Online photos at school

[leaves2345]

Hello. NC for this.

My DD has recently moved from nursery to school. Her nursery used an online website (where you have to sign in to the website) to share photos of her at nursery with my and DH. When she started we signed a form that said she could appear in photos shared with other parents (like a photo of my DD playing with their child, or sometimes photos with lots of kids in that would be shared with all the parents). We signed this. A few parents didn't agree to this, so if their child was in a photo their faces would be blocked out with an emoji face on top of their face so you couldn't tell who it was. I presume (although couldn't say for certain) that the parents who declined for their kids faces to be shown still got the groups photos sent to them via the website.

Now DD is in reception at primary school and the school use the same website. So we set up an account and so far have had a couple of videos just with our DD in. So far, so good. We got sent a form asking for the same permission - to share with other parents images that might have my daughter in. The form asks people not to share the photos on social media but also says the school can't be held responsible for anything that might happen to the photos. This time I wrote on the form that I didn't want to give permission for this. The school is much larger than her nursey, I don't know the vast majority of the parents. Most seem fine when we're at the school gates,
although it's v hard to get to know people when you're all wearing a mask and socially distancing!

So I did drop off this morning and the teacher took me aside and said I'm the only person who hasn't agreed to photos being shared and it will mean I don't get to see any of the group photos and will miss out on seeing things my daughter is learning. I totally understand that it's hypocritical of me to decline permission for my DD to be in the photos but still expect to see them (even though I'm fairly sure that's what happened at her nursery). But I can't understand why you would you set up a system of communicating about kid's learning to their parents that relies on everyone agreeing to this?

What happens when they have kids who are adopted or fostered or live in homes where one parent has escaped domestic violence? In those case the parent just wouldn't be able to agreed to this (none of this applies to me, but surely in two form entry school there will be someone in most years that this does apply to!) What happens if someone does share something they shouldn't on social media? Will the school then have to stop using this website and come up with a whole new way to communicate to parents?

Doe anyone have any experience of this? If you've said no to your kids photos being shared have they had other ways to communicate with you what your child is learning at school? Am I just being precious and ridiculous? I said we would think about it and let them know at pick up time if we've changed our mind. So any advice anyone can offer before then would be much appreciated.

[slashlover]

Are you still going to see individual pictures of your DD? Maybe they don't have time to add emojis when it's a much bigger school with more pupils?

A few parents didn't agree to this, so if their child was in a photo their faces would be blocked out with an emoji face on top of their face so you couldn't tell who it was. I presume (although couldn't say for certain) that the parents who declined for their kids faces to be shown still got the groups photos sent to them via the website.

If your DD is the only one who declined then everyone WILL know who the blocked face is. You also don't know for sure that the parents who previously declined still got the photos, if 5 parents objected then that's 6 different photos which need to be made - one with all of the objectors covered and then 5 with all of the objectors covered except their individual child.

[Frequentcarpetflyer]

I don't aee the need to take photos and film children regularly at school. It must take up a lot od time!
The fostered/adopted ones will be asked to move for photos, or if the person filming/taking photos is sensitive to the situation they will discretely avoid them.
No matter how secure a website is there is always a risk things will go wrong.

[022828MAN]

I don't have the answers but my daughter is at a nursery where they do this.i think I would find it odd if this was done in primary school. In a nursery where my daughter can't really tell me what's she's been upto it's nice to get, but wouldn't see the need when she's 5+.

[leaves2345]

Thanks everyone.

slashlover - yes, the other parents would know who she was (if they knew that only one set of parents had objected - I can't see why they would be told that. I knew some people at nursery objected but not how many), but they couldn't then put a photo of my DD on social media because her face is blocked in it.

Frequent - I'm not actually concerned about the security of the website. The password requirements are crazy (gotta have it written down to remember it!) so I actually think it's pretty secure. My concern is that another parent ignores the request to not add the photos to social media.

022828 - You would think that a five year would tell you what she's done at school, but actually some days she doesn't tell us much of anything (other days we get a blow by blow account)! So in that sense it is useful to get photos and videos of what they're doing. You've made me think I probably just need to say yes - DH and me benefitted so much from all the photos and videos we got from nursery and it only works in the majority of parents agree to it. I think her school is so much bigger than her nursery and Covid-19 is making it so much harder to get to know people that I've become a bit paranoid about what other parents might be like or what they might do with images. The reality is I didn't know most of the parents at nursery when she started - I did by the time she left but when she first started I just decided to the sign the form and trust that most people are good people and will follow the rules and respect others. I think I just need to do the same again.

I also feel like I have loads less contact with her teacher than I did her nursery keyworker which is hard. Again, Covid is part of this, although not all of it -school is just different and it's taking me time to adjust.