Phones banned from schools from 1st April - what is your school doing?

[Kepler22B]

My school (teacher) is fully implementing the new government policy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phones-in-schools/mobile-phones-in-schools

Phones handed in at the start of the school day and not collected until they go home. It is a boarding school so they can get their phones for a short while in the evening. No change for us here, we already did this.

What is changing for us is no phones on trips or matches or Saturdays. Plus the rules now apply to 6th form (but there is some leeway that my school isn’t taking)

Is your school fully banning phones? How are they implementing this? Are you happy with the rules?

Usage in general not just in class. The way children socialise has changed dramatically, given a chance they will sit in friend groups in near silence all on their phones.

That is not taking into account bullying/banter going to far that happens with phones.

Banning phones on social times is necessary. I prefer schools talking the phones/ not allowed to bring phones in. Pupils will try to find places to hide to use their phones.

During the school day is fine but restrictions for sixth formers at boarding school is ridiculous, within a couple of years they will be expected to be independent adults, you need to trust 16-18 year olds not to use them during the school day but allow outside of that (my dd boarded for 6th form and no issues at all with phones, she messaged or phoned me most evenings for a few minutes, she also used her phone to watch tv

No. They will have a health care plan and most likely a quicknote stating that they have a phone for their HA/CGM.

Same way although there is a blanket ban upon staff having phones out/even in their possession anywhere there are students is set aside for those of us who have the same conditions.

Our school requires them to be handed in at the start of the day.

There are a few kids who get round it though. They say “oh I left my phone at home today” and what is the teacher supposed to do, search through their pockets and bag to check? Or they hand in an old phone and keep their real one.

I still believe in the policy despite these get arounds but schools need to be aware it’s not foolproof.

No policy is foolproof. Some schools confiscate it for one day till the parent collects it. Other schools confiscate it for longer. That's more of a deterrent, but then some parents kick up a fuss that their precious little Johnny needs the phone for other stuff

I don't think this will make much difference. Most schools already have at least a 'no visible phones on school premises' policy. I work at a lovely girls' grammar school with really well-behaved kids. They still use their phones on site and only get caught if they are careless. Ours are allowed to go to the toilet during lessons and do so in large numbers. I'm pretty sure their desire to use their phones is the main cause.

Even taking phones off them for the school day isn't foolproof. Most households probably have a couple of old phones kicking around the house which they can hand instead of their actual one. People underestimate the level of phone addiction (and sneakiness!) in teenagers.

Of course they can. Schools are very, very used to making exceptions and allowances for student with specific needs, health problems etc.

Off and in bags isn’t anywhere near the same thing and results in hundreds of requests for the toilet during lessons. Literally hundreds. Once they are in pouches or collected in, there are a handful of requests each day.

Yes, the sheer number of toilet requests does my head in and is clearly largely driven by phone use, as your experience demonstrates. But banning toilet trips in lessons results in irate parents. They seem to believe that it's a simple matter to just be able to tell who 'really needs to go' (which makes me wonder how gullible they are about what their teenagers tell them!).

We need GCHQ to provide signal jammers in every school, so that children cannot use their phones even if they manage to sneak them in :)

Hi-tech Britain :)

DDs school already took in and locked all the phones away each day, so no change there. The only change is that they can’t use them on school trips now. Which meant that on Friday all the kids on the bus had to talk to each other ( the horror)!

it’s fine. I’m really glad they’ve banned them.

My sons school is banning phones completely after Easter. They aren't even allowed to have them switched off in their bags. They haven't said what they expect students who travel in via bus or rail to do without their tickets on their phones. Our kids can apparently text us when they get home, and if we don't receive one, we'll know there a problem. Not that I'll know where DS is if he doesn't go straight home, or there's a problem!
I'd prefer if they had the pouches or had to hand them in each day, and collect at the end of the day, but the school have said it'll be too much work for them. I do agree that they should not use phones in school time (despite homework, timetables etc all being on an app on their phones..) but I would like my DS to be able to have access to and from school.

