Why do schools have "chosen" children? 🙄

[SameKidsAgain]

My dc is on a school residential atm and the teachers are constantly posting updates of them on fb but only pics of the same kids who are chosen for EVERY school photo opportunity. I don't get it. I'd really like to see some other children (including mine!) enjoying themselves too...but it's always the same ones over and over again, every year and every term for every topic. It's so bloody annoying and unfair, like those handful of elite children represent the whole school year 😡. Well they don't.

Well it's obvious that all PTAs are different in every school. The PTA members in our school are all best friends with the teachers many of whom have children at the school aswell. The play was blatant favouritism and only photographing the children with the main parts and posting it online was a horrible thing to do. All the other children with 3 word lines were all dressed up and what for?

Another day of residential and I can't wait to see what Billy, Tilly and Buster are doing. Not.

I have a bit of a chosen one. She is a drama queen though and loves the limelight. She certainly doesn't get it from me (I was a wallflower).

I have no involvement with the school and the only time I ever helped the PTA out was one bucket collection thing at a supermarket (where I nearly had an anxiety attack nervous breakdown ).

I think she must get it from her father (he scarpered when I told him I was pregnant, so I can't confirm).

She's rather conniving charismatic though. I recall one year when she was plotting how to become the new teacher's pet...

She's a very smiley bouncy child though and I guess attracts attention a bit. I leave her to it. She'll make her own path in life. Probably as a politician. Wouldn't remotely surprise me.

Oh and she's neither white, blond, nor blue eyed.

Trinity, you're absolutely right. I agree, give another child a chance and they might be confident too and "charismatic" too.

Oops posted too soon. There is hardly time on a trip to breathe let alone share photos/some schools will only allow one teacher to take photos and certainly updating social media is allowed only by one staff member.

Research "confirmation bias" Then look at the pictures again.

Most likely explanation is the kids in the photos are the ones whose group leader is the one with the school phone/camera and/or website update rights.

Goodness knows why posts have ordered themselves

Myoriginal, that doesn't sound like anything to be proud of. There are girls who are sweet as pie infront of the teacher and horrible when her back is turned. They're learning how to be two faced and manipulate people. That's not a very nice way to do things.

It's her character though and I can't and don't want to change that. She is who she is.

I think it happens everywhere. If you read some of the threads and what some parents are looking for in a school, then the people who collate the photos are just doing this!!

Mine have never been the chosen ones at school. In fact it surprised the heck out of school that mine existed at all.

Top cadet award at Air -cadets (chosen by their troop)- in the paper, highest mark in piano exam ever in local exam centre, won the local MMA competition, photo with the local MP.

but found out when they left primary for instance that they never even told any teachers they had piano lessons (so were never chosen for music performances) or that they were even involved in Karate or MMA - though when they did the fitness test (run end to end of school hall for so many minutes) they finished second and third to the school endurance runner.

But it never bothered them, so we never worried about it.

It might take a bit more than having your picture posted to the school Facebook page to create a confident child.

Massive overreaction.

I just took some candids during a drama production. Once I came to choosing pics I had to discard 2/3 of the shots simply due to children who there are safe-guarding issues surrounding in the shots.

Then another number where kids were pulling stupid faces/putting costumes over their heads. Probably the same kids were in a number of shots. But (a) they don't pull pics in photos and (b) complete luck of the draw.

My daughter is probably a chosen one. Nothing to do with me!

It's true. It's worse in primary IME. I remember my own mother complaining about it one year

In the predominantly white working class school I now teach in, the 'token black kid' ends up on ALL the school photographs. He's now fed up of it himself.

All the other children with 3 word lines were all dressed up and what for?

Presumably to take part in the play, not a photo shoot.

Presumably to take part in the play, not a photo shoot.

they ALL dressed up to take part in the play . Then the main characters were put in the limelight and photographed whilst the other children weren't. They should have ALL been praised for how hard they worked dressed up.

I used to work with kids and never had time to take photos. But then I always got the challenging kids as I was good with them. It will be the volunteer helpers with a group of easy kids who will have the time to actually take photos.

Its not right.

I would comment on the photo and ask if they have any more of the class. But I don't care what people think

It will be the volunteer helpers with a group of easy kids who will have the time to actually take photos.

What if there are easy kids mixed with "challenging" kids? Not very fair on anyone is it? It should be a large group photo so every parent can see what their child is doing (minus any children not allowed). Not a snapshot of 2/3 kids representing the whole school year.

I know why my older dc rarely feature in school photos on twitter/ website. They have aspergers and neither ever look happy in school pictures. The last sibling pictures in school were awful dd1 looked depressed and ds looked like he was trying to murder the photographer with his eyes. Dd1 did feature on the Twitter feed for world book day and she had a fantastic costume on but looked depressed. They are not as unhappy as they look (usually) but school makes them anxious and neither 'perform' for cameras I get nice photos because I can catch them when they are relaxed and can smile. It is not something I worry about and I don't really take notice of the kids that do feature as they are just a smiling child in uniform the school.

If you are not happy then take it up with the school. Its really simple.

I don't think it is always about having "the look" the school wants. I have a grandson who doesn't get chosen, I have another that does. The one who doesn't get chosen is in a class with the child of an "alpha" mum. I don't know how it works but lets face it there was always a few of them at school, uni, work etc. Her son and my grandson are so alike that teachers often confuse them, same height, same blonde hair in a smart cut, very similar smiles, in fact they could be twins and it is funny as neither look anything like their own brothers.

Alpha mum's child is in all the plays, teams, photos. My grandson never gets picked, so its not about "the look" in my experience.

Basically if you're a teacher EVERTHING you do is wrong.

It's exhausting.

The main point here is that in the OP these are photos for a residential, presumably on a closed site? They are really posted to reassure parents, etc, etc. The children aren't being chosen to represent the school in a play or some such in this case and this is a situation where the school should be actively trying to get as many different kids a possible into the photos.