Mobile phone use by staff

[ReceptionTA]

The school I work in only allows phones in the staff room. They are not to be taken into classrooms , even if they are locked away in a cupboard. We keep them in our lockers. We're often reminded this is for our own protection, so we can't be accused of inappropriate actions, taking photos of children for example.

The only exception is if we go on a school trip, then it's kept at the bottom of our bag for emergencies only.
If we want to take photos we have school cameras and iPads.
Through 3 separate conversations this week I've realised the staff in my DCs school use their phones. It seems to be mainly for accessing EduLink, the app used by staff, parents and pupils. This has shocked me.
What is the policy regarding staff mobile phone use in your school (and where in the world are you if not England)?

(Secondary) policy says not on desk / visible in classroom (can be in drawer or pocket) unless emergency - once or twice I have been waiting for a call about a safeguarding issue so apologised to my class in advance and just said I'm going to receive a phonecall during the lesson so my phone is on the desk and I'll duck out when it rings. In the same way a student was waiting to speak to his mother when she came out of an operation and therefore did the same thing once.

We're not supposed to use them where students can see, i.e. not in the corridor.

Head of Secondary is never, ever seen without her huge phone in her hand. And I've never actually seen her using it e.g. to check email / make an urgent call.

On trips we are given school mobile phones (which are crap).

By the way, I wish I had a locker! Theft in our school is rampant!

Ours (primary) have to be out of sight, and we're only supposed to use them in the staffroom/offices, but the point of that is 'not in front of the children', so we all do in classrooms at lunchtime etc.

Technically they are supposed to be kept in a 'bag or drawer', but given we've had thefts from both bags and drawers, mine is in my pocket most of the time. On silent, of course!

We also expect parents to not be on their phones in the playground or on trips.

Unless you are offering me some form of light entertainment to watch while standing for 10 minutes in the cold waiting for my dc, you will need to fight me to the death to get my phone out of my hands at school pick up.
I do put it away in time to welcome them with suitable rapture, of course

We are expected to have our phones with us and use them for the school's internal messaging app, the reward system app and email. I also have an alarm set for a child's daily medication and for timed activities we use our phones. No photos containing children or identifying information of course. I am glad this is our policy as it means I will be able to take a call or pick up a message quickly in an emergency.

We don't have a policy, other than we're advised to keep them hidden for obvious reasons. I often use the timer on mine in lessons.

Yeah we have no policy either, mine stays on my desk...most of us have them in our pockets when walking around. I have answered an important call before, I just leave the door open and go into the corridor but the calls are always short and sweet. I can also access the school ‘system’ on my phone but we are not allowed to have our passwords automatically saved.

Usually locked in a cupboard or drawer in staff work room or classroom, along with handbag.
I keep mine in the cupboard in my room. It's handy as it means I still get messages and mail through to my watch.

There are the odd times I use my phone in school, all agreed with the SLT. That's mainly for updating school social media stuff 'on the go' but it's specific to my role.

Phones stay in the staff room but the head always agrees to them being on vibrate on the teachers desk if there is a very good reason, I did it when my mother was seriously ill overseas and I couldn't be there.

No policy. Regularly use it for photos of work and pupils to use in lessons (no camera etc available/compatible). Often to look things up, check work has been submitted on Google Classroom etc as our network is so slow it takes 10 mins to load.

We can take photos of all students except EYFS. Use phones frequently. Often told to carry phone if taking children to nearby field for PE etc. Our Head is an Ofsted inspector and school is Outstanding , if that is of relevance.

I use mine in class all the time to quickly look something up or share an audio clip or whatever. We are actively encouraged to take pics of our students during lessons (and to tweet, but I have not succumbed to this yet!!) I've used my phone to take pics on trips too.

I was surprised by the photo side of things as that would be unusual in the UK, I think.

I'm at a Secondary in SE Asia. There are lots of things that are very different from the UK and this is one of them!

No policy in my school in Scotland. We are actively encouraged to take photos for twitter although are told to delete the photos from our phone afterwards.
No school mobiles are available so when we do trips abroad the parents and pupils all have our personal number in case of emergency. I am very uncomfortable with this but have been told it’s just the way it is.

We are encouraged to register classes on our phones and access emails.

We also take photos of children for various professional reasons and are asked to delete off our devices within 48 hours.

We are also expected to see a ‘lockdown’ text which could come to our personal phone at any time of the day.

(Support staff, not teaching staff)

Every time I need to log into the safeguarding/welfare database (a couple of times a day) it requires two factor authentication, and my mobile phone is the second step. I can't log in without it.

Every time I'm called to an emergency on the school site, I need to have my mobile phone with me in case I need to phone for an ambulance.

Both of these things are part of my job description and neither would be possible without a mobile phone.

I teach in Australia and at my school staff phones are encouraged. I use mine to take a photo of board work and send it to absent students. I never use it to phone parents or communicate with the school.

I can claim phone charges and internet use on taxes.

I use mine in lessons- I use it as a calculator, stop watch etc. I never browse on it and it’s obvious to students that I’m doing the maths as I stand in front of them using it.

Official line is they are to be used within the staffroom only. Sometimes I have mine on silent in my bag because I have to leave promptly at the end of the day and haven't got time to go back for it. However with a number of pupils with complicated health issues, and also the introduction of incident training in the event of (god forbid) an intruder with violent intentions, they are reconsidering. There is no phone anywhere near my classroom to summon help, so it makes sense I should be able to make a call and not have to leave the room in the event of a child having a dangerous epileptic seizure or an intruder on the premises... I think you have to credit teachers with enough sense and professionalism not to take photos of kids!! The kids would report you soon enough if you did...