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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

No phone allowed at secondary school - Phone cards best option?

67 replies

mummymaz12 · 05/09/2017 10:24

Hi, my son is starting secondary school and mobile phones are completely banned at school. He will be travelling into London by train/tube but there will be times when trains go wrong & he will need to do a different journey or come into a different station & will need to let me know.

He will have money with him so can use a cash phone box (if he can find one) but are there any universal phone cards I could get that he could use on any phone box??

Thanks

OP posts:
Allthebestnamesareused · 05/09/2017 10:46

If he already has a phone could you check whether they would let him drop it at the school office first thing and collect as he leaves. Our school operates that policy for those travelling on public transport or walking home.

nocampinghere · 05/09/2017 10:56

I'm guessing the London Oratory?

They have a complete and utter phone ban. Say it makes them more of a target for muggings etc and they don't need a phone.

Sorry don't know re phone cards, have you asked your landline provider? I think there is a number you can call and code to type in to bill your home phone.

You could sew one of those Tile trackers into his blazer/bag so at least if he's delayed you know how he's getting on.

I'm sure if he asked anyone to borrow their phone they would let him, everyone has inclusive call packages these days. Make sure he has your phone numbers written down with him even if he knows them he may forget them if stressed.

Laniakea · 05/09/2017 10:59

there's no way I would be happy for dd to commute to school without a phone (she like many of her school mates has a very long journey to their rural school (with rubbish public transport - she's stranded at least 2-3 a year) & fortunately her school appreciate this). I would hope the school makes suitable arrangements e.g. as Allthebest has suggested & if they refused then I would give dd a phone to leave turned off in her bag unless there was an emergency. And I would make it clear to her that I would go fucking apeshit if she got it out at school.

claraschu · 05/09/2017 11:02

I think it is great when schools take a hard line on phone use.

Still, if I were in your situation, I would get him a £5 PAYG phone (not a smart phone) and put it in an inner zipper pocket of his bag. I have a phone like this which I leave in my car for emergencies. It only needs to be charged every few months because it is almost never used, or even turned on.

Your son would never take it out at school and never use it or turn it on except when travelling and having an emergency.

Phone boxes are impossible to find these days.

claraschu · 05/09/2017 11:04

Oh and I wouldn't tell the school. Handing a phone in at the office is just a faff. My kids would have understood that the phone would never see the light of day at school, so no one would have known it was there.

QuestionableMouse · 05/09/2017 11:05

A cheap basic phone will be much less attractive than a smart phone and could be left in his bag unless it was needed.

I can remember being stranded at school because I couldn't get in touch with my parents. It was horrible!

StiginaGrump · 05/09/2017 11:09

PAYG phone on silent - split school bag lining a little on the side and move it under lining to bottom of bag. No one will ever know ...

Ragwort · 05/09/2017 11:09

If you were stranded at school surely there was someone available in the office or a teacher who could make a quick phone call for you?

How do you think we all survived before mobile phones - we all travelled across London/the world etc etc without a phone. Hmm.

Lurkedforever1 · 05/09/2017 11:13

Do you know they mean it that way? They're banned at dd's, however they are allowed them for the journey and just have to switch them off and leave them in their lockers.

UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter · 05/09/2017 11:14

Our school has a ban on mobile phones, however if its switched off in the bottom of a school bag or tucked away in a pocket in the bag, how will they know?

I'm not one for dismissing school rules and am generally a stickler for them, however I think there are occasions when bending them slightly is acceptable. I would want a child travelling across London in very busy times, to be able to have instant access to call me or someone else for help or to inform them of an issue.

I'm sure he won't be the only one with a mobile phone hidden for these purposes.

Traalaa · 05/09/2017 11:39

Are you sure it's a total ban? DS's school has a no phone policy, but they don't mind so long as they don't see it. He switches his onto silent and it's hurled into the bottom of his bag. So long as he doesn't take it out the school are fine with it.

alltouchedout · 05/09/2017 14:28

How do you think we all survived before mobile phones - we all travelled across London/the world etc etc without a phone.

We used to do without lots of things that now make our lives easier and better. The fact that in the past something wasn't done says nothing about whether or not we should do it now.

daydreamnation · 05/09/2017 14:37

No phones are allowed at my ds school. He doesn't go on the train but has a long journey by bus and has asthma and serious food allergies.
He keeps his phone on silent, always fully charged at the bottom of his bag.
If it's ever an issue at school, I will argue to the bitter end that he is safer with it but it's highly unlikely to be 'discovered'

Maryof1993 · 05/09/2017 18:00

we all travelled across London/the world etc etc without a phone

Difference in those days there were phone boxes everywhere. BT has got rid of them all due to everyone having mobiles

Glumglowworm · 05/09/2017 18:39

I'm normally a stickler for rules but if it's permanently in an inner pocket in his bag and turned off with strict instructions not to take it out at school, how will they know?

Agree with PP that public phones were far easier to find in the days before mobiles, they're much rarer now!

ponderingprobably · 05/09/2017 18:43

You you get him a watch that he could message from?

HarrietVane99 · 05/09/2017 18:44

everyone has inclusive call packages these days.

Everyone doesn't.

Titsywoo · 05/09/2017 18:47

Are you sure they mean a total ban and not that they must be off all day and stored in a locker or in school bag?

StereophonicallyChallenged · 05/09/2017 18:49

How do you think we all survived before mobile phones - we all travelled across London/the world etc etc without a phone.

We'd use phone boxes which were easily found in most public places including bus & train stations, cafes, schools, leisure centres and all the other sorts of places where older dc might need to phone home from....Hmm

Bekabeech · 05/09/2017 18:49

A "brick" type phone which can't actually switch itself on like my older DCs first Nokia, hidden at the bottom of a bag. Zero mugging risk.

But really in London once he knows his way he should be fine with his Oyster card, maybe a hidden £10, and the fact that if he goes to a station and says he's lost his ticket if he's under 16 they have to help him get home.

Ragwort · 05/09/2017 18:50

We used to do without lots of things that now make our lives easier and better. The fact that in the past something wasn't done says nothing about whether or not we should do it now.

Everyone seems to rely totally on mobile phones these days and many people seem to have lost any idea of 'common sense' or how to deal with an unexpected situation. The common default amongst many young people (I hate to use the expression 'snowflake generation' Grin) is that any time something goes a bit wrong, just phone mum or dad and it will be sorted. I know I sound like a dinosaur but when I was young we had to use our initiative, work out what to do, deal with situations ............. and we coped.

MarthasHarbour · 05/09/2017 18:52

Yes I would contact the school. I am another old gimmer and was an 80s teenager pre-mobiles but as PP said there was a phone box on every corner.

Dawnedlightly · 05/09/2017 18:55

Ragwort re travelling without phones.
We did, but off the top of my head I can think of dozens of instances of trains delayed, buses crashing or breaking down or plans changed or kids lost/ mugged/ attacked on the way home.
I remember those instances vividly was because of the sheer blind panic when someone didn't turn up and the interminable wait until they did!

Jojobythesea · 05/09/2017 18:55

My DS school has a no phone van but as long as they are not seen or heard they can have them in their bags for travel purposes.....

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