Aerial Edge — Child Photography & Filming Policy v2.0

Safeguarding

Child Photography & Filming Policy

Version: 2.0
Effective from: 6 May 2026
Approved by: Mark Gibson, Designated Safeguarding Officer
Next review: 6 May 2027

The parents' guide to this policy is at Photography and filming of children at Aerial Edge.

How to read this document

Two halves. Part A (§5) is the staff rule book. Part B (§6) is the same policy explained to parents. If they ever drift apart, Part A wins and Part B is corrected.

1. Purpose

To set out how Aerial Edge takes, stores, uses, and shares photographs and video of children under 16 who attend our classes, workshops, parties, and performances.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

All children under 16 at any Aerial Edge activity (classes, workshops, parties, performances, taster sessions, rehearsals).
All Aerial Edge staff and PVG-registered production-team members.
All images, in any format, however captured.
All uses: internal records, parent communications, social media, website, marketing, press, partner submissions.

For 16- and 17-year-olds, the same principles apply, but the young person may give consent themselves where they clearly understand. Parents are informed.

The policy does not apply to a parent photographing only their own child outside the training space (in reception, on the way home). It applies the moment another child is in the frame.

3. Definitions

Image — any still photograph or video.
Identifiable image — any image in which a child can reasonably be recognised by face, distinctive feature, or named caption.
Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) — Mark Gibson. The DSO leads safeguarding decisions. Greer (Safeguarding Lead) advises only.
Internal production team — Aerial Edge staff, PVG-registered, who capture both performances and promotional shoots. Same team, same people, two contexts. Aerial Edge acts as both venue and production company at performances.
No Pictures list — a per-performance roster of performers whose parents have not given opt-in consent for that show. Compiled fresh from the paper performance application forms before each performance. Held at Dropbox/Marketing/YC/No Pictures/. Does not apply to routine classes.

4. Consent

Aerial Edge will only photograph or film a child under 16 where we have written, informed, opt-in consent from a parent or carer that covers the specific use we intend. Silence is not consent.

Consent must be:

Specific — class consent does not cover performance, performance does not cover promotional shoots.
Informed — the form explains the use, the publication surface, and the retention.
Documented — recorded against the child's booking record.
Withdrawable — at any time by email to info@contact.aerialedge.co.uk. Withdrawal applies forward; for images already held or published, Aerial Edge will take down or delete what it controls (social channels, website, internal decks, the Dropbox image library, the Aerial Edge CRM (GoHighLevel)) within 14 days. Aerial Edge cannot reach images already shared by third parties.

Three consent surfaces, three forms:

Booking waiver — covers the class-floor parent rules in §5.6. There is no Aerial Edge staff capture in classes.
Performance application form (paper, teacher-managed) — per-performance opt-in for the internal production team to capture that child at that show.
Promotional shoot consent form — per-shoot opt-in for that production. Names the cast, the intended uses, and the retention.

A parent who has given consent on one surface has not given consent on the others.

5. Part A — Staff Operational Rules

5.1. Who may take photographs

Setting	Who	Notes
Class or workshop	No Aerial Edge staff. Parents may photograph their own child only — see §5.6.
Performance	Aerial Edge's internal production team, capturing only opt-in performers.	See §5.7.
Promotional shoot (video or stills)	Aerial Edge's internal production team, capturing the volunteer cast.	See §5.5.
Audience at a performance	A parent in the audience, photographing only their own party.	Standing notice at the venue entrance.
Anywhere	A child photographing themselves.	Aerial Edge does not solicit, store, or republish those images.

5.2. Pre-event check

There is no visible identifier on the child. The mechanism is opt-in records plus a pre-event check, with a default of if in doubt, don't shoot.

Routine classes — no Aerial Edge capture, so no pre-event photography check is needed.

Before any performance:

The teacher managing the application forms compiles the opt-in list and the No Pictures list for that show.
The internal production team is briefed on both lists before doors open. They photograph only opted-in performers.
Children not opted in are treated as No Pictures by default.

Before any promotional shoot:

Casting starts from the consent register. Only opted-in children are cast.
If a team member is uncertain about a child's consent during the shoot, the rule is don't shoot.

