London Oratory complete mobile phone ban even on long commutes

I'm surprised a local person hasn't rented out lockers to kids to pop their phones into. Secure storage.

£5 per week. Assume 50% take up. That's quite a tidy sum.

Side hustle.

Our school would still sanction for this. They’d probably station a teacher next to it! I wish I was joking.

@Twistingoliver - out of interest, does that not actually make the DC more likely to want a smart phone in the future as some sort of banned substance? At some point, whether it is 13 or 16 or 18 they are going to have to learn how to deal with it. I agree the longer you can hold out, the better, but at some point education around the dangers, addiction, manipulation absolutely has to happen and if it is not going to happen during the school years, then when? Once they are at uni they have to handle it all themselves.

I wonder if the school have done it, in part, to try and cut down on the number of applicants with long and complicated commutes. I know it's normal in London, but asking children to travel an hour or more each way does have consequences for the school. It's harder to get kids to participate in after school activities like plays, and music and sport practise. It makes sanctions like detentions more complicated to administer if parents are relying on kids traveling with other children. They'll have to deal with a lot of kids being late or failing to turn up when there are public transport SNAFUs or they lose/forget their wallet (and probably in the past with a lot of kids ringing the school because parents are in work and expect the school to magically deal with it somehow). Kids have less time and energy for schoolwork and homework, which will affect their results. And dealing with sleep deprived, exhausted kids is no fun for teachers. Kids also do get mugged for phones, and schools then have to deal with the fallout.
Some private schools won't accept children with too long a commute for this reason, but it's harder for state schools to change their admissions policies. I wonder if they're hoping this rule will make parents think seriously about whether a long commute is really best for a young child.

@Hegglepig valid comments about long commutes. Same in many ways applies to the world of work, hence my support for sensible levels of hybrid working and people being managed, not travelling to an office for the sake of it.

Waterproof bag for cheapest brick phone you can find and child can hide it switched off SIM removed in vicinity of school.

Is there any evidence that a child in the past had come to harm that could have been prevented if they had had a mobile phone ? There have always been plenty of kids with long commutes to school

what exactly are the concerns ?

Is there any evidence that an adult in the past had come to harm that could have been prevented or reduced if they or their friend had had a mobile phone ? There have always been plenty of adults with long commutes to work and who may even (shock horror) not be going straight home from work? Are there any adults that have ever called emergency services for something they have seen? Are there any adults that don’t live in the station they are travelling from?
what exactly are the concerns ?

This faux pretence that it js inconceivable to think of a single situation where access to a phone could help is tiresome. Schools don’t live with the consequences of oversteps -families do.

Totally agree. These kids are living in the world as it is, not as it was.

I wouldn't send my child there - the arrogance and presumption is huge.

I wouldn’t send my child there

I very much doubt the Oratory’s crying into its chalices TBH.

Agree. They’re better off without parents like this.

In the past there were phone boxes everywhere and in an emergency, kids could still call home if they had coins on them. So yes, this is taking it too far.

What sort of emergency are you talking about? Because in an actual emergency you’d presume there’d be adults in the form of police / ambulance personnel, etc on the scene who’d be happy to do any contacting necessary.
Missing the bus isn’t an emergency.

Be realistic
OP, be realistic: there is nothing you can do about it. Right or wrong, the policy will not change. Other schools have the same policy. The country will become a Republic before you manage to overturn this policy. No amount of strongly worded "legal letter" (whatever that means!) is going to change that.

If you like everything else about the school, apply.
If this is one of the many things which don't sit right with you, don't apply.

It's as easy as that.

Take Mossbourne Academy. There was an outcry from hundreds of current and former students and staff about its policies of isolating kids in corridors and shouting at them. There was an inquest. The school confirmed the policies. They basically said: "suck it up, we're not going to change that, and there is nothing you can do about it".
Our great system allows schools to basically abuse and harass kids.
If you think you have any chances of changing a phone policy you don't like, think again.

