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View Full Version : cant use cameras in our childrens center



mushpea
24-04-2012, 02:09 PM
we have recently been told by our local childrens center that we can no longer use our own cameras in the center even though our drop in session is a closed group, we are all registered with the ICO and we all have our own permision to take photos of the children. Apparently its incase the cameras or cards get lost , the childrens center now lends us their camera which is fine but then I have missed out on several wow moments with children because somone else is already using the camera, they cant email us the pictures but have to print them out to give them to us to take home so not only do they then look odd in the childrens learning journeys as we all use pogo printers but there is nothing to say we wont loose the printed photo as we could the camera.
what is really annoying is that the NCMA gave us the cameras at the childrens center to use in the first place.
has anyone else come accross this at their childrens centers?

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
24-04-2012, 02:12 PM
Yes we have the same at our children centre as well but the camera they use is really really old and not much use. I have to admitted if there is no one around I have used my camera on my phone to take a quick picture of just my little ones :blush: naughty I know.

loocyloo
24-04-2012, 02:56 PM
Yes we have the same at our children centre as well but the camera they use is really really old and not much use. I have to admitted if there is no one around I have used my camera on my phone to take a quick picture of just my little ones :blush: naughty I know.

me too! i just always make sure that ONLY my mindee is on the photo! ( also at the childminders group, it usually only a few of us and NO ONE from centre is in the room! )

or i do a quick scribbled written ob.

~Grasshopper~
24-04-2012, 03:16 PM
i also only use my phone, then bluetooth it to the pogo :)

id just be sneaky and make sure they dont notice
x

appleblossom
24-04-2012, 04:43 PM
We can't use them at the CM drop in or toddler group. It's the same venue (church hall) and although Surestart have nothing to do with the toddler group as it's run by the church Surestart have stuck up notices which really are for the CM drop in but are taken to apply to the toddler group as well.

mushpea
24-04-2012, 04:51 PM
this has really anoyed me because the whole reason we pay the ICO fee is to cover us for if somthing happens and they should allow for us to be able to use our own cameras because of this.
we wrote a letter to the head of our childrens center stating all the reasons why we should be allowed and yet still they say no, it just seems wrong that I pay all this money out to safegaurd children yet we cannot be trusted in a childrens center of all places that shoudl understand us

jumping j
24-04-2012, 04:55 PM
same at our local sure starts too.
I took a sneaky one today, no sure start employers around just us CM's who all said the same, what they don't know...

Really wound me up, I'd have missed a few wow moments if I'd had to run to the entrance, get their camera and get back all in time to see lo building a tower, the tower would have been knocked down by the time I got back!

Mouse
24-04-2012, 05:09 PM
Our CC is still ok about us using cameras at the moment, though I do wonder how long that will last.

Have you asked what their reasoning is behind having a ban? If you could get a list of the reasons, you could work through it point by point saying why it doesn't apply to you, how you can work round it etc.

onceinabluemoon
24-04-2012, 05:42 PM
So... are they all so brilliant that they won't lose the camera with everybody's photos on there? No photos should mean no photos, not you can take photos with our camera...

zippy
24-04-2012, 09:00 PM
Have they not heard about working in partnership, they are preventing you from doing your job, I would explain this and if they persisted I would make an official complaint, i would enclose a risk assessment password locks on phone cameras etc, answer every arguement they might have in letter, as long as no other kids are in pics it ridiculous an another case of the world gone mad. Complete jobsworths. Sorry rant over

toddlers896
24-04-2012, 09:07 PM
We were just having this converstion yesterday at our CM group. We are also not allowed to take photos and its really frustrating as how are we supposed to show mum and dad what the kids get up to. My mindee was one on friday and i asked for permission to take photos for mum but she wouldnt let me but it was okay for her to do it and give me a copy mmmm.:panic:

zippy
24-04-2012, 09:12 PM
I can feel a petition starting lol

Mouse
24-04-2012, 09:20 PM
I know a lot of this has come about because of high profile cases where nursery staff have taken and shared inappropriate photos of children in their care.

But in those situations there is no need for a member of nursery staff to have their own camera/camera phone on them, so it's not a problem to ban them. If they want to take legitimate photos of children they should be using the nursery camers.

In the case of a childminder however, taking photos is part of our job & Ofsted actively encourage it. We have access to cameras in our own home and, let's be honest, if a cm was to take inappropriate pictures they're more likely to do it in the safety of their home than in a children's centre. Would it be suggested that we can't be trusted with them in our homes?

I can see that cameras shouldn't be taken into a toilet or changing room, but I can't see the problem in a room full of childminders and parents.

zippy
24-04-2012, 09:25 PM
Maybe if you included some of mouses wording in a letter they would see how ridiculous they are being

ajs
25-04-2012, 06:08 AM
If we are not allowed pictures of our own mindees on our own cameras, why is it ok for the staff to have pictures of our mindees on their camera.

Bridey
25-04-2012, 06:20 AM
If we are not allowed pictures of our own mindees on our own cameras, why is it ok for the staff to have pictures of our mindees on their camera.

Exactly what I was about to say ...

rickysmiths
25-04-2012, 06:20 AM
We have this in our CC now. When, for a brief time, we ran a cm group there we were allowed to use cameras and I have loads of photos of my los at the group.

Our cm group is registered with NCMA and we are allowed to use our cameras as long as we are registered with ICO.

Once our CC got their Surestart status they made the groups life so impossible we gave up and they run nothing for childminders and their children.

I go to a couple of toddler groups and there is no ban on using cameras but none of the parents ever take pics of their los!

They way I feel in general about CC and the way they openly discriminate I wouldn't use them for a toddler group anyway.

I guess that is your ultimate choice. Vote with your feet and hold your cm group somewhere else. Stuff the CC and their unexplained rules set by a jobs worth in an office who has no idea what a cm does and a wimp of a manager who they themselves don't see how stupid it is.

Mouse
25-04-2012, 08:19 AM
If we are not allowed pictures of our own mindees on our own cameras, why is it ok for the staff to have pictures of our mindees on their camera.

It's not that we're not allowed pictures, it's that they are trying to prevent anyone taking inappropriate pictures.

The ultimate aim is to protect the children, not to stop us taking any pictures, but they seem to go about it in a very heavy handed way. They ban anyone from using cameras & camera phones to prevent inappropriate pictures being taken. As a compromise, they allow you to use a designated camera, that they can control, so that you still get photos and they fill the brief of protecting the children and making sure no inappropriate pictures are taken in their setting.

It's the 'one rule fits all' attitude that is rubbish. Childminders take photos as part of their job and it seems stupid to say you can take photos anywhere else, with no one watching (so could be doing anything), but they won't let you take them in a room full of people. I don't see anything wrong with photos being taken in a cm group. We have permission from parents, are registered with ICO (not that I think that means anything!) and we use the photos to fulfil our Ofsted requirements.

Mouse
25-04-2012, 08:20 AM
And I would imagine the CC prints the photos then deletes them, so they are not storing them permanently.

Ripeberry
25-04-2012, 08:27 AM
Well at our centre they encourage it! Strange how it's so different around the country.

mushpea
25-04-2012, 11:20 AM
our group got together and wrote a letter to the childrens center head office asking if we could have permision to take photos on our own cameras as we are a closed group, we stated that we have permsion and policys in place and that we pay the ICO so that we can take photots. we recived a letter back with a reply saying that it would got to the next anuual meeting but that they couldnt promise anything.
I was just thinking that if we all write similar letters they would have to sit up and take notice.
it seems that they have done an overall policy for this not taking in to account that we have our own things in place to protect the children in our care.