|
REVIEW |
Biannually or following changes in guidance from the Ministry of Education |
|
POLICY REVIEWED |
June 2023 |
|
REVIEW DUE |
June 2025 |
|
APPROVED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD |
10tOctober 2023 |
Contents
At ESF we recognise that mobile phones, including smart phones, are embedded into everyday life for parents, staff and pupils in the secondary phase as well as the wider school community. It is therefore important that the use of phones in school is regulated carefully. This policy aims to:
This policy also aims to address some of the challenges posed by mobile phones in school, such as:
1.2 Rationale
Aside from the safeguarding issue, the rationale for this policy is that it has been shown that the effect of banning mobile phones from school premises adds up to the equivalent of an extra week’s schooling over a child’s academic year. This is according to research by LouisPhilippe Beland and Richard Murphy, published by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
“Ill Communication: The Impact of Mobile Phones on Student Performance” found that after schools banned mobile phones, the test scores of students aged 16 improved by 6.4%. The economists cite that this is the “equivalent of adding five days to the school year”. According to Beland and Murphy, a phone ban produced improvements in test scores among students, with the lowest-achieving students gaining twice as much as average students. “We found that not only did student achievement improve, but also that low-achieving students gained the most. We found the impact of banning phones for these students was equivalent to an additional hour a week in school, or to increasing the school year by five days.”
Aside from the above educational benefits, being an international school in Kuwait, we are subject to the ministry memo #6889 received on 23rd April 2019 which prohibits devices or smart watches to be used in school or school property by students. The rules for smart watch use are the same as for phones unless otherwise stated.
2.1 Staff
All staff (including teachers, support staff, and supply staff) are responsible for enforcing this policy.
Volunteers, or anyone else otherwise engaged by the school, must alert a member of staff if they witness, or are aware of, a breach of this policy.
The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) are responsible for monitoring the policy every 2 years, reviewing it, and holding staff and children accountable for its implementation.
3.1 Children Use
The school recognises that parents/guardians in the community feel the need for their children to have access to a mobile phone for communication with home especially if students are involved in extracurricular activities that occur after the normal school hours. This also helps with safeguarding and child protection. ESF understands and supports this approach. To that end, the school has adopted the following mobile phone best use policy:
∙ Children are allowed to bring mobile phones to and from school to ensure their personal safety at all times
∙ Children must not use a mobile device, smart watch or electronic device including headphones anywhere in school during the school day, except under the specific direction of a teacher. For the purposes of this policy, the school day begins at 7:30 or the moment the children enter the school grounds (whichever is sooner) and ends once the children leave the main building. Mobile phones will not be permitted to be used at any after school extracurricular clubs without prior permission being obtained.
∙ If a child brings their phone to the school, then on arrival it should be switched off and kept out of sight, for example in their bag. It should not be seen or heard (including vibrate) throughout the school day;
∙ The phone can be switched back on upon leaving the school site. Not before and not during any period of social time (break)
∙ Any child found using or known to have used their phone during the school day will have the phone confiscated and returned at 2:00pm via a member of the pastoral team. Parents will be informed via and children will be asked to sign for their phone
∙ If the child is a repeat offender the school will request a parent/guardian to come in and collect the phone from the school.
∙ Any refusal to hand a phone over to members of staff will result in a follow up sanction in line with the school’s Behaviour & Rewards Policy. This would constitute the refusal of a reasonable request by a member of staff.
NB: Sixth form students are allowed to use mobile phones in the 6th form area of the school. They must respect this privilege that they have been given and not abuse this. Sixth form students must not use their mobile phones in other areas of the school.
3.2 Designated areas:
The Principal reserves the right to allow phones in selected areas given individual circumstance
3.3 Contacting Children and Parents/guardians
In non-urgent situations, parents wishing to contact their child during the school day should ring the school. We have a well-established and efficient system for getting messages to children and pastoral support if it is needed.
Children who need to contact parents during the course of the school day should speak to the Pastoral leader/Head of Year, who will make a phone available.
3.4 Sanctions
If a phone is seen by a member of staff it will be confiscated by them.
Once confiscated, this will be placed in the care of the Principal where the child will be allowed to sign for and collect it at 2:00pm. If a child has their mobile phone repeatedly confiscated, we will request a parent or guardian collect it from the main reception after 2:00pm.
If we have reason to believe the phone contains unacceptable images, or if it is being/has been used to commit an offence or cause personal injury, staff will request permission from the parent/guardian to search the child’s phone. Should this be required, this will always be done by a member of the SLT or pastoral team.
Certain types of conduct, bullying or harassment can be classified as criminal conduct. The school takes such conduct extremely seriously, and will involve the police or other agencies as appropriate.
Such conduct includes, but is not limited to:
4.1 Personal mobile phones
Staff (including volunteers, contractors and anyone else otherwise involved/employed by the school) are not permitted to make or receive calls, or send texts, while children are present. Use of personal mobile phones must be restricted to non-contact time, and to areas of the school where children are not present (such as departmental offices and the staff room).
There may be circumstances in which it is appropriate for a member of staff to have use of their phone during contact time. For instance:
4.2 Safeguarding
Staff must refrain from giving their personal contact details to parents or children, including connecting through social media and messaging apps
Staff must avoid publicising their contact details on any social media platform or website, to avoid unwanted contact by parents or children.
Further details and guidance can be found in the acceptable hours and lines of communication policy and the acceptable online safety E-Safety and Internet Email Use Policy alongside the ICT Acceptable Use Policy.
Staff should not use their mobile phones to take photographs or recordings of children, their work, or anything else which could identify a pupil. If it is necessary to take photos or recordings as part of a lesson/school trip/activity, this should be done using school equipment where possible. More detailed guidance can be found in the video and photographic images policy and the GDPR policy.
4.3 Using personal mobiles for work purposes
In some circumstances, it may be appropriate for staff to use personal mobile phones for work. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to:
In these circumstances, staff will:
4.4 Work phones
Some members of staff are provided with a mobile phone by the school for work purposes.
Only authorised staff are permitted to use school phones, and access to the phone must not be provided to anyone without authorisation.
Staff must ensure that communication or conduct linked to the device is appropriate and professional at all times, in line with our Staff Code of Conduct.
4.5 Sanctions
Staff that fail to adhere to this policy may face disciplinary action.
Parents, visitors and volunteers (including contractors) must adhere to this policy as it relates to staff if they are on the school site during the school day. This means:
Parents, visitors and volunteers will be informed of the rules for mobile phone use when they sign in at reception or attend a public event at school.
Parents or volunteers supervising trips are also responsible for enforcing the school’s policy for children using their phones, as set out in section 4 above.
Parents must use the reception area as the first point of contact if they need to get in touch with their child during the school day. They must not try to contact their child on his/her personal mobile during the school day.
Children bringing phones to school must ensure that phones are stored securely and out of sight when not in use.
Children must secure their phones as much as possible, including using passwords or pin codes to protect access to the phone’s functions. Staff must also secure their personal phones, as well as any work phone provided to them. Failure by staff to do so could result in GDPR breaches.
Where a mobile phone is brought into school, it is entirely at the child’s and parents’ own risk. The school accepts no responsibility for the loss, theft or damage of any phone or electronic device brought into school.
Confiscated phones will be stored by the principal in a secure location and must be signed out by the child or parent/guardian upon return.
Lost phones should be returned to reception. The school will then attempt to contact the owner.
The school is committed to ensuring that this policy has a positive impact on children’s education, behaviour and welfare. When reviewing the policy, the school will take into account any relevant advice
This policy should be read alongside the: