Showing your face on zoom/mask wearing

[niceupthedance]

Hello hope someone can offer some advice. DS' primary school are saying he cannot have his camera off in zoom classes any more as it's a safeguarding concern and "lots of children probably don't want their faces seen" (well DS is autistic not just having a bad hair day!)

As a result, they have "invited" him to go back to school but as our area is in the top 5 highest infections in the uk, all children in years 4-6 are wearing face coverings at all times. I thought autistic people and children were exempt? School are saying this is not the case.

There are a lot of other issues here (not safeguarding!) but just wondered if anyone knows is this government guidance on zoom cameras and children wearing masks being compulsory? I have looked online and not been able to find anything...

www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own

When you do not need to wear a face covering

In settings where face coverings are required in England there are some circumstances where people may not be able to wear a face covering.

Please be mindful and respectful of such circumstances. Some people are less able to wear face coverings, and the reasons for this may not be visible to others.

This includes (but is not limited to):

children under the age of 11 (Public Health England does not recommend face coverings for children under the age of 3 for health and safety reasons)
people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability

Your son has autism which is recognised as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. Schools have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with disabilities. A reasonable adjustment would be to allow him to attend school without a mask/ face covering.

Oh thank you for this so helpful 🙏

My daughter is autistic and has recently returned to school, but before that she was allowed to turn her camera off after her teacher had confirmed she was there. Some schools have decided that all pupils cameras will be off all the time!

They certainly can't insist he wears a face covering, I'm not even sure if they can insist on the other children under the age of 11.

There is a setting in zoom where you can hide your camera from yourself. I do this is I find it distracting/hurts my brain to watch myself (not an egoist, there are studies that back up how draining it could be.) Would that help your son? Or does he categorically not want other people to see him?

Oh that's interesting I will see if I can find that setting. They are having a "show your pet" bit tomorrow and he really wants to show our dog so I will suggest it thanks.

Yes, I turned off being able to see myself when I had a zoom interview. Last thing you want to see in a job interview is your own face!