Kingham Hill

About Kingham Hill School

Kingham Hill is an independent school in the UK that provides excellent education within top-class learning facilities. The school ensures every pupil has endless opportunities to learn, excel, and realise their potential. Beyond academics, Kingham Hill focuses on holistic development to nurture well-rounded young adults who are prepared for successful futures.

Situation

Catriona Thompson of Kingham Hill first spoke with Mark Orchison of 9ine at an ISBA Conference. Impressed by his knowledge of independent schools and technology, she later turned to 9ine for an in-depth evaluation of the school's IT staffing, infrastructure, and planning.
Kingham Hill’s main priority was to understand the strengths and weaknesses in their IT and cybersecurity infrastructure, develop disaster management plans, and ensure robust safeguarding protections were in place to protect pupils using school systems. Thompson stressed the importance of data security and privacy: “We firmly believe that everyone in the School community has the right to expect us to care about their data security and privacy. It is our responsibility to understand the requirements placed upon us legally and morally to ensure we do so.”

Solution

Kingham Hill engaged 9ine to conduct an external audit of their IT infrastructure. 9ine’s comprehensive IT audit included a 1000-point check of security, configuration, and operational performance. The assessment evaluated the school's IT architecture against the NCSC’s 10 Steps to Cyber Security framework, identifying vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches.

Kingham Hill benefited from 9ine’s IT and cybersecurity expertise. They implemented a compliance program, starting with 9ine’s Practitioners course to understand GDPR in detail and make necessary changes for compliance. When the school faced a data breach by a multinational company, 9ine helped build an effective response strategy.

Kingham Hill subscribed to 9ine’s DPO Essentials service, providing access to advisory support, training, template documentation, regular data protection meetings, auditing capabilities, annual cyber vulnerability penetration testing, and a service desk. This support was crucial in handling complex Subject Access Requests (SARs) and other data privacy challenges.

Results 

After working with 9ine, Kingham Hill achieved significant improvements in their IT security and data privacy practices. The audit revealed areas for improvement, leading to enhanced security measures and better disaster management planning. The school developed robust policies and processes that are regularly reviewed and well understood across the community.
Thompson praised 9ine’s thorough and supportive approach, noting that their consultants felt like an extension of the IT team. The school now benefits from on-call assistance for data breaches, cybersecurity issues, and IT staffing challenges. This partnership has resulted in a better understanding of data privacy and security among staff, students, parents, and governing bodies.

“Without 9ine’s support, we would not have achieved GDPR compliance by the May 2018 deadline, and our data privacy strategy would have lacked impetus. The support offered has developed our confidence to handle day-to-day and complex data issues internally, knowing help is on hand when required. This has led to a better whole-school understanding of data privacy and security, which is good for everyone,” Thompson stated.

Kingham Hill’s collaboration with 9ine has been instrumental in enhancing their IT security and data privacy practices. By leveraging 9ine’s expertise and resources, the school has built a robust compliance program, improved their IT infrastructure, and ensured the safety and privacy of their community. Thompson advises, “Don’t struggle alone; seek help from others who understand the systems and processes better than you.”

www.kinghamhill.org.uk 
www.9ine.com