New phone policy

Phones are the bane of modern teaching. Kids just cannot keep off them - even for the duration of one lesson. They are a distraction from learning. The time wasted on monitoring phones is valuable teaching and learning time down the drain. And it is always the same response from those who support their use - my child needs it for an emergency. No, not in a lesson they don't. Schools have telephones. You can contact the office to get a message to you child. No child needs to be contactable by mobile phone 24/7.

Same policy as my children school. They have messaged me from the toilet before now but generally they keep to "no phones." There must be bc a reason why the school has ramped this policy up

But will you?

Dc's school have had this rule for years. Phones must be in your bag before you enter school grounds and on silent. They are confiscated if they go off or if you are seen to have it out. Not allowed to have them in your trouser pockets, no blazers so no other place to put them except in your bag. Never had an issue for either my children.

Dc's phone are on an automatic silent setting for school hours so no chance of it going off in their bag either. Their classes never needed mobile phones. Logging onto school apps was done in a computer room with a teacher stood at the back being able to see everyone's screens so no messing around.

Your son has 1 year left, suck it up. He can wear his watch when he isn't in school. Plus no watches are allowed at all in any exams. Doesn't matter if they are not a smart watch, they don't want to waste their time policing it.

At my school, any phones left in bags were stolen. I wouldn't want my daughter to be having her phone stolen.

Also, they may need a phone for a variety of reasons. Some have a trek home and parents like to be able to contact them or the other way round should anythjng happen. Phones are part of our lives now. As are watches. We may have survived with a basic analogue watch and no phone but I feel safer knowing my daughter can contact me safely at any time.

How about the rules are that phones and watches are used responsibly. They can't be used in lesson as they must pay attention and crack down on the bullying that happens using them by teaching the kids well?! Or is that too much hard work for teachers and parents nowadays?

I appreciate what the school is trying to do. And this may not be appropriate - in my secondary school (Ireland) we had students unions which came together with issues and proposals to the school management. Is there something close to it in your sons school where he can "fight the system" appropriately - just an idea to encourage him to challenge rules in an appropriate manner?

He just doesn't take the watch to school, simple.

Great policy, wish I worked there!

My 2 had same rules and coped with leaving phone in bags all day. If they needed to contact me would pop to office to make call. With watches they aren't allowed in exams so not wearing them to school will mean not accidentally left on in an exam

Phones are a massive distraction in schools. In mine only 6th form are allowed them visible and even then they cause massive issues in focus and learning

Well yes, but school won't know who has or hasn't turned messages off, will they?

You can turn off message and calls alerts on all smartwatches, inc Garmin ones.

At the DCs school every form room has a phone locker where the phones go during registration and then they are collected from there before home time. Any phones seen during the school day must be taken to the office for collection at the end of the day. On the second time this happens the parent gets an email and on the 3rd the phone is only released to a parent
Its a small school though so I’m not sure how this would be workable in a large one.
I support the policy, no need for phones during the day. There have been exceptions where the dc are allowed phones such as post GCSE or in one case when a school mate died

If your son "has a very strong sense of right and wrong", he'll know to follow the clearly communicated school rules, and therefore won't get his phone/watch confiscated, will he? Because he will have left it at home (or left it in his bag if he must take it to school), as per the school rules.

Non issue.

If your son chooses to disobey the school rules, then he needs to accept the punishment for that. The school have been very clear about both the rules and the sanctions that will be applied if they are broken.

Entirely up to your son if he chooses to misbehave and break the school rules, and he fully deserves to have is phone/watch confiscated if he does.

To answer your question, it is legal because it has been clearly communicated, and as long as they take reasonable measures to ensure the wellbeing of the child e.g allowing them to use school phones to communicate with home if necessary then they're not breaking a law.

You can only ask whether a Garmin falls under the rule, but I'm afraid I'd also question why he would need to wear it during the school day. I can see that it is annoying but also smart tech is by it's very nature constantly feeding us distracting data and notifications. Especially in Y11, he should do himself the favour of being able to immerse himself in whatever lesson he's in.

The rules have been made crystal clear.

Does your son apply his “very strong sense of right and wrong” to himself, or only to others?

The latest guidance from the government says:
"Schools’ general power to discipline enables a member of staff to confiscate,
retain or dispose of a pupil’s property as a disciplinary penalty, where reasonable to do so.

The law protects members of staff from liability in any proceedings brought against them for any loss of, or damage to, any item they have confiscated, provided they acted lawfully."

Here "lawfully" means "reasonably" from the point of view of the member of staff.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1091132/Searching__Screening_and_Confiscation_guidance_July_2022.pdf

So congratulations to us all, teachers can dispose of a pupil's property without any consequences.

Is it confiscated-confiscated, or confiscated until home time each day?

My DDs' school took the view that benefits of phones outweighed the disadvantages, but I can absolutely see why other schools take the opposite view.

My friends daughter had to use hers to tell her mum she was in the toilets at school, terrified of the girls outside threatening to beat her up.

No one would see her use it in the toilets

Kids have had to message parents to say buses haven't shown up.

Adult in charge would give permission to use, or step off school premises to use then step back in.

That they're Poorly because school are that focused on attendance they won't send poorly kids home.

If that is really the case then there are bigger issues than phone policy.

Can he get a cheap digi watch for school, keep his Garmin at home, and keep his phone in his bag?

I agree with the principal of phone sanctions, but those do seem very extreme.At DS's school it's a week max.

I don't think it's a good rule at all. I personally think it's completely wrong and they have no right to confiscate phones, it's personal property. I'd be straight up to school to pick it up.
My friends daughter had to use hers to tell her mum she was in the toilets at school, terrified of the girls outside threatening to beat her up.
Kids have had to message parents to say buses haven't shown up.
That they're Poorly because school are that focused on attendance they won't send poorly kids home.
Obviously if they have them out in lesson, they should face consequences but that policy is extreme. It's about time schools started focusing time on learning rather than uniform abs phones all the time.

I wish my DS's school had amuch stricker phone policy.

Be very clear these are the consequences...

Sensible rule.

Support the school! They're doing this for the children's benefit. Tell him not to wear the watch to school.

Great rule. Zero distractions and much less opportunity for trouble (bullying/theft etc).

My last school had a zero phone/confiscation/exclusion policy and parents had zero come-back if phones got lost or damaged at school.