This Cookie Policy explains how Park Community School uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our website at www.pcs.hants.sch.uk. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.
In some cases, we may use cookies to collect personal information, or information that becomes personal information if we combine it with other data. In such cases, our Privacy Policy will apply in addition to this Cookie Policy.
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by website owners to make their websites work efficiently and provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner (in this case, Park Community School) are called "first-party cookies." Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called "third-party cookies." Third-party cookies enable third-party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website (such as analytics, interactive content, and social media features). The parties that set these third-party cookies can recognize your device both when it visits the website in question and also when it visits certain other websites.
We use first and third-party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our website to operate, and we refer to these as "essential" or "strictly necessary" cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our website. Third parties serve cookies through our website for analytics and other purposes.
In accordance with the UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), we process your personal data collected through cookies on the following legal bases:
The specific types of cookies served through our website and the purposes they perform are described below:
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features, such as access to secure areas. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, you cannot refuse them without impacting how our website functions.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| session_id | pcs.hants.sch.uk | Used to maintain user sessions and secure areas of the website | Session |
| XSRF-TOKEN | pcs.hants.sch.uk | Security cookie to prevent cross-site request forgery | 1 day |
These cookies are used to enhance the performance and functionality of our website but are non-essential to their use. However, without these cookies, certain functionality may become unavailable.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| ui_preferences | pcs.hants.sch.uk | Remembers user interface preferences | 1 year |
| font_size | pcs.hants.sch.uk | Stores accessibility preferences like font size | 30 days |
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our communications are, or to help us customize our website for you. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Used to distinguish users in Google Analytics | 2 years | |
| _gid | Used to distinguish users in Google Analytics | 24 hours | |
| _gat | Used to throttle request rate | 1 minute |
These cookies are set by social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
| Cookie Name | Provider | Purpose | Expiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| fr | Used for Facebook integration and sharing functionality | 3 months | |
| guest_id | Used for Twitter integration and sharing functionality | 2 years |
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. You can exercise your cookie preferences as follows:
You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our website though your access to some functionality and areas of our website may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser's help menu for more information.
When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner that allows you to accept or reject non-essential cookies.
Some browsers have a "Do Not Track" feature that signals to websites that you visit that you do not want to have your online activity tracked. Our website does not currently respond to "Do Not Track" signals.
You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the "Cookie Preferences" button in the footer of our website. You can then adjust your preferences for different categories of cookies.
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.
The date at the bottom of this Cookie Policy indicates when it was last updated.
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at dpo@pcs.hants.sch.uk or call us at 023 9248 9800.
Personal data is any information about you which can identify you (either directly or indirectly) as an individual.
Data controller means the natural or legal person who determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. For the purpose of this Cookie Policy, we are the data controller of your personal data.
Data processor means the natural or legal person who processes personal data on behalf of the controller.
Processing means any operation which is performed on personal data, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, etc.
As an educational institution, we recognize our responsibility to model good digital citizenship for our students. We aim to be transparent about our data practices and to use data collected through cookies responsibly and solely for educational purposes or to improve user experience on our website.
We do not use cookies to target advertisements to students or their families, nor do we share data collected through our website with third parties for commercial purposes.
We recognize that many of our website visitors may be children under the age of 16. In accordance with UK GDPR requirements specific to children's data:
Last updated: May 18, 2025
Park Community School
Middle Park Way
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 4BU
United Kingdom
Tel: 023 9248 9800
Email: dpo@pcs.hants.sch.uk