Teacher filming school concert AIBU?

[bananacakerox]

Venue - a church with a choir (from 2 x secondary schools) , singing a religious choral set.

We were all told by a deputy head teacher, no mobiles for photos or filming.

Part way through the second half, a teacher at one end of the front row starts filming about 20-30 seconds worth of footage at 2 stages of the concert. Then she was giggling and whispering to her friend next to her whilst solos were taking place.

I signed a disclaimer saying yes to photos by the school's photographer, not be a member of staff on her personal phone.

AIBU?

[LolaSmiles]

You seem to know an awful lot about this teacher. You know her family set up, you know for a fact that she has no involvement whatsoever with the music department (although it's not uncommon for staff from other Departments to help out with music and drama) and you even kept tabs on her during the interval! If you know her calls were of a personal nature you were obviously eavesdropping!
I was thinking that.
Either listening in, in which case that's a bizarre thing to do in an interval, or saw the teacher across the room making a phonecall and decided her body language and facial expressions were too happy for it to be a colleague.
We have school smartphones that we can use.One of them is the same make and model as my personal phone.
At my school it's also common for staff to support music, drama, sport etc. There's also staff on the PTA as well so attend a range of events.

If the teacher has used a personal phone without following school procedures then they've been foolish and it needs reporting, however the whole OP smacks of 'but I would have videoed it and it's not fair (stamps feet)'.

Seriously who gets so fixated with a member of staff they watch them during the interval?

[10FrozenFingers]

FFS, OP.

Loosen your stays. You sound ridiculous.

[Saoirse7]

I would be utterly astounded if the teacher was taking a video of school children singing in a choir for her own personal gain. It was most likely for the school social media or something. She doesn't have to have any connection to the performance, she may have been asked to do so by another member of staff.

Seriously, people have very little to be getting vexed about. Reporting a teacher for this is very small time and will only serve in making you look like one of those parents.

[MitziK]

She is also nothing to do with collating any marketing material for the school

You have seen her contract and know she doesn't get a TLR2a? Remarkable. and bollocks

And only Music Teachers ever get involved with performances? Fuck me, your Music Teacher is incredible then, as they have been in at least seven separate places at once at all times in the three days leading up to the performance, never mind the ten separate ones required to transport equipment to the venue, set the equipment up, test the equipment, soundcheck, rehearse, escort the children, play all the instruments, put the chairs out, switch the tea urn on and serve the drinks, produce all the programmes, posters, music, arrange the music, run the lighting, run the sound desk, play, supervise kids AND most likely, still have to complete the end of Spring 1 data drops.

[Orchidflower1]

@bananacakerox could she have been helping her colleague out by taking a video?

Could she have been filming one of the adults?

Have you got a history with this teacher? I can understand the annoyance at it being able to film your dc. I assume the official video needs to be paid for?

However the way you’ve stalked the teacher makes you sound petty and vindictive. Yes mention it to the music teacher or even the head of you can’t sleep because of it but I’m sure there is a reason.

[Melawati]

I am fairly sure I know which school this is, the OP has given so many details now

Me too. OP, just ring up and ask for clarification if you are concerned.

[coconuttelegraph]

You seem to know an awful lot about this teacher. You know her family set up

Why is it unusual to know if a teacher has a child at the school she/he teaches at? Both as a pupil and a parent I knew which teachers had children at the school and I'm not some super stalker, it was simply something people knew/know. Also the the school here is a secondary, pretty obvious if the teacher is young that they won't have children there.

Whereas we can use our own ipads or phones at school events and the photographs or videos are uploaded to the school server and then deleted from the device as soon as we return to school Isn't that a safeguarding risk, the photos could be sent anywhere befoe they are deleted

[LolaSmiles]

Isn't that a safeguarding risk, the photos could be sent anywhere befoe they are deleted
Photos on a school device can be sent anywhere too. The main reason behind policies not allowing personal devices is as much to protect the member of staff as it is children. Safeguarding isn't just about preventing harm to children; it's also about protecting adults

I wouldn't want to take anything on my personal device even if the policy allowed it, but this thread is one of those situations where some people are crying safeguarding without knowing the policy, without knowing what the teacher's been authorised to do at the event, and without pausing to think logically enough to realise the teacher having a photo on their phone doesn't place a child at any more risk than a photo on a school device.

It's reasonable to make a polite request to the school if the OP is genuinely concerned this is a safeguarding issue, but I'll be honest they sound more annoyed that they couldn't record the event (presumably so that the performers can see an audience and not a hall full of devices as every tom, dick and Harry holds their phones and iPads in their to view the whole thing through their screens).

[SmileEachDay]

Isn't that a safeguarding risk, the photos could be sent anywhere befoe they are deleted

That could happen from a school phone...

That’s not why many schools ban staff from using personal devices.

[SmileEachDay]

Oops. Sorry @LolaSmiles. You got there first.

