We would just like to remind you about the use of smartwatches during school hours.

The Smartwatch. They come in many shapes and sizes, are relatively inexpensive but are currently causing a few issues for our teachers. These devices can send and receive messages, make phone calls, some have games that can be played, and with some models, photos and videos can be taken without anyone knowing.

In the past we have caught students playing games and one teacher was told recently, "Mum is picking me up at 10 am as I don't feel well." 

If you need to contact your child during the day our policy is that all communication must go through the school office. 

We need to be aware of illness and the movement of all of our students during the day. Only the office should be contacting home if they deem this necessary once the child has presented themselves to staff.

Most watches have a 'school mode' function which disables certain features. This is controlled by parents and works with the Spacetalk device. We ask that you turn on school mode between 9am- 3pm so communications do not distract your child or disturb classroom activities. 

At Marshland, we consider these Smartwatches as "cellphones" and in doing so, we require them to be handed in by 9 am each day unless school mode is turned on.

We need our students to be safe and the privacy of all members of our learning community is important. Students need to be focused while learning and away from unnecessary distractions.

While we encourage the use of appropriate technology that supports students and their learning, this needs to be a technology we can monitor and control, ensuring the online safety of all our learners.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Paul Tyson

Deputy Principal