Photos at toddler groups

Lauralou

Hi
I work in a Pre-school and what we have done every year is put up a notice saying if anyone objects to photos/videos off their children to let the manager or depty know. No one has complained because at such a young age and same being their first childs play then they want to take photos.
If anyone did ever complain then we would say at the start off the play and there is no photos allowed.
Also we have a consent form on the childs registration form to say 'do you give permission for your child to be photographed and allowed to put up on display/welcome pack/website'.

Maybe next year send out a letter to parents asking if it's ok for photos and put up a notice on the door.

shirlgirl2004

At my DDs swimming class we had to ask the teacher i we wanted to take photos and then she would just ask the group as a whole at the time. It means that if someone says they don't want their child photographed then other parents could avoid having the child in their photos.

Running_Horse

pipkin71 wrote: »

It does state that if one person refuses consent, then photos will not be taken of anyone in the group.

This could be the outcome if you send out letters asking parents to sign for consent.

Our pre school events state pictures can be taken. It is then for any parents who object to not send their children. Nobody objects.

GobbledyGook

thorsoak wrote: »

I wonder what happens in the schools that have their nativity play photographs published in the local press? Do all parents have to agree - do all parents know - or are the children whose parents do not wish them to be involved in such photographs removed from the tableaux?

And what if the majority wish the children to be photographed and shown in the local paper and one does not? Does not majority rule count?

Permission must be obtained from parents before photographs go in the paper.

In my daughter's school the child who cannot be in the photo either knows themselves they can't be in it and are given an important job to do while their classmates have their photo taken.

On the whole parents tend to be very supportive of policies if they are given the information I think. The school has a meeting with parents before their child starts and explains all the policies and the photograph one in depth. If there's a genuine reason (as in my daughter's school) people understand. It's when there's no policy or a badly explained "it's about !!!!!philes" blanket explanation that people get wound up.

I think the OP needs to draw up a policy (even as simple as a notice stating that parents are allowed to take photographs of their children, anyone with any concerns contact the manager) so that it's clear what it is. That is the most important thing, it saves any confusion - the Grandmother was clearly surprised by them being taken. Most places have a policy.

DVardysShadow

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

The worry I have is that if 1 person says no, I will have to ban cameras and I don't want to do this. Many parents bring cameras, though usually just on party days. I don't see why the majority should have to stop something because of 1 person. As its a parent and toddler group where the parents retain responsibility of their child, I don't think I have the authority to dictate to parents that they cannot take photos of their own child. Perhaps I could remind them to try not to get anyone else in the photos as a compromise?

D.

Just say no to saying No. You don't need to ban cameras. You just ban the people who want to ban cameras. You just state up front that your policy is to allow cameras and let those who disagree wander off.

stardoman

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply.

As someone else said, I run the group as a volunteer - I don't even have children there myself anymore. I have been running it for 7 years and during that time many photos have been taken. There isn't a policy, partly because its hard enough running the group on my own with no help and partly because its not been needed before. No one has ever complained, even when there were 2 adopted children who came to the group. No one has ever mentioned it before, full stop.

This grandmother is fairly new and it is the first time she has been to one of the parties. What shocked me was how agitated and angry she was. Her fists were clenched and she had trouble making herself clear because she was so wound up.

This particular grandmother is not a complainer - we have one of those, but she had her camera! Instead, she is one of the more helpful ones and always helps me tidy up and put the toys away.

I don't publish photos of the children - we don't have a leaflet and I have never had anything published in the newspaper. These photos are ones taken by parents of their children.

I will update the information sheet and get everyone to fill one out in January. I will also put something in the newsletter.

Thanks. D.

GobbledyGook

stardoman wrote: »

Thanks again everyone for taking the time to reply.

As someone else said, I run the group as a volunteer - I don't even have children there myself anymore. I have been running it for 7 years and during that time many photos have been taken. There isn't a policy, partly because its hard enough running the group on my own with no help and partly because its not been needed before. No one has ever complained, even when there were 2 adopted children who came to the group. No one has ever mentioned it before, full stop.

This grandmother is fairly new and it is the first time she has been to one of the parties. What shocked me was how agitated and angry she was. Her fists were clenched and she had trouble making herself clear because she was so wound up.

This particular grandmother is not a complainer - we have one of those, but she had her camera! Instead, she is one of the more helpful ones and always helps me tidy up and put the toys away.

I don't publish photos of the children - we don't have a leaflet and I have never had anything published in the newspaper. These photos are ones taken by parents of their children.

I will update the information sheet and get everyone to fill one out in January. I will also put something in the newsletter.

Thanks. D.

I would say the fact she isn't normally a complainer means you should think about having a word with her to find out if there is something. Even just saying that you are planning on letting everyone know that the policy is that photos are ok, but you just wanted to be sure there was nothing other than surprise behind the photos. She may not be able to tell you what it is, but really as the organiser you need to know if it's a silly over-reaction, a genuine surprise or possibly an actual issue.

Well done on keeping it going. I know our Playscheme relies on the main organiser who is a volunteer with no children there like yourself and she's worth her weight in gold, as I'm sure your parents view you as.

Gemma x

LondonDiva

As Polish Big Spender says, there is no 'law' as such., rather more extreme interpretations of good practice and knee jerk reaction to the dreaded 'sranger danger' that supercedes basic common sense.

I would make it clear that the group's policy is for parents / carers to be able to take photographs as they choose (without disrupting the event), on the understanding that publishing on mediums like facebook etc would be on limited settings and only in the papers etc with parental permission.

Parents who do not wish their children to be photographed, should contact you so you can have all those children 'on the left of the stage during the performance etc' so others can take pictures of their little darlings or will have to be prepared for their children not to take part.

There is still the presumption of innocence in this country & if someone takes a picture of a child in the street, park or in a school play, chances are they will be thinking 'ahh', 'I used to do x just like that', 'it reminds me of John/Bill/Ann', or just 'what a lovely moment'. It's highly unlikely that the sight of the tea towel on the head of the wise men is going to spark a !!!!!! fuelled rampage - even non parents like children and what they represent and other parents are going to be incredibly disinterested in your littel darling as they try to get a close up of their own offspring

looktothefuture

Without giving away who I work for, I thought that this Teachernet guidance article would be of benefit to this thread.

ps... I don't work for Teachernet!

Curious_George_2

Im part of a local PVG group and we held a christmas party last week,
as part of the entrance price the children got to meet santa and had a photo taken with him which we then put in a souvenier card/frame for them to take home...

as each parent signed in we had to have them sign a photo permission slip,
nothing fancy just a note to say we were allowed to take pics, we would only be printing them and giving them to the parent then deleting them,

the local paper asked us for a picture to put in with a little article about our work and to save any hassle we only had our own children in that one.