红桃影视

Ofsted will check every school鈥檚 policy on mobile phones during inspections and ministers will issue 鈥渢ougher guidance for schools鈥� on restricting the devices, the government has announced.

Ministers will also consult on restrictions on 鈥渁ddictive features鈥� in apps and on a potential ban on access to social media for children and better age checks.

The government has said schools will be 鈥渆xpected to be phone-free by default thanks to today’s announcement鈥�. The guidance will be non-statutory, meaning schools will not have a legal duty to follow it.

However, the government’s consultation on the matter will consider whether leaders “should have a clear legal obligation to consider the guidance in setting and implementing mobile phone policies”, the DfE said.

states schools should develop phone policies that prohibit the use of phones and similar devices 鈥渢hroughout the school day鈥�.

This evening, the government said new guidance will 鈥渕ake it even clearer that schools need to be phone-free environments and that pupils should not have access to their devices during lessons, break times, lunch times, or between lessons鈥�.

However, if the guidance is not statutory, schools will have no legal duty to follow it.

‘Immediate action’ from Ofsted

The Department for Education said this evening that 鈥渋mmediate action will include Ofsted checking school mobile phone policy on every inspection, with schools expected to be phone-free by default thanks to today’s announcement鈥�.

But it has not said what it means by “immediate”, when asked by Schools Week if this meant the inspectorate would start these checks from tomorrow.

The watchdog will 鈥渆xamine both schools’ mobile phone policies and how effectively they are implemented when judging behaviour during inspections.

鈥淪chools that are struggling will get one-to-one support from attendance and behaviour hub schools that are already effectively implementing phone bans.鈥�

But Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT headteachers鈥� union, said: “The vast majority of schools already have restrictions on the use of mobile phones on school sites.

鈥淭he government鈥檚 suggestion that Ofsted should be 鈥榩olicing鈥� school policies is deeply unhelpful and misguided. School leaders need support from government, not the threat of heavy-handed inspection.鈥�

The Department said its new guidance would be implemented 鈥渢hrough behaviour management in schools, and by setting out clear expectations for teachers and school staff鈥�.

This will include an expectation that staff 鈥渟hould not use their own mobile phones for personal reasons in front of pupils, setting an example that mobile phones are not necessary in the classroom鈥�.

Schools will need to start following the new guidance from the start of the summer term, the DfE told Schools Week.

Most secondaries still allow phones out of sight

Research by the children鈥檚 commissioner, Rachel de Souza, found last year that 90 per cent of secondary schools and 99.8 per cent of primary schools already have policies in place that stop the use of mobile phones during the school day, in line with DfE non-statutory guidance.

But the majority (79 per cent) of secondaries allow pupils to bring phones to school if they keep them out of sight and do not use them.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “We have been clear that mobile phones have no place in our鈥痵chools but now we鈥檙e going further through tougher guidance and stronger enforcement. Mobile phones have no place in schools. No ifs, no buts.鈥�

Ofsted chief inspector Martyn Oliver said his 鈥渕essage to headteachers is you now have all the backing – and the backing of my inspectors – to ban mobile phones in schools immediately.

鈥淭hey chip away at children’s attention span, distract from learning and can be detrimental to children’s wellbeing.”  

Social media ban considered

The government said it would also produce 鈥渆vidence-based screen time guidance for parents of children aged 5 to 16鈥�.

A consultation on children鈥檚 use of technology and a 鈥渘ational conversation鈥� will be launched, with a government response expected in the summer.

The consultation will 鈥渓ook at options including raising the digital age of consent, implementing phone curfews to avoid excessive use, and restricting potentially addictive design features such as 鈥榮treaks鈥� and 鈥榠nfinite scrolling鈥欌��.

Pepe Di鈥橧asio, general secretary of the ASCL headteachers鈥� union, said the consultation was 鈥済ood news鈥�, but 鈥渋t does feel as though the government has been sluggish in its response to the risks posed by social media and online harms鈥�.

He added that Ofsted鈥檚 involvement in policing these bans 鈥渋s all well and good but it would be more helpful for the government to provide schools with resources to support the safe and secure storage of mobile phones.

鈥淢ost schools operate a policy in which students are asked to keep their phones in bags and out of sight 鈥� but this, of course, means that teachers constantly have to be alert to pupils breaking the rules.

鈥淭here are products on the market which can be used to safely store mobile phones so that they cannot be used. However, this costs money and many schools are, frankly, completely cash-strapped.鈥