At our school, phones always had to be handed in in the morning, collected at the end of the dat. Rural school, so kids need smartphones to get to school and back, dumb phones are useless.
Six form can keep their phones in bag, but not allowed to be seen with phone in hand.

Been at our senior school for years, phones are put into boxes and handed back at the end of the day. Any phone caught not handed in is confiscated for 5 days and parent has to collect.

Ours started this September last year. Phones put in a Yondr pouch at the beginning of school and the magnet released at the end of the day. It’s working well according to school and my DD is fine with it.

I don't know any school in my area (primary or secondary) who allows mobile phone use during the school day (including break/lunchtimes). My son's Junior school only permitted phones into school from Year 5 and they were handed into the school office at the start of the day, to be locked away until home time. My son is Year 10 at secondary school and phones have to be kept switched off, kept inside a bag or inside a blazer pocket. Any student caught using their phone, has it taken away, an automatic detention and phone call to parents.

My DS's school has a policy of no phones at all in school. I think it's essential at a time when so much inappropriate material is available on the internet so easily, and photos can be shared publicly so easily. There is no way that teachers can know what all kids are doing every second of the day, and so no way to stop kids using their phones for inappropriate things if they have them. I think it would enhance some areas of the curriculum though, if they could use their phones. I work in adult education and there are several ways we use phones for teaching. I don't think it's possible for one teacher to ensure 30 kids are safe using phones though.

In my (TA) school they aren't supposed to be seen with phones during the day at all. It is inconsistantly enforced though. We are moving to the use of pouches but tbh I don't see how that will help unless it is backed up with stricter enforcement from all staff.

We have Yondr pouches at my son’s school and I think it’s great. They don’t need phones during the school day. I’ve spoken to other parents who were talking about buying burner phones. What a ridiculous thing to suggest. As far as I can tell it’s been a success.

Our secondary school has a 'not seen not heard rule'. If it's seen even in their pocket it is taken away and they have to stay back for half an hour after school to wait to get it back. This has been the rule for years and there doesn't seem to be an issue with phones really. The teachers did allow them out on the odd rare occasion to take a photo of homework tasks on the board and there was a quiz app they were allowed to use during PD group time with teacher permission but this has all now been completely banned just recently. I was surprised they were allowing this when my daughter started the school so I'm pleased it's been stopped now.

I wouldn't agree to my daughter having no phone at all, we rely on it a lot. She does a lot of after school activities including extra tuition for which our schedule is very tight, we need to communicate regarding pick up time, often telling her where I'm parked or if either of us are running late etc. I just can't imagine life without it. With 2000 students I can't see how the school would monitor handing that many phones in every morning.

Surely the kids would just use a burner phone to put in the pouch? That's what I would do 🤣

@Bubble567 My DS’s (17) school has required students to hand in phones at the start of the day for a few years now. They each have an assigned slot for their phone and I assume that someone is there in the morning to ensure that phones are handed in.

They can collect their phones at the end of the academic day (3:30) before sports practices, etc. begin, or if they have extenuating circumstances that are communicated to the school, e.g., leaving early for a dentist’s/doctor’s appointment.
If their phone slot is empty, there needs to be a reason-parents are contacted sometimes.

It does sound like a logistical nightmare, but apparently it works. No one seems to bring burner phones and if they’re caught with one, they get a detention.

No different at our school, it's always been the same no phones out during a school day

current policy is not seen, not heard, not noticed. But if seen, parents need to collect the phones.

from the next academic year it’s dumb phones only, with a list of the three models that will be allowed and veiled threats that using smart phones on school premises will be treated as a major disciplinary offence

All the local schools (2x secondary and various primaries) have united around this statement.

I absolutely understand the reasoning behind this, but find it sad that as all homework is online, it will do little to reduce the screen time my child has.

My dc School has just banned smart phones completely for year 7. Dumb phones only which makes sense as they are less addictive/still useful for travel to and from school. BUT they have not done this for other years and they still allow smart phones on residentials
which is madness.