Plans announced this week would move England’s schools beyond keeping phones silent in bags to making them inaccessible all day. Schools would decide how, using secure storage or collecting devices.
Daylight Post found that plans to make phones inaccessible sit alongside existing protection for medical access. Schools should not prevent phone use that helps a pupil manage their condition.
A phone can be part of a child’s care
The guidance gives a concrete example: a child with diabetes may wear a sensor that sends blood-sugar readings to a phone. The device is then doing a different job from social media or messaging friends.
Diabetes UK, a charity supporting people with the condition, says every child with diabetes should have an individual healthcare plan at school. This sets out what the child needs and who will help. Children should be able to test their blood sugar and use the equipment they need.
That requires arrangements people can actually follow. The charity says school staff need training and that a child must not be left alone when blood sugar is low. Parents should not have to come into school to provide routine diabetes care. A plan therefore has to say more than simply whether a phone is allowed.
Restrictions already cover breaks
The current government guidance was updated in June and schools were told to follow it from September 1. It already calls for no phone access during lessons, breaks and lunch.
A government survey published on November 10 helps explain the debate. Among secondary-school parents who knew at least something about their school’s phone policy, 62% said children could bring a phone but had to keep it out of sight and not use it. Another 23% said phones had to be handed in or kept somewhere pupils could not access.
Those answers were collected between June 30 and July 14, before schools were due to start following the September guidance. They describe parents’ understanding of policies at that time. They cannot show whether the September changes have succeeded or failed.
Clear rules need workable exceptions
School leaders’ unions told the BBC that secure storage would come at a cost and warned that stricter measures would need funding. Buying equipment is one part of putting the new approach into practice.
For children with diabetes, the practical test is also whether staff know how to support their care throughout the day. Diabetes UK says schools, health services and local authorities should work together, and agree a clear way to communicate with parents.