To think knife crime might be a SLIGHTLY more pressing problem?

[MyLadyTheKingsMother]

I mean, really. In the grand scheme of things?

BBC News - Schools in England given new guidance on stopping phone use

@coastingcoffee getting 1800 kids back to their form classroom which could be the opposite end of school to sign out phones from a storage location would add a min 20min a day to each teachers timetable. An extra 1.5 hours a week min.
That's Assuming all teachers are also in those same form rooms at 3.19 and not elsewhere or gone home etc ( ours aren't). Our 8 PE teachers all have forms and extra curricular stuff too at 3.10 Or maybe off site.
I can not see how on Earth it could work in a big school

Ours don't see their form tutor until 3rd period so couldn't leave them with him, they ask them to turn them off in school and if they are caught using them they have them confiscated until Friday when a parent picks them up

@deeprealisation I don't know the logistics apart from the morning routine. I think it's a case of trying to make the best of a situation which could have severe consequences and repercussions if there was misuse of a phone as per PP posts.

If they didn't have this policy then I would support no phones at all in schools.

Regarding knife crime , we should be looking towards the courts and their virtually non existent sentencing. Don't we already have a law that can issue a five year sentence for carrying a knife,?
Isn't it about time the judges started actually acting upon it?
It might make perpetrators think twice about carrying them

My children go to a 6 form entry secondary school (year 7 & year 8 are 7 form entry) and the children's phones get collected at morning registration and given back out at the end of the day at afternoon registration. It works fine. Children can lie and say they didn't bring their phone but they do random spot checks with strong punishments if they are caught.

Do they not have 2 registrations a day with their form? My children's school does. One at the beginning and one at the end. 30 phones are put in a box, taken to the corresponding head of year's office and locked in for the day. Then at the end of the day they are collected from the office and handed out. My children's school is smaller than yours, granted, but it's still the same concept.

Who is going to collect in the between 1000 and 2000 phones at a big secondary? Where will they be kept? How will the correct phone go back to the correct student? How long will it take to get through giving them out at the end of the day?
people who say this haven’t been in a school or even thought about it. It’s not a practical solution. And since you can’t be searching everyone’s bags, you’ll never know you’ve got them all anyway. What’s needed is more parental support of sanctions applied by the school for inappropriate phone use in school.

No, they do t. Most have only one now and electronic registration in lessons the rest of the time. In some schools (one I work in regularly) this isn’t at the start or the end of the day. I’ve never worked in a school where reg is at the end of the day (35 years on contracts and several as supply. I have experience if a lot of schools).

Well, clearly some schools manage to have systems for phones that don’t have an impact on learning time, are clearly understood by the pupils and are workable.

Our registration is in first lesson after lunch. They only go form class 4x week and assembly once. Don't return. Pm registration is in their first class after lunch - they dont do lessons in forms as all different sets etc
If you finished period 5 in PE eg it could take at least 5-10 mins to get back to opposite end of the school & up three floors

Sentencing guidelines for young people are very very different to those as an adult, you wouldn’t get custody for carrying a knife in school as a young person.
Tougher sentences for young people wouldn’t stop them carrying, education needs tp start at primary level into the dangers of carrying -the impact of using. The signs for parents to look out for in their own children who could be being exploited…. Signs for teachers to look out for. Better community resources and 3rd sector agencies, more funding for schools, councils and clubs in the heart of the community.

That makes it very difficult to implement if they only have one registration or registrations at random times of day. My children's school used to have the second registration after lunch but they changed it to the end of the day so it worked.

I do think schools need to find a way to make something like this work. I imagine it would be chaotic when it is a new policy but once it becomes routine it would be much better.

It also says schools could allow pupils to keep possession of their phones but "only on the strict condition that they are never used, seen, or heard" during the day.

My ds left school in 2020. This was their rules back then. Hardly new guidance or earth shattering news.

They were asked to use them though for some lessons like accessing kahoot and the article does mention about "limited and specific use" (a government favourite phrase!)

I think both things are an issue but to pretend this guidance is doing something to bring about change is a little presumptious!

I guess it depends on the type of school your child attends. There are some rough schools out there

@cardibach this is what my children's school does so it can be done

If schools allow pupils to come into school with a phone then they need to work out how to manage it.

I wouldn't be happy to send my child to a school which allowed phones in classrooms. I don't understand why anyone would argue phones are required during school time.

If schools can't cope then they should be banned outright

@TinkerTiger a phone seen is a phone confiscated. Seen again and it's lost until a parent comes in to collect in person. Hence why it's 99% adhered to

Both important

Knife crime was an issue years before smartphones.

The use of smartphones in school is a totally different matter.

Knife crime was an issue years before smartphones.

The use of smartphones in school is a totally different matter.

I was a secondary teacher for several years at 2 different schools and this phone crap is just that - crap from the government.

Students weren’t allowed phones. Phones were confiscated - it just wasn’t an issue that needed government guidance. TBH I’m surprised this is even an issue. I wrongly assumed most, if not all, schools followed a similar policy.

I can’t imagine having to tell 30+ students to put away their phones. It’s hard enough to reign them in as it is. And the possibility that they film me, their fellow students and put it online??! The children had the use of iPads but I could login in and see what each child was doing so if anyone dared stray away from the Kahoot I would know about it.

BTW I taught at bog standard state schools. If this makes schools who allow phones to change their rules - great. But I still think they’re in the minority and I think this is just some more bullshit from the Tory government trying to win votes.

@DogsAreBetterThanHusbands
No ours is eleven form entry. Registration in form 4x week only. Otherwise on assembly day it's in first lesson. But that's not a form group as they mix up for everything & some lessons are set or streamed. They don't do most lessons in forms. Each lesson signs them in so no end of day registration. Site is big.
Teachers form rooms aren't necessarily their teaching rooms and ks3 and ks4 offices aren't near every class too,
To collect & sign in 1800 odd phones, walk them all to an office & sign them in and then out at some point would literally add at least 30 min to a teachers day. And they'd be late for own first lessons

In our 5 form entry primary the class handed phones in at start of day, stored in classrooms and collected as they left at the door. Except they were all constantly forgetting & the TA / teacher didn't know whose was whose. Kids having to go back & get them etc Phones mixed up

I can see that it wouldn't work in your school because it doesn't have registrations like most schools do. As for taking up 30 minutes of teaching time, this doesn't happen as a trusted student takes/picks up the phones from the relevant office and the registration length is more than enough to cover it.

Phones are used to sexually harass female pupils and staff. Why wouldn't you want girls to be safe from sexual bullying at school? Both knife crime and the misuse of phones is a male violence issue, just because the victims of misused phones are overwhelmingly girls doesn't mean it isn't a serious problem.

@DogsAreBetterThanHusbands all the high schools round us operate much the same. They defo don't all go back to one point at the end of the day for another registration. As for 'trusted pupil' collecting & giving out phones... I wish state comps, even great ones, were that civilised. What about when the latest ££££ phone goes walkabout?