Can schools ban parents using phones on site?

[shadowfiesta]

Primary school have updated their mobile use policy and all staff / parents / visitors cannot use mobile phones on site. I get some of it - can't take photos of kids, staff shouldn't get distracted when teaching etc but we're not even allowed to take a call or check emails in that dreadful wait for the doors to open at the end of the day.....god, we're all going to have to talk to each other aren't we??!!

(Mine are still in ks1 so have to go on site to collect. Ks2 parents can wait on the road so they can probably do what they like!)

My phone isn't just a phone. I have apps on there I use for work stuff, and there are times when I am connecting to our work sites remotely. I can't use my phone when driving, so the tims I used to spend waiting for the children to come out was a good time to be doing stuff.

I am also an adult, and able to recognise when it's appropriate to put the phone away. I am grateful my 2 DCs are at secondary/college, I don't need to go onsite anymore.

And those schools using signal blockers to block calls need to make sure they have an official licence to use one, from OFCOM, or it's illegal.

Compost, there is nothing to stop abusive family members from taking photos from outside the school gate, if so inclined. Banning phones from the playground does literally nothing to safeguard.
I can understand banning photos of school plays etc, as these are highly likely to end up on fb and therefore expose vulnerable kids to people who might be looking for them, but I don't believe people take pics on the school yard.
As for the argument that schools have to encourage parents to speak to their dc - you cannot impose ott rules because a tiny minority of people are bad parents. A phone ban will not make them attentive parents.
The school is overstepping.
I honestly don't know anyone who ignores their children as they come out of school. The only times I have been on my phone after my dc have come out have been because I was dealing with something equally important.

Unfortunately at our school it's the majority, but as I say we are in a very deprived area with some super vulnerable children - we have almost as many pastoral/safeguarding staff as teaching staff for example, so not really a typical school. And we don't have a ban, but do encourage parents to put phones away when collecting. (And we do have many many fantastic parents doing their very best in trying circumstances, I'm not being all 'poor = bad parents' because that couldn't be further from the truth. But we have an awful lot of parents that need support)

I know there's nothing schools can do beyond the school gate, but that's out of school's control whilst what happens on school premises isn't. And it's really not schools/headteachers just randomly deciding this - these are guidelines either imposed from above or expected by certain authorities/Ofsted. The expectation isn't to ban phones from the playground altogether, but I'm not surprised if schools interpret it that way with the enormous pressures around safeguarding, and I wouldn't be surprised if it became the expectation from Ofsted.

There are situations where looked after/adopted children have parents/other family members contesting the decisions and looking to find them. There are situations where children have been/are being abused and the abuser is a parent who is looking for them, threats have been made re kidnapping etc

And none of that is remotely affected by this kind of ban. It's a delusion to imagine one affects the other in anyway.

It's a safeguarding thing. Camera phones are the problem and are commonly banned in places where there are children. Cant see it being enforceable outdoors BUT the school are well within their rights to request it and it isn't an unreasonable request. Inside the school building they will absolutely be able to enforce this rule and all good schools will for staff and visitors. As a childminder I also have to have a clear policy about my own and visitors to my home and the use of mobile phones.

It's not a safeguarding thing, and phones are not banned in most places with children.

Fire officers still have pagers for on call, get messages in places you can't get phone signals
/ misses point of thread/

I can't use my phone at work but carry it on silent in my pocket because dds school are incapable of contacting my work number and asking for me but insist on calling me onmy mobile no matter how often
I ask or explain that I cannot always answer.

How pathetic. My children's school uses an app to send us pics of them and their work throughout the day.

This is very common. I was asked not to use a mobile phone on the premises of a nursery I used last year (even though I was out of doors); it is a safeguarding issue connected with the facts that some people cannot be trusted not to take photos. The phone I was using was a basic dumb phone with no camera, mind you. It might be an idea for schools to make exceptions in such cases. That said, most calls can wait. Playing on the phone or gaping at social media can definitely wait.

Yes it is true that people could whip out a camera instead, but this is far easier to spot and stop. If someone gets a camera out, it is obvious what they are going to do. If you have a playground with everyone playing on their phones, there could be photographing going on and you would never be aware of it.

I can't believe there are people on here who are so reliant on their phones that they cannot even remember their own telephone number! What on earth would you do if there was an emergency, or, for that matter, if your phone runs out of battery? Get a watch, memorize your phone number and have important information written down in more than one place.

For the people that are saying 'it's not a safeguarding thing', why do you think schools do it? Just to piss everyone off?

It is a safeguarding issue, it's there to protect children and staff, phones have cameras, children are vulnerable and also whilst a member of staff is checking their phone a child could be injured, something could be missed. No one needs their phone in school, staff can be contacted through reception/office if needed in an emergency, parents can cope for a shot time without a phone and children do not need phones in school.

It's a strict thing at my daughters school, she goes to a special needs school where children are even more vulnerable as a lot are non verbal or unable to tell anyone if they were to have their photo taken by someone.

