Mobile Phones 2025 - 2028

Rationale:

“Every school has a duty to create an environment that is calm, safe and free from distraction so all pupils, whatever their background, can learn and thrive. One of the greatest challenges facing schools is the presence of mobile phones. Today, by the age of 12, 97% of pupils own a mobile phone.” (DFE, Feb 2024)

As part of our safeguarding commitments, the governors have adopted the following policy regarding the use of mobile phones at St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School.

The strategies outlined in this policy are designed to ensure that the following does not occur:

• The use of mobile phones to take unauthorised photographs, videos or sound recordings of children by adults or children
• Mobile phones are not used on school site to engage in bullying behaviour

Children and Mobile Phones:

• In Upper Key Stage 2 (Years 5 & 6) some pupils may be travelling home unsupervised after school and therefore need to bring a mobile phone into school as a means to keep contact with their parent/carer on their journey.

Procedure:

• The parent must update the End of Day Collection form to indicate which days the child will be walking home and return it to the school office.
• Written permission to carry a mobile phone must be provided by a parent either by email or by letter addressed to the school office team.
• The office team will update the CPOMS record and the child’s record with the office class file
• The child must hand their mobile phone to office staff for safekeeping at the beginning of the day and collected at the end of the day. This must take place before the child goes to their classroom in the morning and after the final prayer at the end of the day.
• The child must ensure the phone is switched off or on silent whilst on school premises. Office staff will check this daily.
• Office staff will place the phone in an individual, named, clear zippy wallet. These will be kept in a box in the locked office cupboard.

Children who are not walking home independently are not permitted to bring a mobile phone into school.

Mobile phones are not allowed to be used in school by children unless prior written permission has been granted by the headteacher. Permission would only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

Children are not permitted to bring a mobile phone on school trips or residential visits.

Please note that St. John the Baptist Catholic Primary School accepts no responsibility for the loss of or damage to the property brought into school.

If a child fails to follow the school policy, the mobile phone will be confiscated and placed in the school safe. This must then be collected by a responsible adult. The child will be given a warning and a reminder about school policy.

The Headteacher, or the staff they authorise, have a statutory power to search a child or their possessions where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the pupil is in possession of a prohibited item such as a mobile phone. Staff should refer to the searching, screening and confiscation in schools' DFE guidance regarding searching a pupil.

Staff and Mobile Phones:

Staff are not allowed to use mobile phones within the classrooms during contact time with the children. They must be on silent when on the school premises and kept out of sight and reach of the children in the classroom teacher’s cupboard.

Mobile phones may be used during lunch hours, during breaks or outside working hours and not when children are present. Mobile phones may be used in unoccupied classrooms, office areas, staff room or offices – not playgrounds, classes or other areas containing children.

There may be incidences, for example,e whilst on school trips, where staff may need to use a mobile phone whilst in the vicinity of children. In such incidences, staff must be mindful of the content of the conversation.

On residential trips, staff can use mobile phones outside direct hours of supervision, as long as it does not compromise the safety of the children.

There may be occasions where it is appropriate for a teacher to use a mobile phone or similar device, for instance to use multi-factor authentication to access secure and confidential records.  This must be completed when children are not present.

Personal mobile phones must not be used to take photographs, videos or recordings in school. This includes school trips and residential activities, even if the child belongs to a member of staff.

Educational partners will be informed of these policies and asked to follow these guidelines.

Staff are not allowed to give parents their personal mobile phone numbers. All communication with parents should be through the school e-mail and app systems, professional meetings or by using the school phone system.

These guidelines apply to all students and staff on trainee placements as well as parents and other visitors.

If parents do need to make a call or send a message, they will be asked to step outside the school premises to make the call.

Parents and visitors will be allowed to take photographs and videos on their phones at authorised events as long as the photo is just of their child and is used for personal viewing only, it will not be placed on social media. This will be clearly stated by the staff leading the event.

We ask that parents and visitors do not take any offence if a member of staff requests them to stop using a mobile phone.

This Policy has been drawn up in the light of all policy documents that exist in the school with all staff, and governors.