Protocols for Digital Media

The College recognises the importance of capturing moments of celebration, learning and achievements through photography and video, and encourages members of our community to document these moments through multimedia. 

However, there are some risks attached to the taking, storing and sharing of photographs and videos of children, from both data protection and child safeguarding perspectives. This document outlines guidelines for teachers, parents and students in taking photos or videos of community members, particularly children, that will mitigate those risks and help keep our children safe.

General Guidelines

• Recorded images should only be made, stored and/or shared when there is a valid reason for doing so, for example, to record learning for students, for self-reflection on teacher practice, for publicity purposes.

• Our duty of care to students extends to the UWCSEA online world.

• Where possible, images should be shared with small groups via private links. For example, photos from class trips, or in-class activities.
• Only first names should appear with photos on public sites. No other identifying or personal information should be posted. The only exception is when we are deliberately acknowledging specific students, for example, when they win an award, in which case permission should be sought from parents/guardians.
• Members of the community should always be aware that photographs and/or video are being taken. This includes, but is not limited to, teachers demonstrating a learning activity, students participating in an activity or parents attending an information session. 
• Where possible, pictures and videos should focus on group activities, rather than photos of individuals. 
• Be respectful of an individual’s right to refuse to be videoed or photographed in any particular situation, bearing in mind that an individual’s right to refuse in a particular situation should not prevent group or class photo or video being taken and shared.
• To avoid the risk of inappropriate use, only use images of children in suitable clothing. If you are uncertain about using a particular image, please check with the communications team before sharing online.
• Ensure that images and videos do not contribute to or expose their subjects to embarrassment, distress or upset.
• Images should be carefully and securely stored in accordance with Singapore Data Protection guidelines. 
• Digital images of community members should be passed to third parties for their use only if they or a parent/guardian have explicitly agreed in writing as part of a consent process. The consent process is managed by the Communications Department. This does not include the use of images to promote the College. 

Specific Guidelines

Within the UWCSEA community, there are different degrees of clearance with regards to the taking and using of photos/videos of students.  

1. UWCSEA PUBLICITY STAFF

The UWCSEA Standard Terms and Conditions to which all parents must agree state that “Parents agree to the College using students’ work, photographs and video footage of the student and other material for purposes such as publicising the College and its students’ accomplishments to internal and external audiences, including in print and online, including on social media.”

When parents sign these terms and conditions they are giving permission for UWCSEA staff to use images to promote the College and student accomplishments through official UWCSEA communications. Please note that this does not include personal online and/or social media channels. UWCSEA has dedicated photographers and videographers who take photos or recordings for official use. 

The Department of Engagement and External Relations transfers images to the official media drive for 12 months and later archives a small number of them in an online archive. Both the media drive and the archive are only accessible through an authentication process. 

Any staff member who manages an official communication channel must go through the appropriate safeguarding training.

Any external contractor taking photos or videos at events on behalf of the Department of Engagement and External Relations must:

• be closely supervised by the Department of Engagement and External Relations 
• have signed the self-declaration and visitor guidelines
• follow the protocols for storing, sharing and deleting of images as agreed with the Department of Engagement and External Relations

2. UWCSEA TEACHING STAFF

In addition to the purpose of publicizing the College or student achievements, UWCSEA teaching staff may wish to use student images or recordings for a variety of teaching and learning purposes including but not limited to:

• sharing information with parents in the class
• internal presentations
• evidence of learning, including assessment information
• team planning purposes
• classroom displays

All UWCSEA staff have:

• undergone a criminal background check
• signed the Code of Conduct and Data Protection Declaration
• are aware of the Communications Policy (see below)
• have signed a safeguarding self-declaration

In addition to the general guidelines above, Teaching Staff should follow the guidelines below:

• Photos and videos should only be shared through the agreed College networks and never on personal social media channels. Photos or videos of staff or students should also not be tagged on your personal social media.

• Photos and videos of students should not be shared on any professional social media channels unless the staff member is designated an official user and has been through the appropriate training.
• Photos taken on a device not owned by the College should be uploaded and stored in a shared, secure location or system. Any images that do not include the staff member’s own children should be deleted from personal devices within three months, or no later than the end of the academic year.
• When sharing photos of students with parents in their class, staff must ensure they include the following statement: These photos and videos are for your personal family use. Please respect the privacy of other members of the community by not widely disseminating photos of children from other families without their permission, for example, through Facebook. 
• Individual students should not be identifiable online. This means staff can use either their first name, their grade, their location or two of these three, but not all three at once. 
• It is the responsibility of the College to educate students about risks associated with the taking, using, sharing, publication and distribution of images.  

3. UWCSEA STUDENTS

Students taking photos or videos of other students or members of the community on their own devices for their own use should follow the general guidelines above.

4. UWCSEA PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Specific members of the Parents’ Associations on both campuses may be designated as a member of the PA media team. This allows them to take photos and videos on campus, under the condition that they

• have signed the parent safeguarding and data protection declaration each year
• have signed the self-declaration and visitor guidelines
• have received annual briefing from Senior Safeguarding Lead
• have received a Photography pass from the communications team that is updated each year

Photos must be stored on the official Parents’ Association drive and deleted after 12 months.

Any public social media channels run by the Parents’ Association, for example, Facebook or Youtube channels, should be viewed as official College channels and subject to the same guidelines on students safeguarding. 

5. PARENTS

In general, parents should avoid taking photos and video of children other than their own, however, the College recognises that on particular occasions including other children in photos and videos is unavoidable. The following guidelines apply:

• Photos that include other people’s children should not be shared either online or offline without the explicit permission of the children’s parents.
• If permission is obtained, the other children’s names should not be used in online photograph captions.

6. PARTNER ORGANISATIONS

Partner organisations are defined as people who work with our students as part of the learning programme, for example, service partners or those delivering workshops to students. Members of partner organisations are not permitted to take photos or videos of our students, or use their images on their website or other publicity materials, except in cases where they are explicitly given permission, which is requested through the Communications Department. In the case that the College provides permission, they must follow the guidelines below:

• A person of responsibility within the organisation must sign the safeguarding and data protection declaration on behalf of the organisation
• They can only publish photos that do not identify individual students i.e no faces.
• If they wish to use specific photos, the College supports them in getting permission from our student parents for them to do so

Supporting policies

UWCSEA Personal Data Protection

UWCSEA Communications Policy (contact the Communications Department for details)

UWCSEA Safeguarding Policy

Reference:  NSPCC Photography and Sharing Images