School only allowing certain basic phones for Year 5 travel

[92lou]

First time posting, I'd love some other options on this one. DS is due to move up to year 5 next year which is in a new school (middle school) where they are able to walk to and from school, which I am happy for him to do he is very mature and safety conscious! Also the new school is very close to home. The school have had open days, info evenings and given out all sorts of info for the new starters in September. Information includes smart phone policy which is a smart phone free school which I 100% am behind. With not much information on what a 'brick' phone was in 2026 I got to researching and found most networks are fazing out 2g and 3g. I even contacted the school to ask what would be acceptable where I was given a very vague answer and a link to a article about brick phones. With all this in mind I found a Nokia 4g phone for about £20 ISH from Argos which has a built in MP3 player set up working off a memory car perfect I thought for my DC who is a massive music fan and will no doubt love to listen to some pre loaded music to and from school. Anyway I brought the phone in a bid to beat the rush for this type of phone in September as places like Argos are great for out of stock items! And to try and spread the costs as in August I will be buying all manor of the uniform and stationary required. Now last week we get an email from the school to say they will only be allowing 3 different makes of phone that's it! Obviously my Nokia 4g isn't on the list. Great! I email the school and explain my situation and the fact I had emailed them before purchasing the phone asking this very question. They are now looking into it as I have raised that the phones they have listed are all 2g and 3g and are unlikely to work for much longer! I have also asked why this is even important as the phones are taken from the children in the am locked away by the teacher and given back just before they leave. Have I been to keen to buy this phone I now can't return or are the school being unreasonable?

If they’re locked away and only returned after school i don’t see how they can justify policing what kind of phone your child has. Equally when we were young we walked to and from school from a younger age, lots of us further away than it sounds, and never had phones. Can’t they not have a phone? Would make it a lot easier.

Agreed - I would like him to have a phone worry if he fell off his bike or if he wants to go to the park or his grandparents house I'd like to know. I wouldn't want him to miss out doing something after school because he can't just call me and ask like his friends will be able to.

Just to say my daughter had a massive stack off her bikes whilst solo travelling from school to an activity. She just took her time to come round and walked the bike to her activity and got first aid there. I was so upset for her at the time but actually now I think it was better she didn’t have a phone else she’s have just called me and I’d have decided what to do and where to go and solved it for her. Actually at 10 she was more than capable of making decisions herself and it was an empowering experience.

Ask yourself if you need to know where he is every second or if you can let him go to the park or grandparents and just need him to be home by a certain time. Perhaps you could consider getting a tracker although this is be a bit wary of as well

(But I agree school would be very unreasonable given you checked to not allow your phone. I’d also be asking given they’re locked away all day what the consequence would be for not allowing it. Woukd they dismiss him without it?)

Why does he need a phone? If you're so close to the school?
If he wants to go to the park with his friends,then let him, why does he need to let you know? Or just ask he pops home and writes "gone to park with Boris" on the fridge or whatever.

I'm not sure the school should have the authority to decide which phone you buy for your child. Once it is not a smart phone then you have fulfilled that requirement.

If they take them away at school, it sounds like the school is effectively trying to control what goes on at home, as you're unlikely to buy two phones. This seems like overreach to me. It doesn't surprise me, some schools really would prefer to get to make parenting decisions.

Also if a child already has a brick phone are they going to insist another phone is bought that is one of the three that they have said are permissible? That's completely overstepping their remit.

I agree with you the school are being ridiculous. But I also think children do not and should not have phones.

Walking along plugged into music isnt a good idea either. If listening to music your not fully aware of your surroundings. The number of people (kids/teens/adults) that nearly collide with me on my commute is A LOT. And almost always because they are more focused on their screen or their music than they are where they are actually going.

It’s none of the schools business what phone is being used for travelling. They are over reaching.

O can guarantee of you're stupid enough to give small children of 8/9/10 smart phones they will be stupid with them on the way to/from school.

Taking photos, filming each other, sending explicit content, bullying each other, viewing sexual material, being groomed by adults etc.... And the school will have to deal with it, all because parents are stupid enough to give them to their kids for "safety".

Imagine if it was weapons we were talking about.... Both capable of damage and injuries...

"I gave my small child a bb gun/knife for self defence and safety.... and now he's hurt someone and himself... school it's your fault and problem to solve"

If it’s from Amazon can you return it?

The school are doing their best in a difficult situation. They are right to make the phones they permit as basic as possible, including no music ability. Why would you want to tell your child they can listen to music in the way to and from school? They need to be aware of their surroundings to be able to keep themselves safe.

Ues there is a 2G / 3G sunset, my kids both have Nokia phones that are 5G, they are excellent and work on the tube. They are light and small and they are not a target for muggers. In year five your child does not need anything else.

Just ignore the school, they are massively over stepping. It’s particularly common with primaries I find.

Just to be very clear this isn't a smart phone! I don't want to give my child a smart phone it is a dumb phone purely for text and phoning me and immediate family. Ideally I don't want him having to have multiple devices to loose etc. so have selected one with the capability to have some music on a SD card when he is older I'm not worried about this straight away just trying to future proof the phone so I'm not having to buy a new one every year etc.

Argos and no I've had it too long before they had given the advise. It's more the fact they've changed the gole post which has annoyed me and not done any research into what will work in the area.