Mobile Phones – Student Use

Note that this is a Ministerial policy formally issued by the Minister for Education under section 5.2.1(2)(b) of the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic).

Policy

This policy outlines the requirements of the Minister for Education relating to students using mobile phones during school hours.

Summary

• Students who bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours.
• For the purpose of this policy, a mobile phone is a telephone with access to a cellular (telecommunication) system, with or without a physical connection to a network.
• Exceptions to the policy may be applied if certain conditions are met. Exceptions can be granted by the principal, or by a teacher. Exceptions must be documented.
• Schools must provide secure storage.
• Schools are required to develop a local policy on students using mobile phones, which must include how this ministerial policy will be implemented and may include other personal devices in addition to mobile phones.
• Schools will manage non-compliance with their local mobile phone policy in accordance with their existing student engagement policies.
• Schools should review their local policy as part of their regular cycle of review for school policies.

Details

Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours.

Schools are required to develop a local policy on students using mobile phones, which must include how this ministerial policy will be implemented.

A downloadable policy template for Victorian government schools is available on the department's intranet at the School Policy Templates Portal (staff login required). Schools can adapt the template to suit their local circumstances provided that it is consistent with this Ministerial policy.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the policy:

• may be applied during school hours if certain conditions are met
• can be granted by the principal, or by the teacher, in accordance with this policy and the school’s local policy on mobile phones
• must be documented, noting that, to avoid administrative burden on schools, this requirement can be met by including exceptions in documents that schools already regularly develop/use (see below for suggested ways to document).

Where an exception is granted, the student can only use the mobile phone for the purpose for which it was granted.

The 3 categories of exceptions and associated suggested documentation for each are:

• learning-related, comprising:
  • specific learning activities (class-based exception) documented within a unit of work or learning sequence
    (Example: A teacher may design a unit of work that requires a student to use a mobile phone’s camera to record the staged development of a product over several weeks, supporting the production of a folio)
  • reasonable adjustments to a learning program because of a disability and/or learning difficulty, documented in an Individual Learning Plan or Individual Education Plan
    (Example: Some students on the autism spectrum may have difficulty with communication and may use a mobile device to aid/support communication. For example, a student may use an application on a mobile phone to participate in classroom discussions by selecting words or phrases to be spoken through their device)
• health and wellbeing-related, including:
  • students with a health condition documented in the Student Health Support Plan
    (Example: A student with diabetes may use their mobile phone to monitor their blood sugar and the administration of insulin)
  • students who are young carers documented in a localised student record
    (Example: In the case of a young person providing care to a parent with health issues, their mobile phone may be used to discuss health issues with medical professionals and the person they are caring for. For example, the young carer may receive advice from a doctor on what medications to administer and when)
• risk related to managing students offsite, including where students:
  • travel to and from excursions documented in risk assessment planning
    (Example: An excursion that requires students and teachers to travel via bus poses the risk that a bus may be delayed due to break down or traffic. With an exception, students would be able to switch their phones on and use them to rearrange pick-up times with their parents/carers)
  • are on an excursion or camp documented in risk assessment planning
    (Example: Students undertaking a ‘City Experience’ excursion (or similar) may be permitted to carry mobile phones to manage the risk of separation from the group (students can use the phone to contact a designated contact))
  • are offsite (not on school grounds) and unsupervised with parental permission documented in risk assessment planning
    (Example: Where a student is considered sufficiently mature to leave the school grounds independently, with valid grounds and the consent of parents/carers)
  • have a dual enrolment and/or need to undertake intercampus travel documented in risk assessment planning
    (Example: Where a student is considered sufficiently mature to leave the school grounds independently, to travel to another campus, with the consent of their parents/carers).

Exclusions

Wearable devices, iPads and other personal devices are excluded from the policy, however, if they are brought to school, students must switch off all notifications during the school day. Schools may choose to include wearable devices, iPads and other personal devices as part of their local policies.

Students undertaking workplace learning activities, for example, work experience or a VET course offsite must comply with the policies of the individual workplace or training organisation.

The mobile phone policy does not apply for activities outside of school hours:

• out-of-school-hours care (OSHC)
• out-of-school-hours events
• travelling to and from school.

Secure storage

Mobile phones owned by students are brought to schools at the owner’s risk. Please refer to the department’s Claims for Property Damage and Medical Expenses policy.

Where students bring a mobile phone to school, the school must provide secure storage. Secure storage is storage that cannot be readily accessed by those without permission to do so.

The principal is responsible for determining the appropriate arrangements for secure storage. Examples of secure storage include:

• student lockers that are lockable
• a lockable cupboard stored in an administrative office.

Enforcement

Schools will enforce the policy under their existing student engagement policies, for example, through detention or a loss of school-based privileges, where students fail to comply with the local school policy on mobile phones, including if they refuse to relinquish their phones to school staff when asked.

Where students have relinquished their mobile phones to school staff, schools are expected to return them to the student or parent/carer at the end of the school day. This is to support student safety when travelling to and from school, during which times carrying a mobile phone may help to manage risks of harm

Consistent with Ministerial Order 1125, suspensions are to be reserved for serious misuses of a mobile phone in schools that:

• meet the grounds for suspension, for example, cyberbullying
• are a last resort option that is considered after alternative interventions and support have been provided to the student to address the reasons for the behaviour associated with mobile phone use.

For further information refer to Suspensions.

Reporting of some incidents involving mobile phones to a relevant authority may be necessary under the department’s Managing and Reporting School Incidents policy.

Review

The department recommends that schools review their local policy on students using mobile phones every 3 to 4 years or earlier where required, for example if:

• changes are made to this policy, which must be reflected in local policies
• the local policy is no longer effective or having the desired impact
• individuals or groups within the school community view elements of the local policy as contentious
• new issues have arisen that the school would like the local policy to address (for example, iPads and all other personal devices, wearable devices).

A policy review should focus on the effectiveness of the school’s policy in meeting the objectives of this policy, which aims to help focus students’ attention on learning in the classroom by providing them with:

• a safe environment to learn without distractions or inappropriate phone use (including cyberbullying)
• greater opportunity for social interaction and physical activity during recess and lunchtimes.

Schools are encouraged to collect data as part of their review to help to measure their success in achieving these objectives. Examples of data that you may choose to collect include:

• survey results (teacher, student, parent/carer)
• focus groups (teacher, student, parent/carer)
• incident registers (for example, cyberbullying).

For sample survey or focus group questions refer to: Mobile phone policy review survey questions (DOCX) (staff login required).

Technology use at home

Refer to the Resources tab for links to resources for families to help them balance their child/children’s time on and offline.

Definitions

Mobile phone
For the purpose of this policy, a mobile phone is a telephone with access to a cellular (telecommunication) system, with or without a physical connection to a network.

Related policies

• Claims for Property Damage and Medical Expenses
• Reporting and Managing School Incidents
• Student Engagement

Relevant legislation

• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)