How to word a letter about mobile phones being used in the classroom ?

[mamatomany]

Apparently my 6 year olds year 2 teacher asks them to hang on a minute whilst she responds to a text
There was something on the radio about the case in Plymouth and I just casually said none of your teachers have mobiles do they ? Turns out all three have witnessed teachers using their phones whilst the children work during the lessons.
I feel this is extremely unprofessional and in light of events should have been stopped months ago.
I want to approach the head WWDY ?

My point samcrow.

mamatomany
It is not the degree of trust, but the degree of helplessness of the children.

A 2yo is less able to say, "Mummy, the teacher did something strange today that I didn't like" than a 5yo school child.

The 5yo school child is going to the toilet alone, is not having nappies change and is unlikely to be alone with the teacher, is certainly not going to be in a state of undress alone with the teacher.

It is a matter of opportunity, which a school teacher just does not have in the same way a nursery teacher does.

a couple of the teachers who I work with job share and so sometimes text each other during the school day to pass on news or check information with each other- no more unprofessional than sticking a head round another teacher's door and asking a question IMO

Yes scurry, x-posts there.

mamatomany - I was with you on the general point but I think the risk of photos being taken for inappropriate reasons is tiny. Digital photography is a feature of everyday life in schools nowadays and I believe its used to demonstrate compliance with Ofsted requirements. Why is everyone so hysterical about photos being taken of children ?

And mamatomany, please post on the webchat request thread, I do think it would be great to have professional advice on this.

I am horrified that so many parents in UK rely on CRB checks and draconian shutting away of cameras to keep their children safe.

Instead of teaching the children how to be safe, making them more confident.

Ask anyone who has worked with pedophiles - they do not chose a child at random. They do not want to be caught. They chose a vulnerable child and groom them. It is not left to chance, it is very much planned.

"I assume you are happy with your childcare provision, you are mine."

No, teachers are not babysitters.

Having said that, I am a teacher and although I keep my phone on at work, it is on silent and I don't look at it until break time.

I've done that, snice. A quick "where did you put such and such?" or whatever.

But in view of the horror expressed on here, I will make sure I hide in the stock cupboard to do so in future.

Mme - I think you are wrong actually, we had a nanny who physically assaulted our 4 year old in front of our 6 and 8 year old then gave them all a hug and told them not to tell their parents because we would be cross. So they didn't for over a year until they were certain she wasn't coming back and they felt safe.
If people think verbal children will question an authority figure they are in our experience naive.
But more to the point how would they know, if teachers regularly text in lessons then would it be so questionable in a child's mind if they appeared to be texting in the changing rooms for example.
People worry samcrow what can I say, you put your faith in something, ie ofsted, crb checks, when it turns out to be unreliable you then question everything you put your faith in.

Interesting point snice - would a teacher stick her head round another teachers door while they were both teaching a lesson?

Its a long time since I was at school but the teachers didn't leave the classroom during lessons.

Even for a job share I'd still say it could wait until the end of the lesson.

Is there some element of nudity in primary schools that I'm not aware of?

It wasn't your point, scurryfunge - and we have all agreed that texting in a lesson is very wrong, as would answering the phone be, except in the most dire emergency.

Glad you agree....

mamatomany - why do you worry though ?

I can genuinely say that I've never heard any of my friends even mention a concern about teachers and cameras or phones.

Do you really think the teaching profession is a hot bed of peadophiles ?

Samcrow Yes-certainly in infants where the classrooms are often adjacent/interconnecting

No I think listening to the news today about how this woman got away with so much because her colleagues didn't speak out against her and how ofsted declared the nursery to be outstanding has shaken my faith for want of a better word in the protection that I thought was keeping the children safe.
Then as I said listening to the radio with the children I fully expected them to say that mobiles weren't in the teachers pockets, to hear oh yes they are always on them is a shock that those systems aren't in place to keep the one bad apple from repeating the crimes discussed today.
And remember this wasn't one woman acting alone it was a countrywide ring of women in positions of trust.

mamatomany
I am sorry that you have had a bad experience, but this does highlight what I have a problem with.

You put your faith in oftsted, crb checks...

We shouldn't be putting our faith in crb checks, they are IMO almost worthless. They only prove that the person has never been convicted of a crime, not that they have never committed a crime.

I can only go on the information given to me by two very experienced child protection liason officers of the German police force. They stated clearly that we cannot protect all the children all of the time, as much as it pains them. The only thing we can do as parents is be vigilant, promote self-confidence and self-awareness to our children and be interested and present in their lives.

No advice is infallible but we have to just do our best.

IME teachers abd TAs are often in and out of other classrooms. Some of our classrooms are joined simply by a door, a door that is often open.

Good point, SGM. In an emergency situation, where every second counts, the teacher having a mobile could be a matter of life and death.

SGM That has actually happened to me, and colleagues of mine on numerous occasions.

Me - child collapsed, closest phone was mobile.
Friend/colleague - child stabbed. No school phone without leaving room.
etc.

It comes back to how would the children know they are being filmed though, I can imagine plenty of the children in my year 6 child's class being confident enough to tell an adult to get stuffed if they tried anything inappropriate with them, but they wouldn't realise if they were being filmed getting undressed in the changing rooms for example. So if no phones are allowed it solves the problem of teachers being accused or indeed if one teacher is a criminal.

" ofsted declared the nursery to be outstanding" Ofsted said it was satisfactory not outstanding. Where on earth did you get that from?

"it was a countrywide ring of women in positions of trust". No it wasn't. You make it sound like there was a paedophile in every nursery, playgroup and school.

No bloody wonder this is getting hysterical.

Doesn't solve the problem of crappy phone systems in schools which are unsuitable for relying on in emergencies though, does it?

Digital cameras are all over the place in schools - confiscating phones would not help that aspect either.