5.3. Image content rules

(Drawn from Scottish Gymnastics' photography policy, Feb 2020, because aerial movement involves the same body shapes that gymnastics flagged as needing care.)

Do not photograph a child in a provocative pose or in a state of partial undress beyond what the activity requires.
Do not use images that focus on the groin area in split poses.
Do not portray a child in a demeaning, distressing, or tasteless way.
Do prefer images showing the activity, not the individual — equipment, group shots, action from a distance, side profile.
Do check the child is appropriately dressed for the shot.
If unsure, do not take the shot, or delete on review. The DSO is the final arbiter.

5.4. The No Pictures list

A per-performance roster, compiled fresh for each show.

Held at Dropbox/Marketing/YC/No Pictures/. Each show has its own dated entry; old entries are retained as a record.
Compiled before doors open by the teacher managing the performance application forms.
Updated within 24 hours of any change of consent for a future performance.
Delivered in writing to the internal production team alongside the opt-in list.
Names are not announced or pointed out. The list circulates only between the teacher who compiled it, the DSO, and the production team for that show.
If a No Pictures performer is photographed in error, §5.9 governs deletion.

The list does not apply to routine classes (no Aerial Edge capture) or to promotional shoots (only opted-in cast appears on set; the shoot consent register is the operational mechanism there).

5.5. Equipment, capture, and storage

Aerial Edge does not photograph children in routine classes. Aerial Edge capture happens only at performances and at promotional shoots, both run by the internal production team using the same equipment and the same operational rules.

Equipment: the Aerial Edge–owned camera (already purchased). After each event, the production lead transfers images from the camera's SD card to Dropbox / CRM and wipes the SD card the same day, once upload is verified. The camera does not carry working copies between events. The camera is stored at Aerial Edge premises, in a locked drawer, between uses.

Operational rules — both performances and shoots:

Every member of the internal production team working on a child-facing event is PVG-registered.
The production team works to its own internal process for each event. The policy does not prescribe the form of that process.
Final assets land directly in Dropbox and/or the CRM (GoHighLevel). No external party holds copies. No personal-device surface anywhere in the chain.

Storage and access:

Aerial Edge holds images in Dropbox and the Aerial Edge CRM (GoHighLevel).
Both are access-controlled to staff with a current PVG and a working need. Image-bearing CRM records are gated to the staff who require them.
Every retention, withdrawal, deletion, and incident rule in this policy applies to both locations.

Parents photographing their own child in class: see §5.6.

5.6. Parents in the training space

Parents may photograph their own child during class. Standing rules:

Photograph your own child only. Not other children, not group shots, not the class as a whole.
Do not share images that include other children on social media, in messaging groups, or in any forum visible to people outside your own family.
Do not pass class photos to other parents.
Do not photograph an instructor demonstrating on or correcting another child.
Phones away during the warm-up and any time the instructor calls for full attention.

The instructor reminds every new student's first class of these rules and refreshes the reminder to the whole room at the first class of each calendar month. A parent who continues to breach the rules after a reminder is asked to put their phone away for that session; repeat breaches go to the DSO.

A note for families who don't want their child photographed at all: Aerial Edge does not photograph in classes; not opting in to performances and shoots stops Aerial Edge capture there too. Parent-on-parent capture in class is the only remaining vector. The rules above reduce that, but other parents' phones are not under Aerial Edge's direct control. The residual risk is named here so families can make an informed decision.

5.7. Performances

Performance photography and videography are produced by the internal production team. Aerial Edge acts as both venue and production company.
Capture is opt-in per performer via the paper performance application form. There is no opt-out, no implied consent.
The opt-in list and the No Pictures list for that show are delivered to the production team in writing before doors open.
A standing notice at the venue entrance informs the audience that performance photography is happening for organisational use, that the performers being captured are those whose parents have given specific opt-in consent, and that audience members may photograph their own party only.

5.8. Storage, retention, deletion

The rules in this section apply across both Dropbox and the CRM (GoHighLevel).

