Filming School Nativities

[Prudie]

A colleague is taking the pm off to watch her young grandson in his school nativity play. They've been told no filming and no photos (only those taken by the school can be bought). Is this now the norm with school events ? Don't you think it's all a step too far? It's such a shame.

[sherrardk]

Thinking about it, I think the photo thing is to protect the parents as the local paper is going in tomorrow to takes photos of all of the chicken in costume.

[EcclesCake]

I know Hereford is a strange place but I don't recall the locals looking like chickens.........

[sherrardk]

Whoops - children

[EcclesCake]

I used to visit Credenhill quite often, seeing someone dressed asa chicken wouldn't have surprised me all that much......

[pixie373]

I don't know about you, sherr, but we have to fill in a form each school year, asking whether we give permission for the child to be filmed or photographed and whether it can be used in the media or on the school website. Perhaps the answers that come back, affect whether parents can film plays etc. that year?

[ummmm]

Pixie - we had to do the same at my kids school.

[4getmenot]

ban videos then sell you the school one. yer that makes sense

[Mosaic]

Sometimes children and their parents are involved in a witness protection scheme and images or video getting out and about could compromise their safety.
Some school plays have seen competing adults come to blows over getting in each others shots.
And in at least one primary school in a posher suburb I dealt with 'X' could not appear in any images or video without express permission of her agency.

[joko]

and if they buy the pics from the school - they can still put them on websites if they wanted ... so what difference does that make?

[Mosaic]

The school pictures should be pre-approved by the school's child safety officer so that none put any child in danger. This includes not only images of vulnerable children not appearing, but ideally ensuring no individual child's face is displayed at a high resolution so that if they are eventually placed online they can't be repurposed or used to stalk a child.
BTW many schools are very lazy about this last issue.

[jake-the-peg]

damn ridiculous

Who is approving the 'safety' of the 100s of CCTV cameras that film them every day

[Mosaic]

Jake, the OP was specifically about filming children in a school. I think the issue of public surveillance is different.

[Peter Pedant]

Is it the law ? No - from the ICO site
Q: Does the Data Protection Act stop me taking photos of my children at school?

Q: Does the Data Protection Act stop me taking photos of my children at school?

No. Photos taken by family members purely for personal use are exempt from the Act. If a school has a policy that says photographs can't be taken, this will not be for data protection reasons.

^end of ICO excerpt

but may be for money purposes

Freddie or his little daughter may be able to advise is the skool say it is against the law and then charge, whether you can screw them for getting money by deception

[Peter Pedant]

Oh, the URL for the photos in skool is here
http://www.ico.org.uk/Global/faqs/photos

and from that you can navigate back to CCTV for domestic purposes (legal without registration etc )
and for business purposes.

[FredPuli43]

No Peter, my daughter's school never claimed it was illegal or subject to data protection. An international school in Kinightsbridge has better lawyers than to say that ! Parents there won't hesitate for a second in suing.

[Mosaic]

Still slightly off the point. it might for example be impossible to film only your own child in a school production - other kids are bound to be in shot. End of, it's the school's decision, and do you want your child / grandchild to be known as the one with the awkward-rse parnts who made that big fuss about the nativity?

[Mosaic]

And I expect a posh school in Knightsbridge will have even more reasons not to want their kids faces all over the net.

[Peter Pedant]

Mosaic - now quite end of:
they cant make an unlawful decision - and probably not an unreasoanble decision

In any skool of 100, how many would be classed as vulnerable ? by the way

[Peter Pedant]

knickers - *not* quite end of [sorry}

[Mosaic]

A very combative tone PP, and not really warranted. Last point first: the number of vulnerable children will vary across locations. Not many schools number only 100 children, most will be about twice that. Vulnerable children are not necessarily found only in economically poor areas but as with most social problems poverty exacerbates problems of abuse. I have worked in schools where most children have no father resident and are hungry, ratty and badly bruised. I have also worked in schools where mum is pimped by dad to posh country hotels and daughters are being groomed to help out.
I expect that what is permitted on school premises is decided by the school's governing body which will for many schools still include the local authority.
The guidance on child safety and use of photography on school premises is a policy set by the school and approved by the governors.
Each family signs up to this and a number of other agreements.
Which is why schools may make this and other decisions in order to best protect children.