Rockerbox News works with teachers and children as part of its activities. These include our subscribers having the option to participate in The News Crew, our youth advisory board. This board meets on a semi-regular basis to provide feedback and recommendations to Rockerbox News. This may include online video meetings. At times, Rockerbox News may request photographs of teachers and children to promote The News Crew and or winners of our competitions or challenges.

The purpose of this policy statement is to:

• protect children and young people who take part in our services, events and activities, specifically those where photographs and videos may be taken.

• set out the overarching principles that guide our approach to photographs/videos being taken of children and young people during our events and activities.

• to ensure that we operate in line with our values and within the law when creating, using and sharing images of children and young people. This policy statement applies to all staff, volunteers and other adults associated with any Rockerbox News service.

We believe that:

• children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind

• we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to take, share and use images of children safely.

We recognise that:

• sharing photographs and films of our activities can help us celebrate the successes and achievements of our children and young people, provide a record of our activities and raise awareness of Rockerbox News

• the welfare of the children and young people taking part in our activities is paramount

• children, their parents and carers have a right to decide whether their images are taken and how these may be used, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation

• consent to take images of children is only meaningful when children, their parents and carers understand how the images will be used and stored, and are fully aware of the potential risks associated with the use and distribution of these images

• there are potential risks associated with sharing images of children online.

We will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• always asking for written consent from a child and their parents or carers before taking and using a child’s image

• always explaining what images will be used for, how they will be stored and what potential risks are associated with sharing images of children

• making it clear that if a child or their family withdraw consent for an image to be shared, it may not be possible to delete images that have already been shared or published

• changing the names of children whose images are being used in our published material whenever possible (and only using first names if we do need to identify them)

• never publishing personal information about individual children and disguising any identifying information (for example the name of their school or a school uniform with a logo)

• making sure children, their parents and carers understand how images of children will be securely stored and for how long (including how we will control access to the images and their associated information)

• reducing the risk of images being copied and used inappropriately by:

• only using images of children in appropriate clothing (including safety wear if necessary)
• using images that positively reflect young people’s involvement in the activity.

We will ensure everyone involved in Rockerbox News knows the procedures to follow to keep children safe.

Photography and/or filming for Rockerbox News’ use

We recognise that our company may use photography and filming as an aid in activities such as our youth advisory board, The News Crew. Rockerbox News may also request photographs of teachers and children to promote the The News Crew and or winners of the Rockerbox News reading challenges and competitions.

Children, young people, parents and carers must also be made aware that photography and filming is part of the programme and give written consent. If we hire a photographer for one of our events, we will seek to keep children and young people safe by:

• providing the photographer with a clear brief about appropriate content and behaviour

• ensuring the photographer wears identification at all times

• informing children, their parents and carers that a photographer will be at the event and ensuring they give written consent to images which feature their child being taken and shared

• not allowing the photographer to have unsupervised access to children

• not allowing the photographer to carry out sessions outside the event or at a child’s home

• reporting concerns regarding inappropriate or intrusive photography following our child protection procedures.

If consent to take photographs is not given

If children, parents and/or carers do not consent to photographs being taken, we will respect their wishes. We will agree in advance how they would like to be identified so the photographer knows not to take pictures of them, and ensure this is done in a way that does not single out the child or make them feel isolated. We will never exclude a child from an activity because we do not have consent to take their photograph.

Storing images

We will store photographs and videos of children securely, in accordance with our safeguarding policy and data protection law. We will not keep hard copies of images and electronic images will be stored in a protected folder with restricted access. Images will be stored for a period of 5 Years. We will never store images of children on unencrypted portable equipment such as laptops, memory sticks and mobile phones. Rockerbox News does not permit staff and volunteers to using any personal equipment to take photos and recordings of children. Only cameras or devices belonging to the School/Educational Establishment/Rockerbox News should be used.

Related policies and procedures

This policy statement should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures.

Contact details

Senior lead for safeguarding and child protection Name: Emma Halder

Phone/email: emma@myrockerbox.com

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.

This policy was last reviewed on: 02.08.2023