AIBU to want more photos from my child’s nursery

[HelloWorld2577]

To keep it brief. I’ve had multiple children attend this nursery over the past 5 years. My daughter is now there and has been for the past two years.

When my other children attended the nursery they would do daily posts which included a mixture of individual posts with photos of just my child and group posts where you could see what all the class were doing. Either way they were updating the app (tapestry) daily or at the very least 3 out of 5 days a week.

My older child left there last year and since the posts have really deteriorated. I’ve just had a look and since coming back from Christmas (my daughter attends full time) there have only been 2 group posts, one of those posts she wasn’t in it, and one you could see the back of her head.

I know it may sound trivial but I find it very frustrating that they charge £75 a day and I don’t even get to see what my daughters doing at nursery, I also have mum guilt for working full time & some mornings she struggles to go in so would put me at ease to just see what she’s doing. I raised it with management after my older child left and said I wasn’t getting many photos or updates on the app and they simply said they don’t have time to do individual posts now so they are trying to take photos of all children to post on one group post. This itself I find an issue because there are usually between 50 and 80 photos per group post and then I have to go through every photo like a detective searching for the side of my child’s head! It’s frustrating. when I raised it previously they said they were trying to do a couple of group posts a week but as I said above they’ve only done 2 posts over the last 3 weeks.

AIBU? I really want to raise it again but I don’t want to be one of those parents!! I understand they’re busy but if every other nursery do it why can’t they? It just seems lazy?!

How do I bring it up AGAIN?!

I think the expectation of lots of photos is a bit strange anyhow, because I expect staff to be looking after and interacting with the DC rather than taking pix.

I'd also be uneasy as staff having phones readily available round the pupils. Personal phones should be shut away, and having to remember to fetch the "official" phone or camera must be a bit of a PITA

Also possible that there is now a DC in the group whose image must not be published.

I was thinking the same thing @LesserSpottedDalmation

DS’s nursery also uses tapestry, but what used to be a simple upload of photo now has additional info they include like “social development / language skills/ motor skills” etc so I can see why it takes longer.

I like seeing photos of my daughter at nursery, sometimes they post a photo a day, sometimes none. I’d much rather they spent the time interacting and looking after her than updating the app so I wouldn’t complain and can’t blame them for not uploading things .

Social media culture madness.

Trust the staff to do their job and look after your child. You can take all the photos you want at home.

8 is a low number of children per key person! I often had 20 when I worked in nursery.

A focus day or week doesn't mean that is the only time a key person spends with a particular child, it's just a way of managing the time demand for photos and observations to ensure every child gets some.

Thank goodness for that. When the idea of photographing 'evidence' for the EYFSP first came in we (school nursery and Reception) were supposed to print them out and stick them in a scrap books for the parents. They called it a Learning Journey and it was a complete waste of time. Children coming into Reception from other nurseries brought their Learning Journey for me to look at. It told me nothing so I didn't bother. I was there to actually teach not provide cute photo albums.

Thankfully I've been retired for nearly 10 years.

Ours doesn't have an app and I'm delighted tbh, presume they'll bring one in and I wouldn't be in favour unless it saved the staff time compared to the information they record on paper now. As everyone has said, I'd rather the time was spent with the DC.

they simply said they don’t have time to do individual posts now so they are trying to take photos of all children to post on one group post. They've explained.

You don't need the pictures, you just want the pictures. They are more stretched than ever and have to focus on the priorities.

Surely most parents would want to staff engaging with the children not taking pictures? I really don't understand this at all. I don't think I have a single picture from any of my DCs nursery days. They just went off and I assumed they had fun unless I heard otherwise.

I get sent a photo or two via WhatsApp maybe once a month, and the class WhatsApp gets a few photos about once a week on average. Sure it would be nice to get more pictures but I'm glad the staff get to spend their time focusing on the children.

