Teacher Advice: 10 Tips for a Successful School Photo Day for Your Child

1. Save the date

As soon as you know the date of your child’s school photos, mark the date in your calendar or save it on your phone so you can get organised before the event. Having the date set in advance means you can make sure they have a clean uniform and, as is often needed, a haircut before their annual school photo.

2. Rested and ready

Easier said than done, but try to stress the importance of your child getting a good night’s sleep. No staying up late to watch the end of a movie before school photo day! You want your little one looking fresh and rested for their portrait.

Sleep also improves your child’s mood and stress levels, so ensuring they have a restful night’s sleep will lead to a happy photo day experience.

3. Prepare Clothes the Night Before

Instead of doing laundry at 8 PM the night before, try to keep a uniform pressed and ready for the day so you’re good to go. Steaming or ironing polo shirts, skirts, skorts and pants ensures a nice clean and professional look. Lint rolling blazers, shining shoes and cleaning your child’s hands and nails will ensure they look clean and fresh.

Don’t forget to shine the shoes and find matching socks! In whole class photos, your will see your child’s shoes if they are sitting in the front row.

4. Explain to your child what to expect

Younger children tend to be camera shy, especially with a photographer they haven’t met before, so talk to your child about what they can expect during the experience. Simply tell them to be positive, follow the photographer’s instructions and that all they need to do is relax and smile for the camera. Most photographers have been working with children of all ages for a number of years and know exactly how to make sure your little one feels comfortable during the process.

5. Know What to wear

If your child wears a uniform make sure they are wearing the full school uniform including any blazers etc. Make sure they are wearing the correct uniform for the season and it has no evident stains or rips.

If you child does not wear school uniform avoid bright or neon colours. They may look cute to our eye, however in a photograph they are distracting. They overpower the frame and even worse, they can leave colour casts on their skin. In other words, the bright pink can make your child’s skin look bright pink around her chin and neck. Don’t wear tops with words, characters or prominent logos in school photos. Keep it simple. Allow your child’s face to shine not their outfit.

Remember that hands and feet are often visible in group photos, so polishing shoes and ensuring hands and nails are clean is also a good idea. Also remove any watches or hair bands around wrists.

6. What to pack for photo day

A spare shirt uniform is essential, especially if there is an impromptu game of sport or a food accident at lunch. While most photos are scheduled for mornings, some shoots run into the afternoon giving your child plenty of time to get a little messy.
Facial wipes if your child wants to freshen up just before the shoot and they can’t easily get to a washroom.
A clean lunch such as a healthy sandwich minus condiments or snacks without coloured flavourings. In other words, avoid the Cheetos so you don’t end up with yellow cheese dust in your school photos. Considering your child’s meals and snacks can help reduce the risk of a stained shirt for photo day.

Pack a hairbrush or comb to tame wild and unruly hair. Asking your child to give their hair a quick brush and comb before the click of the shutter can make all the difference.

7. Photo day morning

Don’t forget to give your child a filling and healthy breakfast which will put them in a good mood for the day. Before they hop on the bus or you go to drop off, practice smiling for fun with your little one to put them in a good mood as they head off to school.

Wake up slightly earlier on photo day to ensure you are not in a rush and your child has time to do their hair and get dressed and you can fix any wardrobe malfunctions.

8. Hair

Try not to be too fancy with photo day hairstyles. You want a hair style that is easy to “fix” if it happens to become a but unruly over the day. Simple and neat is best. Also, hair styles can represent a moment in time. If your child regularly wears piggy-tails then let them have it for photo day. You will look back on those photos with fond memories of that age.

Schedule haircuts a few weeks ahead of time to allow hair to grow back a little, or you can go for a fresh-cut look. This can also allow any distaster cuts to grow out.

9. Don’t over-practice smiles

When it comes to smiles, natural is the way to go. If you have your child practice their smile too much, it can cause unnecessary stress and a forced grin on Photo Day. Give your child the freedom to be themselves, and the results will be picture-perfect.

The children may like to practise their best smiles ahead of time but if your child has a tendency to grimace when you say “cheese”, show them things they can do to relax (keeping shoulders and arms loose, relaxing the face) to ensure our photographers can capture a more natural expression.

Allow them to look at themselves in the mirror so they can see what they actually look like when they smile.

10. Embrace the “imperfections” and treasure your photos

Photo Day is exciting, but it’s easy to stress about making it perfect. It’s best not to worry about the results and to embrace the experience as a way of documenting your child at this special age. Whether it’s a toothless grin or a stubborn cowlick, your child – just as they are – is the star of the photo. School pictures are keepsakes that show all the ways they’ve grown over the years, and the imperfections are what you’ll come to love most. Don’t worry about “perfect”! That hair that always sticks up or a missing tooth shows your child just as they are right now—and you’ll enjoy looking back on that for years to come. On the day of school photos, teachers and volunteers will help straighten collars and check posture.

No matter how the photo comes out, you’ll absolutely love it! Sometimes the craziest, silliest school photos are the ones you really treasure for years to come and often pop up places like a wedding slideshow!