On the school
The Oratory is very marmite, hate it or love it. How do you feel about everything else?
Out of the gazillion reasons to love or hate the school, I would see this as one of the least important, but to each their own.
I mean, let's not forget that this was the school which had in its admission criteria vague bs like participation to Christian life, which included financial donations to the Church, and that it took a fierce legal battle to rule that illegal. I am not religious but, even if I were, that would certainly put me off, Of course, if instead a socially selective environment is what you want, go for it (the Sutton trust and other studies have repeatedly confirmed that state-funded faith schools tend to be more socially selective).

On the policy

I personally think the policy has its place in a city like London. In Crapford-on-shite kids may need the phone to pay for public transport or to look up the bus timetable at an isolated bus stop. Not so in London.
The rationale can be that, with no phones at all, kids won't use them in the bathrooms, and, outside the school gates, they will be more likely to socialise and less likely to waste time on screens. This may also reduce the potential for inappropriate behaviour on electronic devices.
I get it that not everyone agrees, but at least there is some rationale, it's not pulled out of a dark body cavity.

A legal letter that works within the school policy with the SEN exception is perfectly possible. SEN is widely defined under statue and case law and a stressful commute with no phone may well qualify. So whatever, I am sure if a parent with an anxious child needs an exception, they have a strong claim to get it.

Op isn’t even a parent at the school. She’s just whining that she’d like to apply for a place but doesn’t like their policies. I can imagine how many shits the Oratory will give about that.

“5.* *Mobile phones and personal computers
A pupil may not bring a mobile phone or a personal computer (smartphones, laptop, notebook, Kindle, tablet etc.) to School, without the explicit permission of the Headmaster. Permission from the Headmaster will only be granted should your child fit the criteria; SEN or Exceptional Medical grounds.”

So if the DC attends but gets anxious with no phone etc due to long commute - you send a letter to the headmaster explaining the need for it. By law, SEN is needs based. So there you go.
It’s not about “giving two shits”.

Even Michaela Community school aren't this draconian - phones stay in the bag and as long as they are not seen or heard there's no issue and they manage to get this to work. Seems a bit heavy handed to have no phone at all when a large cohort use public transport. But they obviously have enough applicants so have been able to enforce this policy.

Phone boxes.

@Araminta1004 By law, SEN is needs based. So there you go.
It’s not about “giving two shits”.

It is one thing to say: "I need an adjustment to a school policy because of a well-documented, SEN-related need"

And quite another to say: "I want that school to change its policy because I don't agree with it".

I am no expert, but is there consensus among experts that children with anxiety need a phone on a long commute? Or is it one of those hotly contested topics, where if you ask 10 experts you'll get 20 different opinions? Maybe some will say that, if the anxiety is so severe, then a more local school would be better, regardless of phone?

I mean, when you see councils giving blue badges for anxiety, the suspicion that maybe things have been taken too far does start to creep in...

https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/blue-badges-triple-drivers-anxiety-adhd-5HjdZKb_2/

@ParentOfOne - I think it is a fine balance to strike. What you don’t want for children’s independence is eg parents who have to accompany or even drive them to school because they aren’t “allowed” a phone. Also, it is detrimental when all the other new starters can travel in independently from day 1 but those with some emotional or anxiety but not yet diagnosed SEND (formally) get left behind.
I don’t know how many exemptions this school has issued on this particular policy. I guess someone could ask them via FOI and then one would see how strict they really are. Whether it is the same percentage roughly as the official SEND rate, or in reality, much higher.

If you don't like the school rules, change schools. Go to a closer school. Prioritise things that are important to you, and go from there.

Seems bizarre not to allow a non-smart phone! They aren’t prisoners 😂 I’d question where it’s necessary for any child to have an hour’s commute for the sake of their education though? Surely there are good schools that are closer?

I saw an engineer last week repairing / servicing a red phone box in Zone 2 London. They're still around and working!

Ladies and gentlemen: @Araminta1004