Guest Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 Hello everyone, I wonder if you can tell me if you have a setting camera you use for photographs of the children or if members of staff use their own cameras? At the moment we use our own but in a recent child protection course they said we should not be doing this. The argument was that there are lots of children and staff were concerned there would be so many pictures and no one would remember whose were whose and generally fighting over the cameras I would be grateful to hear what you all do, thanks
Cait Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 I've got 3 cameras that I bought reconditioned on Fuji's website. They were about £30 each and are absolutely fantastic. Nice and small, they slip into a pocket for outside. They live in an airtight box in the locked cupboard, they are all put back at the end of the day.
Guest Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 Thank you Cait. Do you know if the usage of own cameras is guidance for good practice or compulsory? I have looked on Ofsted website and our county council and can't find anything relating to this. I actually think it's a good idea as it protects the staff as much as the children but think some members of staff will be very reluctant reluctant.
Inge Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 I always insisted staff did not use own cameras in the setting... however when we had a need ( we had ours break in quick succession) they did use them but I had them download all the pictures and delete them from the camera at the end of each session before they went home... this meant we had no pictures taken home and on own pcs all were kept in the setting... what does your policy say... ours was very detailed in saying who would be taking the pictures,on what camera, where they would be kept, how long stored, who had access to them, when they would be deleted, what they would be used for.. all this was on a permission slip parents signed and were given a copy of to take home.. It allowed us to say to students sorry no you cannot use your camera/take photos, any we had taken they had to ask parents individually permission to use them. They are not that costly to buy these days or do as I did, ask parents for any they were not using as they had upgraded to newer models... ended up with loads of them! and as to remembering whose pictures were whose , does it really matter? Our staff just took pictures of any child in the setting.. after all you should be a team and not have petty niggles like this... or is it just me that feels this way.. so long as they get to the right folders... we had picture folders for all the keyworkers with the list of children on the outside.. who ever printed them off put them in the correct folder ready for the keyworker to use...
Rea Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 We have one camera which all the staff use to take any pictures they need or which they think show a particular milestone. We print the photos in the setting either on the printer or one the pogo. The photos are deleted after they're printed. The staff then take a look to see which ones they might need for their key children's journeys. Our policy reflects the fact the photos are only used for the journeys and are deleted after they've been printed. I have added a clause to say in the even our printer breaks or runs out of ink we will take the memory card to a printers. The memory card will be signed out by two members of staff and signed back in after its been checked. The consultation document for the proposed new EYFS asks what we think of the safeguarding section, I've expressed a wish that clarification is given on the use of cameras and videos because so many differing pieces of advise are out there.
fimbo Posted September 6, 2011 Posted September 6, 2011 we have 2 cameras - 1 for inside, 1 for outside (we only have 1 main room inside) if someone takes a photo -they jot down the context of the photo -what they saw /heard etc, as a photo can easily be mis-interpreted. the photos are printed off each week -and handed out to the key persons, along with the mini obs relating to the photo's. we try not to get too caught up in photo taking -some staff members were clicking away at every oppertunity -this sometimes distracted away from the adult / child interaction, or disturbed the childs activity - we try to make sure we have a good balance of various types of obs. do you think you need to use as many cameras (how many are actually being used ?) if so are u able to purchase more ? or how about just purchasing sd cards for each camera and keeping these locked away at the end of the session. also how would a staff member feel if their camera were to break of become damaged during the session -would the setting have to replace it. are the satff then taking their cameras home with photos of the children on ? personally i would not be happy with this.
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