phone, by email or online via our website or by communicating with us. We also keep your details when you sign up to receive emails from us.

The information we hold about you may include:

  • Your name
  • School Postal address
  • School Telephone number
  • Heads’ Mobile number (if supplied)
  • Head’s Email address
  • School’s Email Address
  • Name of the Head’s PA
  • Head’s PA’s Email Address
  • Name of staff registering for an event/conference
  • Email address of staff registering for an event/conference
  • Dietary and mobility needs for conferences
  • Name and email address of school finance staff handing invoice payments

We maintain a record of your transaction history, but we do not store your payment card number.

We keep a record of the emails we send you, and we may track whether you receive or open them so we can make sure we are sending you the most relevant information.

We may then track any subsequent actions online, responding to questionnaires etc.

How do we use your data?

We use your data to:

  • Provide you with confirmation emails of event bookings or respond to information you have requested,
  • Contact you if there are any important changes to your booking or changes to educational guidelines from the: DfE, Ofsted, RSC, Local Authority (LA) etc.,
  • Administer your booking for the purpose of invoicing, booking the venue and arranging refreshments,
  • Occasionally undertake customer research to help us understand how we can improve our services or gather information via surveys,
  • Ensure we know how you prefer to be contacted,
  • We may combine information you provide to us with information available from external sources in order to offer you a better service e.g. Ofsted judgement.

Marketing communications

If you have opted to receive marketing communications from us by post or email we will tell you about events and related services that might be of interest to you. We will;

  • Email you about conferences, course, campaign updates, updates from the DfE, Ofsted, RSC LA, Times Educational Supplement (TES), EdNews, School News etc. or a combination of these in an email newsletter (LENS). On occasions emails may include a survey. You can sign up to these lists separately so that you only receive what is relevant to you.
  • Mail you about forthcoming meetings, events, courses and conferences in ASHE,

Occasionally, we may include information in these communications from partner organisations or organisations who support us.

If you have opted out of marketing communications, we may still get in touch with you for administrative purposes regarding your booking. For example we may email you to give you important information about the course you’ve booked for with any changes that affect you.

You can change your preferences or opt out of communications online via ashe-essex.org or calling the ASHE Executive Director and/or Professional Officer

Third parties

We will not share any of your personal details with any other third parties without your agreement, unless required in order to fulfil our contract with you, or allowed by law.

In general, the third-party providers used by us to fulfil our contract with you will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us. These providers include people sub-contracted to run courses on behalf of ASHE, or we have been asked to contact on your behalf e.g. a School Improvement Partner etc. We have agreements in place with each organisation to ensure that your data is secure at all times, and cannot be accessed or used for any other purpose.

We may need to disclose your details if required by law to the police, regulatory bodies or legal advisors.

Use of the website ashe-essex.org

We do not collect non-personally identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available such as your IP address and your login information and information about your visit, such as records of how you navigate the pages on our site and how you interact with the pages.

Cookies – A cookie is a small file, saved onto your device, which stores small pieces of information about how you have used our site or to aid the ticket buying process. We use cookie information to monitor traffic levels and to find out how our website is used, so we can keep improving. It is not possible to use our website without using cookies, so there is no option to opt-out. We do not store any information about you personally in our cookies.

How we keep your data safe

Your personal data will be held and processed on ASHE computers which are password protected. Where possible we aim to keep a single record for each customer. Your data is always held securely. Access to customer information is strictly controlled. It is held in the UK and the processes are EU compliant.

Retention period

We will store your data in our System for a maximum of 5 years after your last transaction or communication with us. We will delete information when we no longer need it such as Headteacher retires or moves to another post.

Your rights

You have the following rights related to your personal data:

  • The right to request a copy of personal information held about you
  • The right to request that inaccuracies be corrected
  • The right to request us to stop processing your personal data
  • The right to withdraw your consent to direct marketing
  • The right to request that we erase your personal data
  • The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office

How can I see what information you are keeping on me?

You have the right to get a copy of the information that we hold about you, this is called a Subject Access Request. You can request a copy of your personal information in writing to the ASHE Executive Director or email via the website This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please include your full name, address and contact telephone number and details of the specific information you require, including any relevant dates. You will need to supply proof of your identification. We will respond to your request within one calendar month from receipt.

Please note this service is free of charge, however we will be allowed to charge you for our reasonable administrative costs if your request is clearly unfounded or excessive.

Changes to this policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information we will make this clear on our website or by contacting you directly.

Contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about our Privacy Statement, or wish to be removed from any communications or data processing activities please email via the website This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

* Where you have engaged with us and have indicated that you are a wheelchair user or have any other disability, rather than ask for your consent to process this special category of personal data which is outside of your reasonable expectation to be so asked and is difficult for us in practice to administer given the requirements of GDPR in relation to consent, we will rely on Schedule 1 Pt 2 para 16 of the Data Protection Bill 2018 which permits the processing of special category data for ‘Support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition’.

Last updated 21 May 2018.