School photos consent: refusing public website but child excluded from events

[Rachirooo]

I'm interested to hear from primary school parents who don't post pics of their children in school uniform on their own social media, but do allow the school to post pics of them on their website and social media?

I'd love to see what my child has been up to at school. These pics used to be in a private section of the school website that we had to log in to. I didn't mind that and loved seeing the pics. The school have now removed this section of the website so any stranger can view pics of the kids. Now it feels like the kids are just being used for free advertising rather than informing us of what they're up to in class so I've removed consent.

They also post frequently with the days of the events so it's really easy for a predator to work out the school timetable, when they go to forest school etc. I think it's a safeguarding issue.

My child is now excluded from any event where pics might be taken and he gets upset, as do I, that I don't get to see what he's up to at school. He definitely feels singled out and I feel like I'm going overboard. I know that's my doing by removing consent but it does seem unfair when the website used to work so well.

He's going to be in a choir competition soon and I won't get to see anything.

Maybe how our school website used to work is unusual and most parents don't get to see what their primary age kids are doing at school?

Do any other schools break down the consent. Eg, I don't consent to website/socials/newspapers but I consent to pics up on the wall in school etc.

A secure bit of the website is never secure though. That was a false sense of privacy. Anyone could easily download or screenshot the images and share as they like.

Our school states that if you do not want your child's photo used for advertising purposes (eg trips, visits to local businesses) then they may have to be excluded from the event. I think this is fair enough.

Rubbish i work in a school we just make sure to edit,/blur or use different pics we dotn exclude children because they cant have their photo taken. Many cant for safeguarding reasons etc or parental choice and that is perfectly fine. School respect that and work around it. To penalise a child and not let them take part is wrong and discriminatory.

Schools have been pitted against each other as education becomes increasingly marketised. Schools need bums on seats for the per head funding.

Many parents are lacking in imagination and believe that the schools that take more pictures and share them frequently do more interesting things/are better than schools that don't use loads of tech and don't constantly interrupt the children's learning to take lots of photos....

There's an academy chain near us that is Outstanding and people drive miles to attend their schools, turning their noses up at their local village primaries as they drive past. This is because the academy chain has employed PR and marketing staff and plasters hundreds of pictures of every activity all over the place. People think other schools do none of the same stuff but it is just that they are busy doing it, not documenting it! The Outstanding schools are oversubscribed....which encourages other schools to emulate their social media tactics.

You’re on slippery ground with that. The kids who can’t have their photos taken for genuine reasons cannot be discriminated against. My child couldn’t have anything identifying our location online due to their father’s family, and I’d have taken legal action against your school.

They also post frequently with the days of the events so it's really easy for a predator to work out the school timetable, when they go to forest school etc. I think it's a safeguarding issue.

Op - I think this bit makes you sound a bit mad. It is not healthy to be this paranoid.

You can highlight children's activities in a way that does not show any of them, I am sure. No child should be unable to take part because of a safeguarding issue, because of a parent or relative.

Well I assume you've explained to your DC why they cannot be included and don't complain to the school when your DC is upset they've been asked to step aside?

But that’s not what you said your school does. You exclude them from the entire event. You don’t just ask them to step aside from a photo.

Stop trying to make this the parent’s fault. You deserve to get sued.

Why would I get sued? I don't set the rules, or even work there. I don't give consent for my child's picture to be used for advertising and I accept that they may be excluded, based on a decision I've made.

You're kidding, right. Schools are there for pupil activities not the other way round. 😳

I agree. A key safeguarding principle under Keeping Children Safe in Education is that the risk of identifying a child can itself be a safeguarding concern.

Images can enable a child to be identified or located, particularly when combined with details such as names, school uniforms, specific locations. This presents heightened risks for vulnerable groups, including children with no-contact orders and children living in refuge or witness protection contexts.

In line with KCSIE, best practice is to minimise these risks by avoiding the use of identifiable images, opting instead for non-identifiable photographs, using images only within restricted-access platforms, and, where necessary, removing or excluding specific children from photography altogether to ensure they aren’t put at risk.

Schools have a duty to be inclusive. It didn't worry me if my kids' primary schools used photos of them in publicity materials, but they never went over the top with it, and with no danger to my DC it wasn't a worry. Not every child is that lucky.
As soon as they were old enough to make their own decision about use of images, they refused permission. Their choice, just as it's OP's to distrust the integrity of this particular school's processes.

Mine are both adults now.
We didn't consent for photos in press or social media.

The DC weren't excluded from doing activities, but occasionally had to move to the side when photos were being done, or sent on an errand. They understood why we didn't consent and when old enough they would actively mention or avoid if school were taking a photo.

It has never been the norm to see what kids are up to in school, so it is no great harm not to be in these photos.

The exception to this was the y5 trip when the school helpfully sent private photos to us so we could see DD was OK rather than her appearing on the school twitter. (It had been touch and go whether she would be up to attending so the reassurance was nice.)

I don’t post or take my children out in uniform but I do allow photos to be posted in the school social media / website / brochures for this very reason. I tried letting them come in with messy hair to avoid them being photographed & the teacher combed and styled their hair beforehand lol.

Bollocks. The school have a duty of care to all children. There may be some who’ve been in a DV situation, or who are adopted/fostered. Why should they miss out?

It’s very lazy. We just had a letter about an event that is voluntary attendance for all, except if you don’t consent to photos and videos your child is excluded because it’s deemed “too difficult” to redact them. Sometimes I can’t believe the shit that comes out of this school.

I’m in an education setting- we always put those children on the end of rows, so they can be cropped out.

Some parents don't even allow them to be in the photograph, regardless as to whether it is shared or not.

Is it discrimination? Genuinely asking because my child is being excluded from an event because of this. School have said if you consent to them attending you also consent to the photos and videos (which are publicly available).

For DV reasons I can’t have my DC photos online in their uniform so my child can’t attend. I didn’t think I could object given it’s not a compulsory activity.

I think if it is a school organised event I wouldn't be happy at having to be excluded and would view it as discriminatory.

However if it is eg a local business running and event for local schools and wanting the publicity for it, then it could be hard. My DC had to miss a similar event as the school just couldn't guarantee she wouldn't be in photos.

Who is organising the event?

Whose time are you using to do the redacting?? Checking the class lists, looking at each photo, checking every child? The class teacher? The office manager? The TA? If there is one anymore.
what jobs would you rather they didn’t do in order for these photos to be available to all??
Planning the next lesson? Writing IEPs? Completing pay roll? Running the anger management intervention???
Photos for the school website are so utterly trivial. They add nothing to your child’s education. Nothing.

I’m a teacher and in school leadership, so I usually err 100% on the side of the school in situations like these. But I think the school are being really unreasonable.

Excluding a student from a choir event because they don’t have photo consent. What the actual…!? That would warrant a huge complaint from me. What about students in care, with abusive home situations, or any other perfectly reasonable reason that their faces can’t be shown in public photos. They just get excluded from all school events!?

Complain OP. Make a fuss. This is really bad.

There is a whole spectrum of options that the school has regarding photo sharing, some of which have been given as examples in this thread. E.g. A private class photo sharing app, blurring faces or putting stickers over students’ faces etc.

Also, I don’t allow my kids photos to be shared, so don’t let anyone make you feel crazy for taking that stance.

I disagree.
The school shouldn't be posting daily photos of current pupils, certainly not in the public domain. Behind a protected section is fine- my DCs nursery used to do this.
Any newsletters that were sent out were edited so that those without permission for photographs were blurred, or taken from behind them. Nobody was excluded.
In fact, doing anything else is skating close to throwing up safeguarding issues.