I'm 'old school' and horrified at the thought of the staff having to take photos, upload them etc.... and is it good for DC to see the staff using phones so much ? ... we all say young people these days are obsessed with social media etc so why the need to start taking photos at nursery? .
You need to ask yourself why you feel guilty about putting your DC in nursery .. is that why you feel the need to see photos all the time?
My DC went to playschool/nursery from 2 - I was a SAHM so he didn't 'have to' but I wanted him to so that he could meet other DC, interact with other adults etc etc ... I didn't feel any 'guilt' about it and I certainly didn't need to see photographic evidence of what he was doing ... I got drawings, reading books and craft work sent home and termly parents evenings ... and a chat at handover if necessary... surely that's enough?

What would you rather, your DDs key worker spend her time and attention on your DD and her classmates, or that she ignores your DD and her classmates to fiddle about taking pics and updating the app for (20?) children? Because that’s your options - she either pays attention to your child or she pays attention to her phone.

The staff are clearly just lazy slackers. Go tell them!

I am finding it quite comically that people are assuming that taking a photo while a child is doing an activity is taking time away from the child. You do realise that a photo take a second to take lol.
As I previously said I have experience in nurseries and I would set up activities that I had planned so what's the harm in having the room camera with me to snap a quick shot. It's taking nothing away from that child. Additionally children are encouraged to play independently which is also a great time for photo taking.
They don't use personal phones, typically a room has a designated camera or iPad. Photo taking isn't unprofessional done on a phone.
Each to their own but the OP is stating her child isn't always happy to go to nursery so surely the key worker can accommodate a photo once in a while.
Also while I appreciate they're taking hundreds of photos of the children it doesn't reassure OP when there is literally a single photo of the back of her child's head.

Yeah, 8 years ago I didn’t get a running commentary thank god, they were there so I could concentrate on work. They were safe and they would call with issues.

I honestly think the world has gone mad, all this helicopter parenting. Wouldn’t you much rather the staff were focused and in the room rather than faffing about taking pictures for an App?

sounds to me like you’ve lost all sense or normal and your priorities are all off!

I don't think taking the photos takes any real time, but uploading them to the app and tagging the right children in each photo etc must surely?

I am with most people on this thread.

My son is at nursery and we get a photo and description maybe once or twice a week, used as a development update rather than just a photo.

I disagree with the others saying they have time because ‘it only takes a second’. It’s all the kids and then time to upload them to all the different accounts.

My previous childminder took shit loads of photos but had the kids in front of the tv all day while she went on social media.

It didn’t seem to be a problem when I was at nursery not having photos!

There is a childcare and education crisis in this country and staff are quitting. Don’t pull them up on stuff that they aren’t doing wrong.

and is it good for DC to see the staff using phones so much ? ... we all say young people these days are obsessed with social media etc so why the need to start taking photos at nursery?

This exactly. Mine are at school and on the odd occasion there will be a photo on the school newsletter etc, but I’d actually prefer if they could go the whole school day without seeing an iPhone or an iPad.
I would never specifically request that staff get out these kinds of devices MORE.

I work at a centre here in Australia, we have to upload photos of morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea (parents have requested. Just documenting meals isn't enough anymore) along with individual photos (our room has 22 children) and our group focus actvities, along with the learning stories to go with it. It's crazy the amount of paper work we have to do and parents still expect more.

Yes, this is true.

The onus is on spending time with the children and their care/learning, not in taking photos and making observations. Thank goodness!

But it doesn't take less than 5 minutes to upload/send out individual photos for each child. That takes hours!

TBH, I think as long as your dd is happy to go, and comes home happy, that's all the evidence you need.

Yikes that's exceedingly excessive! When do you actually find time to play, chat and engage with the children??

I totally get you.

My son’s nursery is wonderful. They take daily photos of my son enjoying himself and smiling. This is really important to me, especially at the moment when he’s clingy and upset at drop off.

When his key worker can see that I’m quite distressed by his reaction, she sends me a photo about 20 minutes later with my son, beaming his gorgeous little head off! So reassuring.

We moved so we had to change nursery. Our old one sent several photos a day but our current one is 2 photos a month.

The issue is it’s a change to what you’re used to, which is why many posters don’t sympathise. I was really unhappy about it at first but now I just accept that’s how they do things. It’s a good nursery and a staged photo of my child won’t make a difference to that.