FAQs Updated

Please look at these after you have watched the video if you still have questions. And after you’ve watched the video and looked at the FAQs, if I haven’t covered everything, please email julia.davidson@wgc.school.nz. We’ll keep updating this as we get more information.

• Why have we chosen this approach? Our liberal, laissez-faire approach has been in place ever since phones started coming into schools. As students became less able to self manage their phone use, staff have used a number of approaches, but we haven’t had one consistent school-wide rule. Juniors are meant to have their phones in their bags at all times unless teachers ask them to take them out - in some classes this happens, in others it doesn’t.

We have looked at what other schools do. An increasingly common model in Australia is that phones are put in a locked bag when students arrive at school and they get them back at the end of the day. We have ruled that out on safety and logistical grounds.

Other schools block phone frequencies during school hours, but this would affect everyone on site and we don’t think that is viable.

The solution we have come up with is already in use in a number of NZ schools. They have told us it’s easy to administer and the response from students has been positive - eventually!

• Why doesn’t this new rule only apply to people who are frequent phone users? For simplicity. We want to reduce the burden on teachers and the time they spend managing phones in class. Yes there are students who regularly use their phones in class; there are also those who use them less frequently and probably a few who never use them. Unfortunately it’s not easy to identify those people and on any given day, things can change. We need a really simple, easily managed solution.

• Does it really apply to everyone, even Yr 13? Yes it does

• What if teachers want students to use their phones? They will ask them to go and get their phones and then to put them back in the pockets when they have finished using them

• What about a student needing their phone to translate? Teachers will manage this - they know who these students are.

• What if there is an emergency and classes have to evacuate? The pockets are on hooks and the whole sheet can be lifted and carried outside in an emergency and students can get their phones

• How can you contact your child if there is a family emergency? Just ring the office and we’ll get a message to them - we have a runner each day who takes messages to classes

• What if a student refuses to hand over a phone or has two phones? They will be sent to me. While we realise some students might have missed the release of this information, once they understand what the new rule is, we will expect them to comply with it. Any refusal will then be seen as defiance, so normal discipline processes would kick in. If I end up with a student’s phone, parents would have to come in and collect it

• Does the Board know about this change? It does and it was enthusiastic about it. Some Board members were keen to have the pouches at home as well!

• What have the students said so far in response to this proposed change? As expected the response has been varied - some shock; some defiance but also some relief from students who think that this will give them some relief from the currently, constant pressure they feel, to keep checking on what’s going on

• What have the staff said? We wouldn’t have brought this in unless the staff were 100% in support, because we need them all to do it, every lesson. Not a single teacher has said they don’t support it and the vast majority feel relieved there is going to be a consistent approach

• What if a student takes the wrong phone? Classes won’t be dismissed until everyone has their own phone safely back

New FAQs after questions from parents and students

• What if my child is a diabetic and needs their phone for regular insulin updates? Not a problem. The Dean will know who those students are and can let teachers know. We understand many will also get alerts on their watch, so teachers are probably already aware of this, but it won’t be a problem

• What if a phone goes missing? Students will put their own phones in the pockets and collect them at the end of the lesson. Classes won’t be dismissed until everyone has the right phone

• What if my child doesn’t have a phone? Again I suspect the teachers will know this, but if you are worried maybe drop the Dean a quick email and we’ll set up a list. We certainly don’t want a student who doesn’t have a phone getting in trouble for not putting one in a pocket!

• What about 2FA - Two Factor Authentication? Some students may need to use their phone to log into some web based things and use 2FA so they will be allowed in. They may have to get a code txt to the phone to then enter into a website. Staff will manage this process.