Promotional images (kept for possible publication): up to 24 months from capture, then reviewed for deletion or re-consent.
Performance images: up to 24 months for promotional and archival use, with the same review.
Withdrawn-consent images: deleted from Dropbox and the CRM within 14 days of the withdrawal request.
Backups containing deleted images expire on the normal backup-retention cycle.

5.9. Incidents and complaints

A complaint about a published image: passed to the DSO within 24 hours. The image is taken down from Aerial Edge channels pending review.
A photograph of a No Pictures performer or a non-cast child taken in error: deleted immediately from the AE-owned camera SD card, Dropbox, and the CRM. The production lead confirms deletion same day. Logged with the DSO same day, parent informed.
A suspected misuse of an image: the DSO leads, escalates to Police Scotland and the Children 1st safeguarding-in-sport service if criminal misuse is suspected.
Greer (Safeguarding Lead) advises the DSO. Greer does not make incident decisions.

6. Part B — For Parents and Carers

The short version. Aerial Edge staff don't photograph children in classes. The only photography of your child by anyone working for Aerial Edge happens in two places: at performances, by our internal production team, and only if you have given specific opt-in consent for that performance; and at separate promotional shoots, where your child is cast and you have given specific opt-in consent for that production. In class, the only person photographing your child is you, the parent.

What we ask of you.

Classes. You may photograph your own child during class. Three rules: photograph your own child only (not other children, not the class as a whole); do not share images that include other children on social media or in messaging groups; phones away when the instructor calls for full attention.
Performances. If you'd like our production team to capture your child, opt in on the performance application form. If you don't, we treat it as "no" and the team doesn't capture your child. There is no opt-out path; only opt-in counts.
Promotional shoots. If you want your child to be eligible to be cast in a promotional video or photo shoot, we'll send you a consent form for that specific production, naming it, the intended uses, and the retention. Yes or no per shoot. There is no general "yes to marketing" consent.
You can withdraw any consent at any time. Email info@contact.aerialedge.co.uk and we will update your child's record straight away.
We can't police what gets posted online. If another parent finds their child in your post and asks for it to come down, we will pass that request on and expect it to be honoured.
One thing to be honest about: even though we don't photograph in classes, other parents in the room do photograph their own child. A child whose family doesn't want them photographed at all can still end up in the background of another parent's photo. The rules above are how we reduce that, but we cannot eliminate it. If that's a concern for your family, please talk to us.

What we do.

We don't photograph in classes.
At performances, our internal production team captures only the performers whose parents have given specific opt-in consent. The list is in their hands before doors open. A standing notice at the venue tells the audience the same.
For promotional content (the videos and photographs you see on our website and social media), we run separate, scheduled productions with consented cast. We don't repurpose class footage, because there isn't any.
We follow Scottish Gymnastics' content rules. We don't publish images that focus on the groin area in split poses, we don't use images where a child is in a state of undress beyond what the activity requires, and we don't share images that show a child in a demeaning way.
We don't put your child's name alongside a published image. If we ever needed to (a press piece, for example, where naming a young performer is part of the story), we would ask for that consent separately.
Images we keep go into a secure store accessible only to staff who need them (our Dropbox and our CRM). We review them on a 24-month cycle and delete what we no longer use.

If something goes wrong.

If you see something published of your child that shouldn't be there, tell us and we'll take it down within 24 hours pending review.
If you're worried about an image — ours or someone else's — speak to our Designated Safeguarding Officer, Mark Gibson (info@contact.aerialedge.co.uk). The DSO leads on these decisions and will involve external bodies (Police Scotland, the Children 1st safeguarding-in-sport service) if needed.

We'd rather you raise an awkward question early than discover a problem later. Please ask.

7. Review

This policy is reviewed every 12 months by the DSO with advice from Greer, and immediately if a relevant law, regulator guidance, or incident requires it. Next scheduled review: 6 May 2027.

8. References

ICO — Children and the UK GDPR and Using children's information: a guide.
sportscotland / Children 1st — Standards for Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport.
NSPCC Learning — Photographing and filming children.
CPSU — Photography and filming in sports and activities.
Scottish Gymnastics — Photography Policy (Feb 2020). Image content rules in §5.3 are drawn from this source.
Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Equality Act 2010. Disclosure Scotland / PVG scheme.