Rockmount Primary School
Phase:
Rating:
Primary
Gold (No smartphones on site)
Planned policy
change?
No
Local authority:
Croydon
Link to policy:
Website:
We are proud of our smartphone policy because:
As part of our ongoing commitment to fostering a positive and healthy learning environment, Rockmount Primary School is a ‘smartphone free’ school.
While technology offers numerous benefits and opportunities, recent research has highlighted a concerning link between the age at which a child gets their first smartphone and mental health issues in young adulthood.
Recognising the many challenges, we have decided to implement a smartphone-free policy. We encourage parents who feel the need for their child to have a phone for safety reasons to consider pay-as-you-go basic phones without internet access. These phones are both affordable and readily available.
Children from Nursery to Year 4 are not permitted to have phones in school.
Year 5 and Year 6 pupils who make their own way to and from school (when parents/carers have signed a permission form) will not be allowed to bring in smartphones but may use a basic phone without internet access. Please note that pupils will still be required to hand in a phone at the beginning of each school day.
Additional policy features:
- We actively engage with parents and children to educate on the downside of smartphones
- We actively minimise the need for smartphones when completing homework, enabling alternatives where possible
- We are excellent at implementing our policy
- We limit smartphone use during after school clubs
- We limit smartphone use on school trips
- We never ask children to use smartphones for lesson related activities or otherwise