So many people have said they need their phone so school can contact them. They would be at the school for the ban to be applied to them. Why would the school be ringing someone who us standing right there? :)

Some of us have children in more than one school.

The schools are implementing this in order to cover their own arses, so they can say that nothing happened on their watch. They know full well that banning phones from the playground does nothing to protect children in real terms, who could just as easily be photographed from the school gate if someone was so inclined.

Different, I think, to ban photos of school plays etc as that does genuinely increase risk to vulnerable children.

It's not a safeguarding thing,

But it is a safeguarding thing. Whether or not you think it is silly or you think it won't help protect children or you think it's not enough or it's too much or it's unworkable is irrelevant. It is coming from new safeguarding guidelines and yes, it is about schools covering their own arses to an extent because if they interpret the guidelines in this manner it is less likely that they could get into trouble in the unlikely event that some problem is caused by a photo taken without authority on school premises.

"They can stop you going on school premises if you don't agree to put the phone away

I suppose they could, but then they would have to bring the children out to me. Win win, I guess! "

Not really. Get 20 twats that refuse to put away their mobile and get banned from premises, and spend another 30 minutes waiting while they find the staff to bring the kids out to you after they've finished everything else they've got to be doing

We aren't allowed on phones on the playground when picking them up either. Apparently a lot of parents were getting distracted and not looking after their kids properly. I believe one child wandered off.

If I get a phone call at the school gates and it is important then I will answer it. That rarely happens though.

Perhaps it is about reversing the addiction to mobile phones, and trying - at primary school- to set the example that you can put your phone in your pocket and ignore it for half an hour, much as you would of you were driving, or asleep.

We are talking about about adults here right? They've clearly worked with small children for too long.

And when I still worked we could use our phones in our own breaks and after school. Fair enough not when in charge of children.

I'd have a real problem with this either as parent or staff.

@LairyMcClairy it is a safeguarding thing. It's an ofsted requirement under safeguarding. Maybe double check before you contradict people like that. All the children's centres, children's hospitals, nurseries, childminders and most schools will ban mobile phones. Cant see your point there?

Looneytunes - that just isn't true, there are many secondary schools that allow students to use phones in the classroom during lessons and many more that allow students to carry them around on silent.

You might like to double check what you're saying too.

Do you have a link to the ofsted requirement?

And as for banning childminders having phones, that just couldn't possibly be a rule, surely you must know that's not true

If the reason they give isn't safeguarding, would they complain if you were reading a book? If not, it's nothing more than snobbery.

As I understand it, the OFSTED requirement (since 2014) is that a school has a policy on safe use of mobile phones and cameras in the setting. Schools must be able to demonstrate that they are assessing risks and doing all they can to keep children safe. This does not expressly mean that they must ban all use of mobile phones, but as a pp has pointed out, many schools have decided to opt for a blanket ban so that they don't have to explain themselves to OFSTED if OFSTED decides that their alternative policy is insufficient.

It may not be the best solution, but it is a solution that is straightforward for the school and protects them from falling foul of the increasing demands for quite complicated policies.

If you're school/nursery staff, presumably in an emergency you could be contacted via the office/school number?

As a parent you might be waiting outside for 20 minutes. Under normal circumstances I think it's fine to stop people using phones but in extremis (eg call from hospital when family member very ill, other child's nursery/school phoning etc) I would discreetly answer it and face the consequences.... lines or detention?)

It is a safeguarding issue. Just because you know that you're innocently replying to an email doesn't mean that we do . Of course we could go round peering over everyone's shoulder to check what you are doing but I'm not sure that would go down well! Would you take responsibility for every member of staff , contractor, visitor , parent and carers use of their phone? Probably not , but while they are on the school's property the school does. Our responsibility is to keep the children safe not to facilitate you contacting your partner to arrange dinner.
Go and attend the safeguarding, child abuse and internet safety courses we do, listen to the cases and statistics then you might understand. It is not to encourage you to actually talk to your child when you pick them up although that would be nice! You don't know everything , you don't know every child's history. We have a long list of children that cannot have their photo put in the public arena. For the last 5 years - at least, on every sports day, nativity, school play we have told parents that we don't mind them taking pictures but to please ensure they only put their own children's photos on social media and every time there are parents who fill their Facebook page with pictures of their child in the line for the relay with 5/6 other children or a picture of their child as an angel along with ALL the other angels! You might not do it but other people do. Surely you've all discovered mutual friends on a friends FB account that have surprised you. A childhood friend from one end of the country turns out to be a relative of someone you now work with at the opposite end off the country. So just because a person doesn't realise or intend it doesn't mean that thet might not inadvertently lead an abusive person to a vulnerable child through just one photo on social media.So you might have to wait 5 minutes to return a call, text, email but be honest in the last 100 notifications on your phone how many have been life threatening? Where for us ,the wrong person with a phone or a person taking a picture of the wrong child can have life or death consequences.