A FAIFLEY primary school has apologised to parents for a double data breach and insisted they take protection of information seriously.

Edinbarnet Primary’s head teacher wrote to parents after sensitive information about children was handed out to a parent within an envelope of parent council minutes.

Families have reacted with fury to the breach and how it was handled by West Dunbartonshire Council, which immediately reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). ICO confirmed they are aware of the incident.

One parent told the Post: “The way it has been handled by the school has infuriated some of the parents.

“There seems to be a distinct lack of urgency in informing the parents and reassuring them that the issue is being dealt with seriously.”

The Post understands a complaint was made by a parent in November against the head teacher over concerns for pupils using the entrance near where a small piece of masonry fell from the roof in September.

Then, on November 26, the same parent collected minutes over the counter from the school office of parent council meetings from 2015 and found a social work report in the envelope. It was immediately handed back.

Read more: Probe into how Edinbarnet Primary parents got handed social work info

The next evening, on looking through the rest of the envelope, a list of about 30 pupil names was found. This was a nursery transition report from about five years ago.

The education department and data protection team were contacted that night and the report handed to the Faifley Road school in the morning.

A family member sent cropped photos of names of a handful of the children to other parents they knew to alert them to the breach, then deleted the images.

Despite allegations spreading on social media, there were no photos of children involved.

The Post understands the social work information data could only be accessed by entering a password in a computer, then printing it off, then putting it with parent council minutes.

No member of staff has been suspended at this time and there is currently no police investigation of anyone connected to the incident.

One of the parents affected said: “I was upset with the school, and what I was mostly concerned about was who else could easily access the private data and that how was that information lying about after five years?”

Another parent added: “Once is human error, twice is sheer stupidity.

“Maybe if the school had dealt with the first instance correctly, it would never have happened again.”

In a letter to parents, head teacher Laura McCormick wrote: “Please be assured we take the protection of your personal information seriously and are deeply sorry that this occurred.”