The time for school photos is long gone!

Watching as the bore comes in

Contemplation at Bardsea

My daughter came home with her class photo today. Now I know that my eye sight is getting worse but the fact that I couldn't even see my daughter didn't inspire me to pay the £10.50 requested  to boost school funds.
I've never really been a fan of school photos, in fact I can't see the point. They epitomise everything I don't like about school. There's the school uniform for starters. I could never work in a uniformed institution.  I hate the fact that everyone is made to look the same and feel that uniform stifles their true personalities. Not that I'm into pink hair and nose piercing ,but there is scope for arguing that you can look neat , tidy and respectable without a uniform. In fact my son's school has just reintroduced a shirt and tie , a retrograde step from my point of view, Firstly it involves an iron, and I hate housework, secondly if you have boys then you will understand when your son comes home covered from top to toe in mud having played rugby at break time (as mine did yesterday) that in fact polo shirts and fleeces are a great deal more practical if you need to throw them into the washing machine!
 Then there's the question of why anyone in this day and age would want a photo of their child , posing  for a portrait in their school uniform in front of a blank canvas when instead you can have a natural digital shot of your child with a backdrop of beautiful scenery. engrossed in imaginary games or  collecting shells on in beach and completely free. There is no contest in my book!
The whole palaver just reinforced for me the freedom of home education  gives to just be yourself - not fettered by false expectations to conform to a limited  idea about what 'education'  actually means!
Some things such as school photos are out of date. Schools need to move forward as advances in technology progress otherwise they will never catch up. They need to be creative, think of new money raising ideas and not just repeat the same old things year after year because that is what they have always done!