Teachers taking photos outside of school

[Always2022]

Hoping that somebody on here might be able to throw some light on a subject for me. Does anybody know the legalities of a Headteacher taking a photograph of a student after school and outside of the school grounds? I think she was hoping to catch out my ds (16) who is currently suspended for walking out of a class (not for anything violent, but he's clashing with his teacher and has very low tolerance at the moment). He was returning some trainers to a friend after school (outside of the grounds) and turned around to see the Headteacher taking photos of him! My instinct is that it can't be legal but I'm struggling to find the definitive answer to this via their policies on their website.
If anybody has any thoughts or even better knows what the legal standpoint would be, I'd be really grateful if you could comment on this post. Thanks in advance.

Your son is being photographed and filmed all the time OP (there is CCTV everywhere). It doesn't sound as if there was anything illegal or sneaky about the photography you refer to.

That the headteacher might want the picture to prove that your son was present at the school - and breaking his ban - is more of a worry. If your son was entitled to be there at that time - then there is no need to be concerned.

It sounds as if your battle isn't with the headteacher or the school and it isn't about photography. Your battle (and the school's battle) will be with your son's behaviour and the impact it is having on his education.

If his suspension had ended then the rules attached to it had ended too.

Plus I imagine the other kid needed their trainers for the weekend?

Unfortunately you can have a kid with the wrong behaviours In the wrong school. Some are nurturing with bret pastoral care who realise children acting out are communicating something.

Some just want well behaved robots. These zero tolerance schools contribute to the high numbers of children with MH difficulties we are experiencing. I say that as a pastoral support worker across schools for pupils with SEMH.

These are 2 separate issues.

Your sons behaviour, the route cause and supporting him to behave correctly by identifying that and seeking support.

If true that the HT is building a case against him that is a separate issue. If - for example - they found out he was on the street with peers at 3.45pm and school finished at 3.15pm (and suspension has ended or the school hours curfew) and she then went and got a camera to take a photo to use it against him it could indicate that they are trying to find all sorts of evidence against him (when he isn't doing anything wrong at this point) and seek to off role him. This is illegal but it happens. I've seen it.

Have you ever read about managed moves? These can be so good for pupils in this situation. If your feels the school won't give him a chance to get it right he'll struggle to manage his own behaviour more and get it right. And let's face it - a kid struggling with their behaviour isn't going to suddenly become a perfect angel. They need realistic targets and chances. We want them to become fully functioning and decent adults and need to help them with this.

It's a chance for your ds to move to another school on a 6 week trial. He'll have targets and if it goes well they will take him on role there. It's a fresh start. It's used for pupils at risk of exclusion to prevent exclusion.

If you decide to go this route then look for a school with great pastoral care, a good send unit, that doesn't practice zero tolerance (he's clearly not in the correct frame of mind to be able to manage detentions for things like forgetting a pen when his energies will be focussed on managing his emotions) and definitely I would avoid any school that's ofsted outstanding (usually these are the ones who don't do pastoral well!).

I'm not a great fan of excluding pupils from contact with peers during fixed term exclusions. It can be counterproductive.

But I'd definitely learn from this that meeting them away from school is highly recommended!

I clearly meant roll not role but my iPad had other ideas 🤦‍♀️🤣

Legal but unprofessional. Id put a DSAR form in with a specific request for the photos taken on that date!

If I were you, I would focus on the issue of your ds. The incident with the headteacher seems like a distraction.
I know how it feels to have a child excluded from school and to look for reasons to blame others, but it doesn’t help in the long run.

This.

Little wonder behaviour management takes so much time in schools . Dopey parents more concerned with how the school are dealing with their kid's Godawful behaviour than the behaviour itself.

There is no need to be rude @Johnnysgirl

Your son has been excluded for 'clashing with his teacher' and he has 'low tolerance.' You need to work on this rather than focussing on the headteacher taking a photo.

Agree. Your son is being antagonistic by showing up at the end of school. You should be concentrating on your suspended teen rather than the (slightly daft) actions of the HT

This. You're doing him no favours whatsoever by making him out to be a victim here.

@Octomore Oh my goodness - where on earth have I said that my son is a victim? I was merely asking a question.
Thanks for responding, but totally unhelpful.

The head wants to be able to prove that your DS was at school when he wasn’t meant to be. It’s a three day exclusion, it really isn’t that hard. If this other kid needed the trainers so badly why couldn’t you take them to their house?

You are finding excuses to bend the rules. I suspect this isn’t the first time you have put the blame somewhere else.

It sounds like school isn’t a good fit for him. Is this a sudden thing or has it been coming for a while? Id be furious if it turned out they did film him, how ridiculous.

can see now that the HT was clearly building up a case against him.

That sounds like saying he was a victim.

@PriamFarrl Actually, I've never bent the rules. Nor, was I intending to. I was asking a question to help frame how I was feeling. Some of the responses have been helpful in that regard. I don't understand why people feel the need to be rude when it isn't called for.

Sorry if this has already been said, but is he sure she was taking his photo? Could it not have been that she was watching him and emailing someone from her phone at the same time?

I'm an LSA in a secondary school and as someone else said, we are definitely not allowed to take photos of students on our personal devices.

This an excluded pupil shouldn’t be in a public place never mind at the school - any How the headteacher might not have taken a photo but taken a phone out in case your child was potentially going to cause a problem etc

@Pumperthepumper Thank you for your response. It's not a brand new thing but I think his frustration with many things have taken a toll - so we're working on it. He does have an issue with processing certain information - not an excuse for poor behaviour but most of the time he manages and then occasionally he gets overwhelmed then loses the ability to respond appropriately.

And that’s absolutely fair enough- he’s sixteen years old in a school of adults. I think people underestimate how taxing the routine of school is on loads of kids - so little control over their day, constantly bombarded with new learning, very little time for escape (through say, imaginative play or even somewhere to sit and read a book in peace). I honestly think if we put adults through what we expect from teenagers we would see riots.

Best thing for you to do now is encourage your son to concentrate on his GCSEs and allow the others in his class to concentrate on theirs too, rather than trying to find fault with the teachers and taking up their time with stuff like this. They'd rather be focusing on helping the kids who want to learn through their GCSEs.

@Hopeandlove Good point. I absolutely don't know if a photo was taken. The reintegration meeting will no doubt throw some light on this. Just to clarify, this was after school had finished and happened on the day the suspension finished also.

So the rule is that he can’t go to school and meet up with his friends? He has some trainers that he needs to pass on to another child so rather than doing this in your own houses, or between parents, you take him to school. Can’t you see how this is bending the rules?

I doubt very much that he's in a school of adults, actually. That's not the makeup of any normal school 🤨

It’s the adults who set the rules though.