nathan3388 Posted January 26 Posted January 26 just curious what people are doing with the goverment banning mobile phones for students in school, just seeing how people managed it and what they have in place?
Sylv3r Posted January 26 Posted January 26 I am not linked in anyway with these schools, but when this was brought up in our executive meeting this morning about the new DfE guidelines, I remembered seeing schools have been doing this for a while - Pupils at two Edinburgh schools will have to lock up their mobiles - BBC News
dhicks Posted January 26 Posted January 26 1 hour ago, nathan3388 said: just curious what people are doing with the goverment banning mobile phones for students in school, just seeing how people managed it and what they have in place? We have had a no-phones-in-school policy for pupils for several years, along with a no-phones-visible policy for staff. Younger pupils (Year 7 and below) don't tend to have phones, but for the seniors who walk home themselves they hand their phones in to the front desk at the start of the day and collect them at home time. When we had separate premisis for the senior school we had solid metal laptop charging trolleys with an individual shelf per laptop, they could swap their phones in (on charge) for the laptop at the start of the day and swap them out at the end of the day, that worked quite nicely. We're a private prep school, we have the staff numbers (teachers, TAs, front-desk staff) to be able to supervise all of this, it does need appropriate staff supervision and, of course, storage / charging space. Also, our children are all affluent enough that theft of phones hasn't really been an issue - each class currently just stores their phones in a metal drawer and rummages around to find theirs at the end of the day. The no-phones-visible policy for the staff is part of the reason we went for physical USB 2FA devices rather than phone apps. That has worked out okay, I think helped by the USB key also being the door access and printer fob, so it gets used on a daily basis.
NegativeKillDeath Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Yondr pouches funded by the parents as part of their school uniform/equipment. Help given for those who genuinely can't afford it. We have unlock stations near to the school grounds exits. Another school close by also has the pouches, they have the unlock station in the tutor rooms as they have a final 15 minute tutor at the end of the day. There it increased attendance at the final tutor. Here its been positive as I mentioned in another post. There are a handful of repeat offenders as with any policy but we now have a very clear rule that they are breaking. We don't get parents contesting sanctions with " s/he was just checking for a text message from me..." as is the wont of many parents whose children can do no wrong.
HC_Netman Posted January 27 Posted January 27 We have had a no phone policy for a while. Our students lock them in individual lockers at the start of the day and then collect them at the end. The lockers are in their tutor room (first lesson is a tutor period) so sometimes there is a delay to leaving site at the end of the day while they all make their way to the correct room to collect them. It is not a perfect solution, some kids just say they don't have a phone on them and others bring a cheap 'burner' phone to lock up for the day and keep their proper phone with them. I think that would be an issue with any solution though. Looked at Yondr pouches at Bett and was quite impressed at first (especially if you get parent buy in) but I later found some videos on Youtube showing how to open them without the unlock stations and I figured the students will find those videos fairly quickly as well. I guess whatever you do there will always be students that break the rules.
Rob_D Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Not got anything yet, but we're looking at deploying either Youndr or Hush pouches from September.
TheHyperTechie Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Yondr pouches appear to be "go to" for secondary schools near me.
paulkerton Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Anyone else getting the feeling that someone somewhere in Govt has invested a few quid into Yondr? 🤣 (This is a joke Government, don't come for me!) 1 2
Rob_D Posted January 27 Posted January 27 4 minutes ago, paulkerton said: Anyone else getting the feeling that someone somewhere in Govt has invested a few quid into Yondr? 🤣 I'm sure someone somewhere has, and they're probably very happy about it right now. But seriously, I think it's more first mover/most mature solution type of thing (like zoom during lockdown).
synaesthesia Posted January 27 Posted January 27 I've been skeptical about these pouches, mostly because frankly they shouldn't be necessary. However keeping track of everyone is damn near impossible these days especially as staff are increasingly loaded with responsibilities. It's difficult enough in some lessons, and some of these kids are absolutely addicted. At the start of no-phone policies with confiscations on site, I've seen kids bring in dummy phones for that exact purpose - they "hand" that in and keep using their actual device. So perhaps they are an increasing necessity. There is a problem, kids spend FAR too much time on their phones. I see it with my own, I see my own son piddling away his grades because he's playing games on his phone - more than aware I flunked 6th form myself because I spent every spare minute playing Virtual Pool on the school's shiny new 486 computers. Same problems, smaller screen.
