A Norfolk school mistakenly sent out emails containing sensitive personal details of pupils - including their special educational needs - to an entire year group of children.

Fakenham Academy was forced to take swift action after the information - which also included attendance data and the identity of which pupils come from disadvantaged households - was shared with all of its Year 7 pupils.

The two emails were meant to only be sent to staff, but the year group was inadvertently added to the distribution list as well.

The academy said the error was quickly identified and the links to the documents were disabled within half an hour.

But parents have shared their concerns at the incident - which comes just weeks after a similar incident occurred at another Norfolk school.

One parent, who did not wish to be named, said: "There has been no apology to parents or even making parents aware - I only found out as I was helping my child do his homework on the computer and he had to access his emails.

"My concern is that if the academy does not put the proper protection in place it will lead to further safeguarding compromises."

A spokesman for the Sapientia Education Trust, which runs the school, said: "On September 26 at 8.32am and 8.50am all academy staff were sent two emails with a link to a folder containing documents identifying pupils with SEND, in receipt of pupil premium and information linked to attendance.

"In error, the email was also sent to Year 7 pupils, who had been added to the distribution list by mistake.

"This was rectified as soon as the error became known and within 30 minutes of the original email being sent, the links to the documents were disabled.

"Year 7 pupils were in morning registration at the time and very few pupils would have had the opportunity to access the email.

"However, the school takes data protection very seriously and has undertaken an immediate review of our IT processes that led to the mistake."

It comes a similar incident at Wymondham High School, which saw details of children suffering with anxiety sent to all pupils.

The Information Commissioner's Office - the data watchdog - has confirmed that neither school has reported the incidents.