VIDEO cameras were banned from a school Christmas play after worried parents raised fears with the headteacher.Dad Renny Hammond was furious after being told he would not be able to record the performance at Dale Hall Community Primary School.
VIDEO cameras were banned from a school Christmas play after worried parents raised fears with the headteacher.
Dad Renny Hammond was furious after being told he would not be able to record the performance at Dale Hall Community Primary School.
But headteacher Alison Beckett said her duty to protect the school's most vulnerable children left her with no alternative but to ban recording.
She insisted the decision had nothing to do with paranoia over paedophiles and promised to work with parents to find a compromise for next year's shows.
Mr Hammond, of Cheltenham Avenue, said: "It's absolutely ridiculous and it must be changed for next year.
"The risk is so tiny as to be really insignificant. How far do you take this down the line?
"In my opinion they have taken it too far already. Are you going to have children walking around with bags over their heads."
Mrs Beckett said: "I care desperately about all our children. I have to consider the vulnerable children in our school. They may be a small minority but you still have a duty of care to them.
"It's not just our school. You're not allowed to take pictures in Crown Pools or Whitton Sports Centre and other schools have done this as well."
But Mr Hammond said the majority wishes of parents in the school should take priority.
He said: "How can one parent be weighed against the other 799?
"My mum went to my niece's play in London and they were able to film. She can't come to ours because numbers were restricted.
"My mum and dad can't see any pictorial reproduction of what happened in their grandchildren's Christmas play and the same with my wife's parents.
"They talk about human rights, but what about our rights to be able to enjoy our children performing in a school play."
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