SHARING PHOTOGRAPHS FROM RESIDENTIAL HOUSES VIA WHATSAPP
Guidance and Consent for Parents/Carers
We love sharing photographs and news about your children with you directly from the NCW houses and sixth form accommodation. We have started to use the networking app WhatsApp using NCW smart phones.
WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an American freeware, cross-platform messaging service owned by Facebook. It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls and share images, documents, user locations and other media.
Using WhatsApp, allows us to quickly and easily share news and photographs of progress your child has made.
How it works:
- The mobile phone numbers of parents/carers who wish to be part of the NCW house or hostel group are added to their child’s house WhatsApp group, which will be created by and include for safeguarding and appropriate use monitoring purposes, the NCW Marketing Department phone
- On each house phone will be one large group including all parents/carers who would like to join, and a small group for each parent, to include only the house phone, the parent phone and the NCW marketing phone
- Each house phone will be the responsibility of the Senior Houseparent in each lower school house and one designated sixth form key worker
- At the end of each academic year, all data including telephone numbers, groups, photographs and messages will be deleted from the NCW house phone and new groups set up for a new academic year in September
- Photographs and news will only be sent to the parents/carers of students featured in the photograph or news
WhatsApp Protocols
Parents/carers should not save photographs of students other than their own child to their device and remove auto save to camera roll:
- Open – WhatsApp
- Tap – More options > Settings > Chats
- Turn off -Media visibility
Do not forward photographs or information to another person.
Be respectful to staff and other parent users at all times.
Understand that other parents/carers will have access to your telephone number via WhatsApp.
Parents/carers should not use the groups for messaging one another.
Your telephone number and each group on the phone will be deleted at the end of the school year. New groups will be set up at the start of a new academic year in September. You will be asked to reissue your consent.
Please read the following documents then complete the consent form below.
Consent Form
Parental Consent Residential WhatsApp Group
