Our Schools, Our Stories Photo & Video Contest 2024

Calling all shutterbugs!

Grab your cameras and share your unique school stories with us.

What makes you excited to come to school?

What are the experiences that make you want to learn more?

Who are the people – teachers, counsellors, parent-volunteers, and more – who make a difference to your life?

What are the innovative programmes or school spaces that have changed the way you learn and interact with others?

Need inspiration? Browse through the amazing photos and videos submitted by past years’ winners.

Contest details

Submissions can include photos or videos taken from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024.

Check out our info pack for tips on how to take good photos and videos, contest rules & regulations, prizes for winning entries and other details.

Be sure to read all the terms & conditions carefully before submitting your entries online!

Closing date: 11.59pm on Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Contest themes

Photo story

• Priceless Moments
• Our School Community
• World Of Possibilities

Video story

• What I Go To School For

Contest rules and regulations

Overview

1.Photos and videos must be taken by the participant from 1 August 2023 to 31 July 2024. This date applies to all images and videos submitted. The participant(s) acknowledges that they are the creator and own the copyright of the submitted photographs and videos.

2.In the event that any winner is disqualified from the contest, the Ministry of Education, at its sole discretion, may decide whether a replacement winner should be selected. In this event, any further winner will be selected based on the same criteria as set out in these Rules and Regulations. The Ministry of Education can repeat this process any number of times until it has selected a satisfactory winner in accordance with these Rules and Regulations.

Role of Teacher-Facilitator for Junior and Youth categories

3.Each team in the Junior and Youth Category must comprise a teacher-facilitator who is from the same school as the students.

4.The teacher-facilitator shall act as a point of contact between the organisers and the team. He/she should not be doing any substantial work on behalf of the students, but is allowed to brainstorm with, advise or guide students on whether they are heading in the correct direction. He/she should ensure photos and videos are taken by the students themselves and to the best of their ability. He/she can do the same for multiple teams in the school.

5.The teacher-facilitator shall help the team(s) register and submit their entries online.

Photo and video submissions

6.Photos and videos shall follow these specifications:

7.Minor editing (for brightness and contrast) to photos is allowed. Videos that are modified with image editing software or equivalent programs are allowed. Participants must guarantee that photo and video enhancements were made via the use of legally acquired software.

8.Photos shall be in colour and NOT include watermarks, borders or signatures. Videos containing watermarks (including video credits) and Augmented Reality (AR) effects apps will not be accepted.

9.Photos or videos submitted shall be in good taste and must not contain any image that are deemed indecent, blasphemous, libellous, offensive, pornographic, politically insensitive, racially insensitive, or otherwise unlawful or depict any inappropriate activity. The Ministry of Education reserves the rights to reject any entry that is deemed to be inappropriate.

10.Entries must not have been previously submitted for other competitions or accepted for broadcast through any public media (for example, Internet, radio, television).

11.Entries must not be concurrently submitted for other competitions, distributed, broadcast or otherwise made public, until the results of this competition are announced.

12.Each school may submit as many entries as they wish. Every entry requires a new, separate submission.

13.Each student or staff can submit one entry only, under the photo or video category respectively. They can however participate in both photo and video categories if they wish.

14.The closing date for the submission is Wednesday, 31 July 2024, 11.59pm. Late entries will not be accepted.

15.All photographs and videos must be captured by the participant(s) submitting the entries.

Permission and copyright (important to note)

16.Do seek permission from photo or video subjects (in or out of school). Always ask them if they are agreeable to be in your photos or videos before you snap or shoot away. Share with them why you are taking their photos or videos and where the photos or videos may be used.

17.Participants are responsible for taking all steps necessary to protect the rights of persons depicted, including but not limited to obtaining their permission. Participants are responsible for the resolution of any legal issues arising from their works. For students, most schools already have an arrangement to inform parents about the use of their children’s image in footage and visuals, which allows them to film and photograph the students and use these to create materials for school use and purpose. If you do not have a blanket permission from parents, do inform and obtain written consent from the parents of those students whom you will be involving in the shoot. Do note that this blanket permission only applies to students in your school and does not apply to any photo or video subjects beyond your school (for example, community partners).

18.If you use music in your video, do make sure that you have the rights to do so. Consider creating your own or seek permission from those whose original composition you intend to use. If you use copyright-free music, you should read the user agreement and media usage policy to ensure that you can use it for the objective of this submission where selected entries will be made available for public viewing on the Ministry of Education’s social media platforms and other online channels for publicity purposes.

19.Participants must ensure that there is no plagiarism or violation of copyrighted work.

20.You reserve the rights to your photos or videos. However, by entering the contest, you grant the Ministry of Education the license to use the materials contained in the entries, in full or partially, to advertise, publicise, in various media of its choosing, including, but not limited to, newspapers, magazines, publications, radio, television, public screenings and any other electronic media including, but not limited to the Internet, or other purposes in a manner it deems fit to showcase our education system. The Ministry of Education reserves the right to publicise the photos or videos in this contest on its media channels and/or other public-facing programmes, events or platforms for communications and outreach purposes beyond OSOS.