[spanieleyes]

Isn't that a safeguarding risk, the photos could be sent anywhere befoe they are deleted

Possibly, but as others have said, a school device can do the same.
However, what is important is that staff follow the school policy, if the policy allows the use of personal devices then it isn't a problem if they are used, if the policy doesn't allow it then it would be an issue. The school has assessed the risk and concluded that if procedures are followed, there are no safeguarding issues. If procedures aren't followed, it doesn't matter whether a personal or school device is used.

[Sotiredofthislife]

How do you know it was a personal phone?

[Sotiredofthislife]

She is also nothing to do with collating any marketing material for the school

Do you have any understanding of the sheer number of activities that go on in a school every single day? Most staff take photos and send blurb to a central person where it is co-ordinated and turned into newsletters and social media feed.

[coconuttelegraph]

The school has assessed the risk and concluded that if procedures are followed, there are no safeguarding issues. If procedures aren't followed, it doesn't matter whether a personal or school device is used

As you've pointed out, a school can never be sure that a school owned device isn't wrongly used so how do they ever conclude that the safeguarding procedures are adequate?

Saying school staff mustn't use images on the school phone wrongly isn't a procedure and can't be enforced, how does any of this pass an Ofsted inspection?

[spanieleyes]

no procedure in the world can predict every eventuality nor prevent anyone from trying to circumvent them if they really wanted to. OFSTED want to know that reasonable procedures are in place to safeguard children, that any reasonable risks have been assessed and mitigated for and that the procedures are monitored. Taking a photograph in a public place would not necessarily be a safeguarding issue, it is what is subsequently done with the photo that MIGHT possibly be one.

[coconuttelegraph]

no procedure in the world can predict every eventuality nor prevent anyone from trying to circumvent them if they really wanted to

Of course, but that's not my point, I'm asking where the procedure is to safeguard images taken by school staff. Posters who are teachers have confirmed that even images taken on school phones could be shared inappropriately, how is that deemed to be OK by Ofsted? There don't appear to be any safeguards.

[spanieleyes]

It's OK with OFSTED if a degree of risk assessment has taken place, procedures are in place and practice monitored. Those are the safeguards.

[saraclara]

A few years ago, the parents of one of my pupils weren't able to come to see him get an award. I told them that I'd video the moment for them, and let the head know I was doing so.
Unfortunately I did so on my own phone (she'd assumed I'd use a work iPad)
At the end of the event I was called to her office and told that I must never do that again, and that after sending the video to the parents, I needed to show her that the video had been deleted.
Because the policy had not been made clear at the time, and there'd been some miscommunication on both our parts, I wasn't disciplined for it, thank goodness.

Several years on of course, all schools will have much tighter procedures. So I think it's highly unlikely that this teacher should have been filming on her own phone.

[coconuttelegraph]

It's OK with OFSTED if a degree of risk assessment has taken place, procedures are in place and practice monitored. Those are the safeguards

I'm not exoecting you to answer on behalf of schools or Ofsted but what is there to stop a teacher sharing images or videos recorded at school. Telling them not to share isn't a procedure, how is it monitored? Do schools have special software on their devices to stop any kind of sharing?

It's not something that I've thought about before but this thread has got me thinking about whether any kind of control on this is possible.

[Mamato2gorgeousboys]

Op, get a real problem. You have no idea why the teacher was filming and unless you have any specific safeguarding concerns, then don’t be that annoying parent who emails the Headteacher and wastes everyones time.

[Nowayorhighway]

It was probably for the school’s website or social media. My DC’s school post on Twitter, they only post the children whose parents have given permission.

[LolaSmiles]

I'm not exoecting you to answer on behalf of schools or Ofsted but what is there to stop a teacher sharing images or videos recorded at school. Telling them not to share isn't a procedure, how is it monitored? Do schools have special software on their devices to stop any kind of sharing?
No special software. Ultimately it comes down to a mix of professionalism and safeguarding.

For example, using a personal phone is not inherently more risky than using a school phone, but a policy that says school phone only protects the member of staff. It also means the school phone would be signed in and out so there's a record of who is using it and when and what for.

There's no safeguarding that would 100% guarantee nothing untoward would happen. Schools have to take reasonable steps to safeguard and report concerns.

[InACheeseAndPickle]

I would wonder firstly why on earth the teacher would want a video of school children singing for her own personal video collection and secondly how much OP has been stalking her that she knows about what calls she was making during the interval and exactly what this teacher's personal responsibilities are within the school.

[SmileEachDay]

Of course, but that's not my point, I'm asking where the procedure is to safeguard images taken by school staff

We are DBS checked and we look after people’s actual children day in, day out.

That’s the safeguard, essentially. If you trust me with your child, then you can trust me with pictures of your child.

There is no failsafe system though; predators can and do work in all professions.

[TabbyMctatTheBuskersCat]

On her phone is a bit of a worry, every school I've worked in we have school cameras/ipads we take photos of the class on but would never take photos on our mobiles because in a lot of schools it is in the safeguarding policy that you are not allowed to, my current school we aren't even allowed our phones out if there is a child in the room, even on trips we have the school mobile not our personal ones.

There was an outstanding nursery not far from me who got in trouble with Ofsted over staff taking photos on their phones to send to parents so most schools near me are really hot on no phones at all