Mobile Phones in school

Be maybe he wants attention or is trying to distract from other issues. It isn’t working.

Gavin Williamson is using this as a distraction from the fiasco of exams and bubbles in schools. 99.9% of schools have mobile phones policy. No hear no see or in lockers switched of during the day etc. Why is he wasting time on this. It is hard to police complete compliance of course, but perhaps Williamson could point to one school which has no policy in place and just suggest a policy for them.

Schools now routinely use apps and technology to upload/download homework, notes etc (secondary school that is). I’d imagine that in a world where mobile technology is being used to enhance learning, then the children being able to access said technology when appropriate would be logical?
So my DD in her later stages of education would check and uploads etc at the end of a lesson, and as other have said take a picture of the whiteboard for notes etc.
Many of her peers actually put study notes (stuff I’d have had on flash cards for revision) on their phone and will study en route to school - they regularly test one another, more so at exam time.
Additionally some children were allowed to audio record lessons where given permission to enhance learning.
Obviously chatting and social media is a distraction, but instead of trying to ban phones, maybe embracing the advances in technology as some schools have done would help with engagement in the curriculum.

Kali2

nanaK54

Wow! For the first time ever, I actually agree with Gavin Williamson

you beat me to it. Yes, I suppose hand over to Form Tutor at registration and locked until end of day.

If my school is anything to go by there is so much to get through in morning registration ….also students don’t end the day with their form tutor.
Best thing is exactly what has been going on already. No phones in lessons unless instructed.
Why has Gavin suddenly thought of this ?!

Lucca

So fair enough, but what should happen ? Phones collected at start of school day and redistributed at close ? Has Gavin made a practical suggestion ?

Phones in theory are not allowed out in lessons, but I bet that’s pretty hard to police in some schools,

this is what they were doing at my sons school before covid, now they are kept with the pupil but turned off in lessons.

We've had kids with phones in school since 2000. This is hardly a new issue.
Two points
Teachers cannot take responsibility for any expensive item except in PE lessons where the tray is locked away.
Pupils may need a mobile for safety's sake walking to and from school.

1. Schools already have clear rules about mobile phones.
2. In some cases, they are useful in the classroom - taking a photo of the whiteboard, for example.
3. We have spent lockdowns asking children to depend on pcs and mobile phones. Many of them have worked really hard to keep school work on track using their phones. It’s a bit mean to suddenly decide phones are a nuisance now they are back in school.
4. Any teacher who can’t police the use of mobile phones in their own classroom is probably not very good at classroom management. They should be able to manage the use of student mobile phones depending on subject, task and circumstances.

Kali2

nanaK54

Wow! For the first time ever, I actually agree with Gavin Williamson

you beat me to it. Yes, I suppose hand over to Form Tutor at registration and locked until end of day.

Unfortunately if the phone goes missing, the school are liable for the loss and the phone has to be replaced.
If kept in the school bag, it remains the child's responsibility.

Of course staff pass messages on to children; you ring the school office and the message is taken directly to the child. Provided it is necessary.
You think children don't use their phones in class? Absolutely no need whatsoever to have them in the classroom.

nanaK54

Wow! For the first time ever, I actually agree with Gavin Williamson

you beat me to it. Yes, I suppose hand over to Form Tutor at registration and locked until end of day.

Even stranger than messages not passed on is the ‘I went into town /to the park/ with **. I didn’t get your message about going straight home.’ ?

There is absolutely no way the school would have wanted to take on the task of passing on the numerous messages sent to my older grandson at one point.
Constant, ever changing, and essential.
I hope there may be exceptions to the rules. (Just as there are in work places)

Many years ago on the day we moved to this house our dd went off to school to do her maths exam with the new house key in her pocket. (Don’t ask).We were stood outside with the removal van unable to get in. I rang the school in desperation who very kindly managed to sort it.

49FannyCornforth Antonia oh heck, no. You can't get staff to pass on messages from parents to child
Really? I would think it might depend on the message. I'd like to think that if it was urgent, staff would try to pass on a message. Not, of course, if it's something trivial and I wouldn't expect that.

Antonia oh heck, no.
You can't get staff to pass on messages from parents to child

Mobile phones hadn't been invented when my children were growing up, for which I am very thankful. They have their uses but I grew up, and my children grew up without them, with no problem.
If parents urgently need to contact their child they can always ring the school. I know someone said that a message wasn't passed on, but this must be very unusual.

Of course kids should be allowed to take phones to school.
They don't get them out in class.
Schools themselves deal with it.
And they can; they've been dealing with the issue for 20 years.
But of course, Williamson will swan in and flex his puny muscles...

Honestly, you'd think that Williamson would have plenty more pressing issues to deal with.
But there you are.
This government is an utter joke ?

I think that it must be much more difficult to be a teacher now than in the days before the ubiquitous mobile phones.

What do the teachers unions have to say about this?

What's the point of that? Children will still be able to receive and send messages, which can be very distracting. We had parents who would phone their child in class and pupils who would phone their parent if they got a row from their teacher.
Phones off and put away at the beginning of the day and on again, once off school premises. That's the only solution.

There seem to be mobile phones now that do not have a camera for exactly the same price as the almost identical version that does have a camera.

Is there a policy in some schools that pupils are allowed to take a basic mobile phone onto school premises as long as it does not have a camera?

I work with adults who are unable to stay off their phones for an hour or two..
Every time there's a lull, out come the phones.

Most of my teacher friends says phones aren’t a problem at their schools due to policies already in place. Even in college I’ve not found them to be a problem. It’s just a bit of an odd thing for him to come out with. Makes me a bit suspicious.

Must be difficult to stop them as most have permanent AirPods in under their hair.

My DGS school also has the rule about being switched off, but I like ‘not seen, not heard, not taken away.
DGD at primary school, hands hers in and collects it at the end of the day. Some children have the most up-to-date iPhones-unbelievable.

Absolutely agree with Doodledog. Mobile phones were not around when my children were at school. I once had to leave a message for one of my daughters about how I could not collect her and what she had to do instead. The school secretary promised to give her the message BUT SHE FORGOT!
Luckily all was o.k. thanks to one of the other mothers but how much better it would have been if I could have texted or phoned my daughter.