To think in a phone free school students need to have access to other devices in this day and age?

[caniquitwork]

New guidance very strong on no phones at all in schools, but in my daughter’s school they have not got other devices to use, neither personal nor provided by the school- and so many lesson activities nowadays rely on use of technology. How does it work at schools you know?

I’m a primary school governor and we do not allow phones out in school. We provide information to parents on the benefits of a phone free childhood and various relevant safeguarding information from time to time on games and apps that kids might be aware of and parents might not be. I wouldn’t expect to see any phones out in a school, whether belonging to children, staff or volunteers for safeguarding reasons.
All devices in a school (iPads, tablets, laptops, smart board, aac, anything else) should be in the classroom because it is benefitting one or more children in a well planned lesson. I’ve seen brilliant lessons with no tech and brilliant lessons with great use of tech but I am fortunate to work with some amazing teachers.

This mine do not have a mobile and won’t until 16. They seem to be managing just fine.

Technology, SM, on the whole makes you less intelligent less of a critical reflective thinker not more.

For my youngest he couldn’t cope with a phone - he is ADHD and even 15 minutes on computer games is enough - his brain literally can’t cope.

When DDs were in Primary School, the school had a tablet for every child in the older years, not sure how far down the school it went (they joined in Yr3 &5).

Now in Secondary, the school appears to have a lot of Chrome books for use in lessons. They have paper planners and timetables, the school will pass messages on to parents, food is paid for by facial recognition (or a pass card if the parents prefer), fortunately we still have physical bus passes... do the school could go smart phone free. Its still at "Off in bag" control level. But teachers are not allowed to let them use them in lessons.

Im 56 so there were no mobiles when I was at school. I've taught in secondary schools for 31 years. It is not an exaggeration to say that phones, whilst they do have positive roles in pupils" lives, are generally an unnecessary distraction from learning and often are an extremely negative influence not only on learning but social interaction too. I despair that schools are now having to use money to house pupils' mobiles during the day. Having them.in their bag and off is not good enough.
There is no doubt that removing phones from schools will,once it becomes the norm, benefit everyone all round.

Yes they do, in the computer science lesson where schools provide access to computers. They don't need their phones. Rest of the lessons don't need tech.

Smartphone ban at my DD’s school which I think is great. She has a basic phone (£20 on Amazon) that allows her to call or text us when travelling in or back home. Learning both paper based and using computers at school.

I wondered how they did this before smartphones were invented?

Google (other search engines are available) says it was something called "teaching" . . . .

I personally retain more information if I write it down or read it off paper than when I'm reading / doing stuff on a screen. No idea if that's the norm

I've just had parents evening and asked every teacher if there was any chance homework could be handwritten. Mainly to practice for GCSEs and most were polite but it was evident it was a huge inconvenience. I know myself that writing for any period of time now is taxing due to the reliance on technology.

It’s like saying how will they teach swimming now the big pot hole has been filled.

Schools will use calculators, sand timers, laptops and desktop/smartboards.

Leanr how to use tech.... As if it's something really difficult and complex...

A 2 year old can use a tablet.... So I think a 14 year old who has access outside if school will be just fine...

In current times, that would be a grossly inadequate school. You are doing no favours to children if you don't teach them how to touch type, and about how to use the internet sensibly for research etc.

Other devices for what?

If a school existed with zero tech, I'd send my kids in a heartbeat.

Yeah, one has to wonde how we coped in the past...

Either the lessons won’t require tech, or the school will provide it, obviously. If it’s homework that requires tech, they can use their own as phones are only banned during school hours.

Is your concern really that the school will be planning lessons that require tools that they will neither provide themselves or allow the students to provide? That’s a bizarre worry.

It's striking the number of posters here who seem hell bent on accelerating the trend towards a post literate society. There are kids fortune enough to attend very low tech schools and in the future this will be the divide between those who can go and research, evaluate and critically analyse material and those in tech heavy education environments who become passive vessels being broadcast into.

It depends on the school and the teacher. A PP mentioned Kahoot quizzes which I have also used.

I quite like Moodle, worked with properly improves learning and teaching.

I did a lot of supply, I once had a photography class, the actual photography / Arts rooms were being used for exams.

So I took a risk and said if the class were really sensible they could use the camera on their phones. They had been looking at David Baily and photo portraits so they all tried to take a DB type photo.

I agree @caniquitwork

Kids are growing up in a very different workd than we did with massive technological opportunities, this may be scary but the answer isn't to ban phones and leave kids to figure out how to navigate this without any support or guidance. More work needs to be done on how to integrate technology and ensure that kids benefits from it's many positives whilst attempting to educate them around and shield them from it's negatives.

Preparing kids to live in the world 20 years ago benefits nobody.

Kids in school do get tech support. They use computers, laptops, smart boards etc. what they don't need is phones in classrooms which do distract from teaching. My teen took GCSE last year. He wasn't allowed phones in school but is the smartest person I know when it comes to tech. He said himself that students concentrate better without the constant need to check phones.

Yes, phones in class aren't necessary but in schools with a lot less technology they bridge a gap. The OP said that other tech options were not widely available in the school that she is discuasing. We are at a risk of create a huge divide in our country based on what the school a person went to could afford, on top of all other education disadvantages that are currently in play.

I'm not saying that kids should have phones in school, I'm saying that the whole curriculum needs looking at and adapting to a world that has changed massively. Our children are digital natives, my middle DS is doing GCSe's this year and what he is learning in ICT and computer science ia so far behind what he and his friends consider common sense that it's ridiculous.

Nobody needs to be constantly available.

Rearranging end-of-day plans can be done by parents contacting the office as in the old days. Or send a text they’ll pick up when they get their phones back. Kids don’t need to be rearranging plans that involve parents.

Agree. My oldest is 7, we’ve never had a tablet and she’s not allowed to play on our phones. She watches some CBeebies but that’s it. We’ve agreed she can have a dumb phone to travel to secondary school with and we will have a computer or laptops in a communal area for fun/homework purposes at that point. But no smartphones or tablets until they’re 18.

No phones allowed at my dc school. They hand them in at the door and can pick them up when they leave. They all have school-issued laptops that are tightly controlled and monitored for what they can do on them. A lot of homework is still written on pen and paper, but they access all the info they need for homework on the laptop.

They can email me during the day to say “Help I forgot my clarinet; please bring it in” or if they want collecting at the different time from normal. Etc.

It works well. Although I just had an email from the IT department this morning informing me that ds has smashed his screen and I’ll be charged the £150 excess on the insurance. 🙄

My daughters school is a phones free school,it loudly proclaims at every opportunity..I have,however yet to see a single student without one glued to the side of their heads,mine included! Its just white noise to make the school look good but in practice,well thats another matter!

Yes but the ban being discussed says no phones brought to school. It’s definitely not the office staff’s job to track down my child during the school day - maaaybe in primary school (though we are down to 1 person in the office and the phone is never answered) but certainly would be a ridiculous idea in high school. We have restructured these jobs away so we can rely on that sort of thing.

My kids go to a state school in a ‘mixed catchment’. There are no laptops, we don’t have the money. There are iPads that are meant to last from p6-s6. The kids carry them around all day as there’s no other way for them to get the textbooks or the assignments or find out what time their flute lesson is or anything really. So if they have those anyway, I can’t see any reason to get precious about having a phone too.