Review Date: Spring 2014
Next Review Date: Spring 2015
Person in charge: Headteacher
Photographic Permission
At the beginning of each academic year photographic permission letters will be issued to all children. The permissions gained will remain in force until the beginning of the next academic year, or written instruction by a parent retracting already obtained permission, is obtained.
Any child not returning a permission slip, or a permission slip which is returned with a negative reply, will lead to that child being excluded from general photography.
Curricular Uses of Photographs
Photographs taken for curricular, assessment, security, registration, training and development or travel reasons will not be used for any other purpose. Photographs for use in these situations may be taken and used even if a parent has refused permission for general photographs to be taken.
General Photography
The term general photographs refers to all instances of photography that do not fall under Curricular uses. All photographs in this category must be suitable for purpose and not show any circumstances that may cause embarrassment or be deemed compromising.
School Trips
Photography by staff on school trips and visits may be used in the curriculum and displayed within the school or at parents’ evenings to illustrate the work of the school unless specific objections have been raised by a parent. Parents will be informed at the beginning of the year that photography of trips will take place and be given an opportunity to have their child excluded from such photographs.
Photographs Taken By Children
As the school embraces the digital age, photography by children in support of their work will become more prevalent. The photographs taken by the children are subject to the same restricts as those taken by adults and must be stored accordingly.
Publicising the School
Publicity photography is helpful in publicising the success of the school and in promoting educational initiatives. From time to time members of the press and media are invited into schools to cover events celebrating success. However, the views of parents who, for any reason, do not wish their children to appear in such photographs will be respected at all times with permission being sought before any such material is used.
Purchasing Photographs/Images
Parents may be allowed to purchase a copy of a photograph/s of their individual child, or as part of a group, involved in a school activity, if the parents of the other children in the group are in agreement. Any profit gained from such sales will be paid into school fund for either general or specific use.
Parental Photography
Photography is normally forbidden for reasons of child protection or out of respect for the rights and privacy of individuals. If so, photography opportunities will, instead, be arranged before or after a performance or event, if possible.
During all photographic opportunities parents should be aware that it is the school’s policy and Sunderland policy that mobile phone cameras are banned and their use is unacceptable.
School Photograher
Class and individual or group photographs are annual school events. Parents will be asked in advance whether or not they wish their children to be included in these events. The school will ensure that only reputable commercial photographers are involved and recognise that the law allows them to retain the copyright in the photographs.
Storage and Retention of Photographs
Photographs should be stored only in the following location:
- Staff server, official photos.
Under normal circumstances no photographs should be stored on classroom machines or in any other location.
Photos that are stored should be in the official school photos file and dated and named to enable easy identification.
e.g. football photos 230409 CLC trip 130109
Photographs will normally only be retained for the school year that they pertain to. At the end of a school year photo storage files will be deleted. Exceptions will be made for photographs that are being retained to provide an achive, showing the history of the school, CD/DVD disk.
Photographs and the internet
Through our website we seek to promote our school. Photographs containing children will only be posted to our website after permission has been sought and gained, in the form of completed reply slips, from parents. Permission must be gained by use of our official Website Permission letters. All completed reply slips and a copy of the original letter must be handed to the ICT coordinator for storage and will be retained for as long as the photograph/s remain the website.
If photographs are used on the internet no names must be used on the page containing the photographs that could potentially identify the children.
Definition
The terms photo/photograph/photography/photographic used throughout this document refer to any still and moving images that have been recorded either digitally or on film.
Wessington Primary School’s photography policy has been drawn up in accordance with data protection and human rights legislation using Sunderland City Council’s Guidance Document as the main source.