Frequently Asked Questions
How old do pupils have to be?
The survey is designed for pupils in years 4 – 6. However, we are currently piloting the survey with year 3 – if you are interested in being part of this pilot, please let us know via e-mail at happen-wales@swansea.ac.uk.
How long does the survey take?
The survey takes between 20 – 30 minutes to complete independently.
Do you have instructions on how to deliver the survey to my pupils?
Yes, we will send you a short checklist that explains how to deliver the survey, including sending out information to parents beforehand and how to access the survey.
When can I complete the survey?
Schools can complete the survey at any time during the academic year. Schools can also repeat the survey at different time points should they wish to evaluate practice. Where possible, we ask schools to deliver the survey between Tuesday and Friday, as some questions relate to the previous day and we aim to capture typical school behaviours.
Should I help pupils complete the survey?
We ask that pupils fill in the survey questions without assistance to make sure they are answering as honestly as possible. If a pupil needs help with reading, you can read through the question and explain its meaning, but ask that the pupil is not guided with their answer.
How do I access my report?
To ensure we produce reports as soon as you are ready, we ask that HAPPEN leads e-mail us when they have completed. We produce reports at the end of each month and will send them directly to the person registered with the HAPPEN.
How can I use the information in the school report?
Your school report contains group-level information about a range of health and wellbeing topics spanning physical activity, nutrition, sleep, wellbeing and the community. You can use this information to pick out key topics or priorities for your school. This can be integrated within school development plans, help you to choose school-based programmes to deliver and importantly, to design your new curriculum and Health and Wellbeing Area of Learning and Experience. In your report you will find a template action plan that you can use as a foundation to plan. We also encourage you use and share your school report with pupil voice groups to ensure that change and impact is guided by pupils.
We’re thinking of running an intervention, can we evaluate how well it has worked?
Yes! You can repeat the survey at different time points to evaluate how well interventions have worked in your school.
Do I need my log in to complete the survey/access my report?
No, you do not need a log in for this. We only ask that you register for HAPPEN and have a log-in so that we have a record of your contact details.
Can I share our report with stakeholders?
Yes! Absolutely! Please share with others to help make changes in your school.
How is the survey compliant with GDPR?
We are fully GDPR compliant, and all our data processes have been approved by and comply with both the Swansea University Medical School Ethics Board and the Data Governance team. You can see our GDPR statement here.
For the ethical approval: We ask for consent to i) participate in the survey and ii) provide us with personal data for the purpose of data linkage (SAIL databank). This process has been approved by the Swansea University Medical School Ethics Board.
For data processing under GDPR: We are relying on public task as our means of processing. This has been approved by the Information Compliance Manager at Swansea University.
Could you explain how children’s data is anonymised?
Upon completion of the HAPPEN survey, raw responses are downloaded by one researcher who generates a unique participant ID number and removes identifiable information. This is completed at the end of each month for all schools that have participated that month for the process of creating the school report. The second researcher that generates the school report only has access to anonymised data.
The data is anonymised at point of receipt. The personal data are separated from the survey data (process explained above) and sent to a trusted third party, Digital Health and Care Wales (who do not receive any survey data) and the coded survey data goes to SAIL (which contains no personal data) using a secure file upload. A unique Anonymous Linking Field (ALF) is assigned to the person-based record before it is joined to clinical data via a system linking field. All data stored within SAIL is anonymised.
What do you mean when you say you are looking at a child’s health/doctor records – can you elaborate on this process?
We link the data of children who provide consent for data linkage using the SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank. SAIL is a national data infrastructure asset of anonymised data about the population of Wales that enables secure anonymised data linkage and analysis for research.
Anonymised data is not subject to GDPR. More information about the SAIL databank can be found at: https://saildatabank.com/
Are you relying on the child’s consent for this?
We ask children at the start of the survey for their consent for us to link their health records in SAIL.
We have worked closely with schools and the children themselves to ensure that all our information sheets and correspondence can be understood by teachers and young children.
For a brief overview of HAPPEN, please watch the video below…