Chailey School near Lewes defends mobile phones policy

The disciplinary policy, implemented by Chailey School, means pupils are not being given their phones back when the bell rings at the end of the school week.

It escalates for repeat offenders, with some children having their phones taken until the end of the school term.

Concerns have been raised that the policy risks pupils' safety and puts undue pressure on parents, some of who are paying for second phones to ensure they can contact their children.

The secondary school, in South Chailey near Lewes, argues that the policy safeguards students and that temporary mobile phones are available.

One concerned parent said: “The first time it affected us my son's phone was in his bag and a notification pinged. They took his phone for a week.

“They couldn’t find me to tell me his phone had been taken off him and he didn’t have any way of contacting me. I had an appointment and he started freaking out so he ended up walking to my sister’s.

Chailey School (Image: NQ Staff)

“It was a very trying, emotional, angry week. We had constant issues with communicating that week.”

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Other incidents revealed to The Argus include a child whose bag was searched because pupils were congregating in a school toilet, something which is being cracked down on by school management.

Although the pupil’s phone was on silent in their bag, the device was confiscated.

The parent added: “He was really angry, I had to reassure him that he had done nothing wrong.

“Because it’s a prohibited item they took it and that’s ridiculous.”

Chailey School’s "rewards and behaviour policy" states that “no evidence of a mobile device or smart watch is allowed on the school site, including the bus when on school grounds, for any reason”.

If pupils refuse to hand over their phones then they are not allowed on school premises.

Stock photo of children using iPads in schools (Image: Brad Flickinger | WikiCommons)

A spokeswoman for Chailey School said: “We have a mobile phone policy in place to safeguard our students. We introduced our policy to ensure mobile phones were not used for inappropriate reasons on school site.

“Mobile phones can be brought on to the school site if needed for travelling to and from school, but they should not be seen, heard or used. Students are not routinely searched for mobile phones.

“The school's policy does include the confiscation of mobile phones for a period of time in the event of inappropriate use, and we have basic models of phones we can lend families for safeguarding purposes.

“Chailey School has an open-door policy and we are always happy to discuss directly any concerns or questions families may have.”

Advice from the Department of Education says that “mobile phones can be immensely distracting in the classroom for both pupils and their teachers” and that they “back any headteacher who wants to ban mobile phones during the school day”.

When asked whether it would consider using phones as part of education, the school said it "makes use of online resources to enhance learning through school-owned devices".