Plan B Forum

Furious parents have blasted a headteacher who banned them from taking pictures of their own children during a school play after a single complaint.

Pupils in their final year of primary school had been working hard for the last month on their end-of-term production of ‘Oliver!’

And on Tuesday 100 proud parents crammed into Blackheath Primary School, in Sandwell, West Mids., with their cameras ready to capture the occasion.

But just a few minutes before the performance was due to start, headteacher Lesley King announced nobody was allowed to film their children because one parent had complained.

Stunned mums and dads said the decision had left them and their children extremely ‘upset and disappointed’.

Geoffrey Pearsall, 48, who’s son played one of the workhouse children in the play, said: 'No-one could quite believe it.

'All the parents were looking at each other in amazement. They were not happy at all.

'This is the children’s last year in junior school and the last time a lot of them will ever see each other again.

'If one parent didn’t want to have their child filmed then that pupil could have had a lesser role.

'At the very least the school could have filmed the production and distorted the face of the pupil concerned. It’s not hard to do these days.

'But it doesn’t seem fair that we’ve got no record of it to show our son when he is older or his grandparents.'

Another parent, who did not wish to be named, added: 'Everybody was pretty upset by the decision - it was really disappointing.

'I wanted to capture the moment on film so I could make the play an everlasting memory for my son.

'But because of ridiculous red-tape these days - it put a real dampener on the occasion.

'My son said after ‘did you get any pictures of me?’ and I had to explain why I hadn’t.'

Headteacher Lesley King confirmed parents had been asked not to take any pictures or video footage during the production.

She said: 'We had an objection to people taking pictures and videos for reasons that are confidential.

'I asked if parents would respect that and they did.'