Nursery posted my child's image online

[An0n1]

So my child's father doesn't know where my child goes to nursery due to safeguarding reasons which were explained to the nursery when I registered him and also confirmed to them by social services. I asked them to ensure that his photo is not shared on the public social media page for the nursery. But they've shared a group photo with his face clearly visible. In the past they've used emojis to cover him which I was fine with as noone but me would have known it was him. I've contacted them to ask them to remove it as soon as possible but given that it's now the weekend I imagine this won't be done until Monday so it'll likely be up for a few days. I'm just wondering how to deal with this, I would have expected better from them and while I know it's unlikely that his father would have seen the photos there is still a risk and I have always been completely uncomfortable with his image being shared online anyway particularly on public profiles that anyone could interact with. I'm not great with conflict and I also need to retain a good working relationship with the nursery as it overlaps slightly with my job and i do understand people are human and make mistakes but I also want to be really cross because they know why I declined consent. It's really shaken my confidence in their ability to keep him safe along with a few other niggles I've had such as the gates which are meant to be secure being left open by other parents or delivery drivers. There's a few times I've been able to go in to collect my child with noone knowing I was there until I was in the room with him and all the kids which just seems very lax compared to the nursery we used previously who were very on top of these types of things.

There's a few times I've been able to go in to collect my child with noone knowing I was there until I was in the room with him

Have you flagged this to them? What was their response?

Tbh I'd move him. They sound dangerously lax and that would make me wonder what else they were lax on

I do have issues with confrontation and the previous times I'd got in because another parent had let me in on their way out. And I do understand how other parents who don't have the same safeguarding concerns as I do may not be aware of why this isn't okay to do and are probably just being helpful/friendly which could be hard for the staff to actually manage especially at busy pick up/drop off times. So I was to-ing and fro-ing in my head whether to address it but now this has happened I know I'm going to have to bring both up. Other family members think I'm OTT and should say nothing which makes me second guess myself a lot and I do really worry that if I move him another place might not be any better - there's a limited amount of options in our area and he's been on the waiting list for another one for 6 months now that I put him down on as a back up incase he wasn't happy where he currently is as it was the only provider with space available and i know some people who moved their kids from other nurseries to this one. Ds really struggled to settle in, having been really, really happy at his last nursery so I'm just really loathe to move him if he's finally happy and settled after so much change. But obviously safety has to come first. I'm thinking of meeting with the manager to discuss my concerns but then I'm left waiting to see if there are any more issues and I'll be annoyed with myself if there are and I gave them the chance to sort it out.

This is basic safeguarding and I am horrified that this has happened to you.
we were all emailed at my children’s nursery to remind us that one of the terms and conditions we signed was to not let any other parents in. So absolutely raise this as a concern.

When I worked in a school, pupils' images could only be published with permission from the parents. (A letter was sent out at the beginning of the school year.)

I'm surprised that the nursery has posted an image without permission.

Yes I had to sign consent forms re use of photographs when ds registered. I was happy for his image to be used in their private app which can only be seen by the parents of the children in his room, but not on the public website or social media pages which are visible to anyone. I work in a similar field and I'm also annoyed because I know I always do my due diligence about safeguarding in my own job so I know it should be something they're all over. It's really disappointing. To be honest I was shocked that he seems to be the only one in his room who isn't allowed their image on public social media. I really didn't expect to be the only parent to decline it. Our previous nursery would never have posted the children going there online on their website etc and only used the parents app which to me makes so much more sense.

You should definitely send a written complaint, requiring them to remove the image.

My old HT wasn't happy with me because I refused the school permission to use my image.

This isn’t about you having issues with confrontation, you need to speak to the manager. Basic safeguarding has been overlooked with the gate issue.

The photo issue is just so basic it would have me wondering what else they weren't getting right.

Also I agree about moving him regardless of what they say they will do in response to the photo. What you've written shows a consistent pattern of poor safeguarding.

This nursery sounds incredibly lax and there's no way I'd feel comfortable sending my child somewhere anyone from the street could walk into without staff knowing.

Personally, I would comment on the photo and message the social media account. I’d also report the image to Facebook (or whoever). While the main admin person may not be checking the main email account until Monday, someone will have access to the Facebook account as linked to their personal account (the owner or manager) because that’s how Facebook works. Or other staff will follow the page and will see your comment and can contact the manager directly for you.

Commenting on the photo will bring so much more attention to it and link op and therefore her DC directly to it - that doesn't seem like a good idea in these circumstances! You could use FB messenger, pp is right that someone might get a FB notification over the weekend.

I'm sorry this is happening. You are going to have to meet with them to discuss how acceptable this all is. You can be assertive without it descending into 'conflict'.

Commenting on it is a terrible idea!

You do know that his photos in the nursery will already be all over social media, don’t you? At least one parent will be saving or screenshotting photos from the parent app and putting them onto their social media to show their kid’s days at nursery, and your child will be in some of those photos. You just aren’t facebook friends with all the parents so won’t see them. There is almost always one parent in every school and nursery class who does this. Can’t say its a 100% chance but it’s pretty close; if you gave permission for his photos to be sent to other parents in the app then they will be on social media.

i would definitely try and find another nursery or a childminder. Is there a local school nursery? Some childminders pick up from these too.

Shocking that they put a photo of your child into the public domain knowing your situation. I would also report them to Ofsted. The door thing is a safe guarding issue too. At my daughter’s nursery we were never allowed to let anyone else in.

I do understand this, it is very thoughtless on their part if they do this but I know it's something people just don't always have awareness of. If I don't allow his photos on the app then I don't get to see them either and the nursery also don't really give much of an update as to how he's got on, or what he did so if I don't see those I feel like I'll know even less about his day than I already do. At least they are probably less likely to be tagged to the specific nursery he is at than it being on their actual social media pages

It doesn’t work like that. On the app they blank out any faces of children whose parents don’t consent to sharing images.