Can my daughter be searched by a teacher?

[London19]

My daughter has attended the same secondary school from the start and is now in year 11 and at the time of applying it was one of the best schools in our area but by last year it had been placed into special measures by ofsted.

The head was then sacked and a new part time head was bought in and lots of teachers left and new ones started this September.

So far, all fine... there are lots of new rules, and one of them is a complete ban on mobile phones on in the school, which I agree with.

The only problem I have is apparently our children can be subjected to a search and and if they find a mobile on them then it will be confiscated for 6 weeks and if a parent were to go to the school to retrieve it before the 6 week time they have threatened to exclude the pupil.

My daughter walks to and from school on her own and she sends me a quick text just before going into school to say she is there safely and a quick text once out to say she is on her way home or she has forgotten her keys etc, my daughter is a complete worrier and is petrified a teacher is going to demand to search her and find her turned off phone in her bag.

They offer to take the phones in a box at the beginning of the day but hold no responsibility if the phones get damaged or lost in their care.. plus it's a huge queue at the end of the day to retrieve the phones so everyone just keeps their phone off on their bags.

I can't find anything regarding implementing this sort of rule when looking online and I'm wondering can my 15 year old daughter be searched by an adult and then have something that is in my name taken away for the random time of 6 weeks?

No they cant search without consent or without a police officer present if consent isnt given.

(Safeguarding)

Which 'rules'?

Retaining until a parent collects, yes. Retaining for TEN MONTHS? I'm not trying to be an arse but that's ludicrous, and it is theft.

I agree with the ban on phones. There are many safe guarding and bullying issues attached to the use of social media within schools.

Your dd needs to learn to follow rules, and she should had it in. I don't know why you are worried about her waiting for a few minutes. You should be happy the school are taking such a responsible view. Personally the distraction alone must be very counter productive.

Please don't teach your child to be devious by finding ways to help her hide it, it is irresponsible and pointless. Support the school in an upbeat way and she will too (eventually)

They cannot (lawfully!) exclude your child for your behaviour. Which is what they would be happening if they excluded her for you asking for the phone back. They can discipline her for her own behaviour, not for yours. If that happens go to LEA exclusions / reintegration team.

Who is keeping phones for 10 months? I've obviously missed that post. 10 months does sound excessive but it still isn't theft in the legal sense.

Shelly
if she needs to I said. If something happens, she hurts herself, she NEEDS to be able to get hold of her mum then yes she will need her phone.

The rules in the government guidelines on searches an confiscation posted upthread.

How, Dumbledore

Genuinely, how is taking somebody's property and refusing to return it anything other than theft?

Witchend - that wouldn't stand up to the rule if it having to be reasonable. It would be very easy to contest it.

More computing power than was in Apollo and the best they can do is confiscate them?

Theft is a crime and schools are authorised by law to search for (with consent or without consent if they have grounds to believe a student has an item that the school does not allow) confiscate, and retain or dispose of pupils' property. It is therefore not theft as it isn't illegal, even if you might feel it's unreasonable. Powers to search for and retain phones have been increased whilst the Tories have been in power.

Most children's phones belong to them Slarti - with contracts paid for by parents

If I'm paying for the contract, the phone belongs to me.

It's not theft technically but it does not stand up to the other guidelines (think it's in a separate document if not on that one) where the duration must be considered reasonable. When hear cases have been taken to lawyers these lengthy durations have been considered unreasonable. Good practise says shouldn't be overnight for various reasons.

As a teacher I would not be happy to confiscate another persons property for longer than my lesson time. I didn't want the responsibility of ensuring it remains safe once out of the child's possession to start with.

I agree that keeping them for weeks on end isn't on but parents rarely collect them on the same day.
Teachers don't confiscate phones in my school either. Any child with a phone out in class is removed from lesson and it's then dealt with by non-teaching staff. I wouldn't want to be responsible for a child's phone. They go into the school safe in a labelled bag until the parent arranges a time to collect. In eight years I've had fewer instances of phones going off or being used in class than I have fingers on my left hand. It's rare for them to be an issue.

But schools are not the police I think even the police might be pushed to explain taking a phone away if no crime was being committed or accused. Just "we don't want you to use it" isn't enough.

Schools absolutely have the right to confiscate but not for months at a time!

I'd no idea some schools took rules about mobile phones so far! It ought to be enough to punish those who have phones out in class, applying detention and keeping the phone until the end of the week. It sounds as if these schools have poor staff/student relations.

I have no idea how on earth we all managed in the 90's! We just had to send smoke signals home if we lost ourselves on the way to school although tbf we did have phone boxes that we rarely used but good for emergencies.

I think just tell her to put it in the box and hope it's still there at the end of the day if she can't do without it.

She won't need to be searched ,if she hands over the phone when asked.

Yes but mama, that is like saying "how did we all manage without cars"?

We did, of course, but if something makes life safer or more convenient declining to use it because people didn't once use them is bizarre!

The police can only confiscate a phone if they think its been used in a crime. Schools have greater powers than this. In addition to searching for and confiscating illegal items or those involved in a crime they also have the power to search for and confiscate anything the school has banned in its rules. From the government guidelines: "Headteachers and authorised staff can also search for any item banned by the school rules which has been identified in the rules as an item which may be searched for."

"School staff can seize any prohibited item found as a result of a search. They can also seize any item, however found, which they consider harmful or detrimental to school discipline."

Put them in front of a social worker, doctor, police officer, etc., I doubt they would be quite so happy to start arguing the toss about the rules!
Um. I'm a social worker. I get told on a regular basis that I know fuck all and should fuck off. I see it happening to doctors and coppers all the time too.

There are a lot of places of employment that do not allow you to have your phone with you during the working day. It's not that draconian a rule your child will be perfectly safe if it is handed in and picked up everyday.