son had his mobile phone in GCSE biology

Teachers in state schools say theft is fine

Dear god. You are bonkers.

I think it's generally referred to boilleaux .

I think it's a matter of perspective. How can teachers in state schools say theft if fine but come down like a ton of bricks on an innocent young person who stupidly leaves a phone in his pocket and there are no witnesses that he took it out and looked at it for the duration of the exam. If there are invigilators out there who wouldn't have known what he'd done then I'd say that was a pretty poor show and would have questioned what the invigilators were doing for the duration of the exam.

What's that ratio of invigilators in an exam nowadays. When I did it we always had two and three for more than 60 students because the ones we had were particularly sparky.

I'd be beyond furious if any of my children did this at 16. Not understanding, not excusing - fucking incandescent that they could be so fucking stupid.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. I'd rather my kids went to a school which applied all rules consistently. Like most schools do.

You don't seem to understand - the school has no choice whatsoever in how to deal with a phone . That is down to the board. A school has the legal obligation to report only.

Apples,
Tell your son that you love him whatever happens. I hope he gets away with a warning, but it's not me, nor the school or any mumsnetters who make that decision. Potentially disqualification could happen, but you should cross that bridge when you come to it.

Luckily mine go to a school that deals correctly with both.

Well I'd much rather my Dds went to a school where assault and theft were dealt with far more seriously and robustly than a student making a mistake with a mobile phone.

I dont see how he coudl possibly have NOT known to hand his phone in? We take all phpnes as they walk through the door. It is simply not possible to " forget" and the exam board will know this and judge that keeping his phone with him and on was a deliberate act.

You did, Apple, I'm sorry. I hope he gets the best outcome possible

Apple, you made all that clear at the start.

I think some people just chose to ignore it and want to stick the boot in. I'd hide the thread if I were you.

I was being sarcastic Bakeoff. The double standards in Beaufort's post are disgusting. If there is rot at the heart of anything, it's people like that who think they're above the rules.

I have lots of sympathy for him. I think there are so many reminders, the students become a bit immune to it. If he hasn't had it on him in previous exams, you could see why he'd forget.

Fingers crossed they deal with it as leniently as possible.

beau I think you are talking utter bollux. There are plenty of nasty children in private school would cheat given half a chance. In my experience state school kids have as much moral fibre as private school kids. Private schools often kick out children who might mess with their Stats close to exam time. I am sure that rich kids at private school might be tempted to cheat as they are often under stupid pressure to do well.

Exam centres have to follow rules to the letter in the big orange book. We cannot show any favour and decisions about disqualifications are not made by a school. All exam invigilators do is report what happened.

God there are some thick people on this thread!

Do

So you really need it pointing out to you Evil?

You don't half talk bollocks, beaufort belle.

My kids go to a state secondary that wipes the arse of most crappy little private schools staffed cheaply with non qualified teachers in crumbling buildings.

And how you can talk about low standards when you admit you let kids who cheated off, is beyond me. Thank goodness you and state education parted company - your low standards are a disgrace and if you'd worked in my school I'd have wiped the floor with you.

Beaufort I don't think I understand. On one hand you've obviously had a difficult time with your DC's school where you feel that rule breaking was not dealt with robustly enough, and on the other, you're saying it's ok to choose where to apply the rules and where not to.

A round of applause for your post Beaufort

Did his tutor really tell you she was gutted for him, op? Strange phrase, really, it sort of indicates that the incident was something unfairly foisted on him by external forces, rather than a situation of his own making?

I don't think I said independent's had different rules over mobile phones. I did say they had different standards over matters of real illegality such as theft, etc. That to me is very important. It's something my dd's state secondary didn't take very seriously along with assault, intimidation, etc., all things that the indy sector in my experience would have excluded for. Just trying to draw a parallel about right and wrong and things that matter.

Cheating is shocking but unfortunately when basic standards and expectations in state schools are so very low and teachers in them think such things should be swept under the carpet then I can understand the exam boards taking a zero tolerance stance.

It is all so very very wrong. I wanted to be able to look up to my children's teachers but when a head teacher told me that theft was "normal" I'm afraid I simply couldn't do that.

That's why I take all this stuff with a pinch of salt.

And, no, my children were brought up to know right from wrong at home. I had no faith that those running state schools could possibly have taught them that. So please, those of you trying to take the moral ground over a phone that went off in an exam and wasn't removed from the pocket, just try to reflect a little about the bigger picture please. And why much of the public has lost respect. It's actually awfully sad.

My children had two state school head teachers at "outstanding" schools. I could not have trusted either of them to have been in loco parentis for either of my children because neither had the moral fibre to teach my children right from wrong and neither set an acceptable example due to their own personal conduct and truthfulness and what was condoned in respect of their staff.

I know there are many many committed teachers out there but there is a rot at the heart of education in this country and until it is dealt with the status quo is deeply out of kilter and the minority have for too long been able to dilute the efficacy of the majority.

For the OP's son, I hope and pray that common sense will prevail. That same common sense that teaches young people that theft is wrong, that assault is wrong, that disruption is wrong .....................

Not really. Secondary school teacher. Having coached the most stress-ridden kids over the last few months, I would be livid that a child had potentially caused one of those others to nudge over the edge and lose it in the last part of an exam for a core subject. There are so many reminders - it's beyond careless to take a phone in, turned on or off.

My annoyance on this thread is more to do with the number of "it's no big deal", "easily done", "fingers crossed" posts. I do feel sympathy for the OP, but not for her DS.