Julian Posted January 27 Posted January 27 The no phones for staff is a problem, when certain critcal web apps require Google authenticator for 2FA (Bromcom I am looking at you).
synaesthesia Posted January 27 Posted January 27 That won't happen. Not unless the chancellor is going to fork out a million per school to sort out the shortfalls. Otherwise it's just a baseless recommendation from a tone deaf MP. Unless she also happens to have shares in an MFA token company of course! Covid PPE flashbacks?
nathan3388 Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 i am don't think the pouches will work and must be an absolute nightmare to managed, there has got to be a better solution out there. Do any schools put the responsibility onto the parents to have a word with them to stop them bringing them in or get them come up to collect there mobile after been taken off them would they get annoyed at coming up all the time, ultimately the responsibility in on the student. I have seen that you can get lockers in classroom that house mobile phones does anyone have these? and how successful have they been?
machy Posted January 27 Posted January 27 13 minutes ago, nathan3388 said: there has got to be a better solution out there. There is, but it requires classroom management & parental buy-in 1
Rob_D Posted January 27 Posted January 27 15 minutes ago, nathan3388 said: Do any schools put the responsibility onto the parents to have a word with them to stop them bringing them in or get them come up to collect there mobile after been taken off them would they get annoyed at coming up all the time, ultimately the responsibility in on the student. We've done some stuff with Smartphone Free Childhood. From what I've seen, it seems quite popular with the more engaged parents, but the same parents (and SFC themselves) seem to be very pro phone pouches, and to be fair so are a lot of the kids. They like the idea of removing temptation during the school day while allowing the kids to have their phones while travelling to and from school (for safety or/and because they have electronic buss-passes). 3 minutes ago, machy said: There is, but it requires classroom management & parental buy-in TBH, the pouches require those to work as well. 2
nathan3388 Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 just feel pouches will just be a nightmare and students would always find ways around they damage them etc and this would cause more issues than having the mobile phone itself. i think that parent engagement is the key and making their kids understand the impact it is having on everyday life and also later in life when they get a job. I was surprised that there was nothing on this at BETT this year seem as it is a government lead thing.
pete Posted January 27 Posted January 27 55 minutes ago, Julian said: The no phones for staff is a problem, when certain critcal web apps require Google authenticator for 2FA (Bromcom I am looking at you). The guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phones-in-schools/mobile-phones-in-schools) explicitly states that work-related usage is fine in front of the kids. And if you're not in front of the kids, the guidance doesn't care what staff do. Quote Staff should not use their own mobile phone for personal reasons in front of pupils throughout the school day. This will empower staff to better challenge pupils to meet the school expectations and effectively enforce the prohibition of mobile phones throughout the school day. There may be occasions where it is appropriate for a teacher to use a mobile phone or similar device, for instance to issue homework, issue rewards and sanctions or use multi-factor authentication. Responsible bodies and school leaders should be clear with staff on their expectations around use of mobile phones during the day.
synaesthesia Posted January 27 Posted January 27 13 minutes ago, pete said: The guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mobile-phones-in-schools/mobile-phones-in-schools) explicitly states that work-related usage is fine in front of the kids. And if you're not in front of the kids, the guidance doesn't care what staff do. That's awaiting update - the chancellor wrote to all schools saying staff should not use phones in front of students in any circumstances!
paulkerton Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Just now, synaesthesia said: That's awaiting update - the chancellor wrote to all schools saying staff should not use phones in front of students in any circumstances! Then they need to explain how we're supposed to support the cost of physical yubikeys, or alternative phone provision for MFA.
synaesthesia Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Just now, paulkerton said: Then they need to explain how we're supposed to support the cost of physical yubikeys, or alternative phone provision for MFA. They won't, so schools won't It's unworkable, but it's also only "recommendation" - so pinch of salt.
pete Posted January 27 Posted January 27 12 minutes ago, synaesthesia said: That's awaiting update - the chancellor wrote to all schools saying staff should not use phones in front of students in any circumstances! Ah, I foolishly assumed the government, having updated the linked guidance on 19-01-2026, wouldn't throw a U-turn a week later. 2
Andycat Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Ours seem to be looking at the Blackout app. Has anyone any experience?
nathan3388 Posted January 27 Author Posted January 27 15 minutes ago, Andycat said: Ours seem to be looking at the Blackout app. Has anyone any experience? i have heard of this what are the costs or this app does anyone know?
synaesthesia Posted January 27 Posted January 27 What an awful idea. I mean you could do exactly the same as Blackout using <insert any MDM here>. But as it's down to policy to have it installed.... what's the difference to having the policy to stay professional? That's for staff though. For students? Good luck with that. 1
Rob_D Posted January 27 Posted January 27 (edited) As I recall, the general consensus here was that putting MDM on students' personal devices was at best treading into a legally grey area that you'd be better steering clear of. And a quick look makes blackout sound functionally like a stripped down MDM. Also: https://www.madeformums.com/news/blackout-phone-app-privacy-concerns/ Edited January 27 by Rob_D
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