MOBILE PHONES – STUDENT USE POLICY

Purpose:

To explain to our school community the Department and Cranbourne Secondary College’s policy requirements and expectations relating to students using mobile phones, music players, wireless headphones and non-laptop internet-connected devices during school hours.

Scope

This policy applies to:

All students at Cranbourne Secondary College and,
Students’ personal mobile phones and other personal mobile devices brought onto school premises during school hours.

Definitions

A mobile phone is a telephone with access to a cellular (telecommunication) system, with or without a physical connection to a network.

A personal music player is a device that plays music via headphones or portable speakers.

Personal mobile devices - eg IPad, Music Players, Internet Connected Devices e.g. Watches.

Wireless headphones - Headphones that connect to computers, phones or Bluetooth enabled devices.

During school hours - From when students arrive on school grounds until they leave school grounds.

Policy

Cranbourne Secondary College understands that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school.

At Cranbourne Secondary College:

Students who choose to bring mobile phones, personal music players, personal mobile devices and wireless headphones to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours including recess and lunchtime.
Exceptions to this policy may be applied if certain conditions are met (see below for further information)
When emergencies occur, parents or carers should reach their child by calling the school’s office on 5996 3544.

Personal mobile phone use

In accordance with the Department’s Mobile Phones Policy issued by the Minister for Education, personal mobile phones must not be used at Cranbourne Secondary College during school hours, including lunchtime and recess, unless an exception has been granted.

Where a student has been granted an exception, the student must use their mobile phone for the purpose for which the exception was granted, and in a safe, ethical and responsible manner.

Secure storage

Mobile phones and other personal mobile devices owned by students at Cranbourne Secondary College are considered valuable items and are brought to school at the owner’s (student’s or parent/carer’s) risk. Students are encouraged not to bring a mobile phone to school unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Please note that Cranbourne Secondary College does not have accident insurance for accidental property damage or theft. Students and their parents/carers are encouraged to obtain appropriate insurance for valuable items. Refer to the Cranbourne Secondary College’s Personal Property Policy.

Where students bring a mobile phone and other personal mobile devices to school, Cranbourne Secondary College will provide secure storage in the form of an allocated locker. Secure storage is storage that cannot be readily accessed by those without permission to do so. At Cranbourne Secondary College students are required to store their turned off phones in either;

in their assigned locker, locked using a high quality combination or pad lock supplied by the parents/carers; or
handed into the school administration office before Form Assembly to be placed in a lockable cupboard and collected at the end of the school day; or
if students have temporary issues with the security of their locker, they may hand the phone into the school administration office for safekeeping.
- Travelling to and from excursions

Enforcement

At Cranbourne Secondary College, inappropriate use of mobile phones and other personal mobile devices is any use during school hours, unless an exception has been granted.

First Occurrence – If the phone/device is on the student’s person, the phone or device will be confiscated and students will be able to collect it from the front office at the conclusion of the school day, 3:10pm.

Second Occurrence – the phone/device will be confiscated and be stored in the front office until a parent can collect it. Parents will be contacted to inform of this breach of the mobile phone policy.

Third Occurrence – the phone/device will be returned only to parents who will need to make a time to meet with a Year Level Coordinator or Sub-School Leader to collect the phone/device. It will be compulsory for the student to sign in and sign out phone/device at the front office. If phone/device is not handed in before 8:43am, parent will be contacted and informed that the student is not to be onsite.

End of the Day Offence - student to be followed up the next school day following the steps above.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the policy may be granted by the Principal during school hours if related to managing risk when students are offsite:

Students on excursions and camps
When students are offsite (not on school grounds) and unsupervised with parental permission
Students with a dual enrolment or who need to undertake intercampus travel

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

At Cranbourne Secondary College inappropriate use of mobile phones is any use during school hours, unless an exception has been granted, and particularly use of a mobile phone:

in any way that disrupts the learning of others
to send inappropriate, harassing or threatening messages or phone calls
to engage in inappropriate social media use including cyber bullying
to capture video or images of people, including students, teachers and members of the school community without their permission
to capture video or images in the school toilets, changing rooms, swimming pools and gyms
during exams and assessments

Camps, excursions and extracurricular activities

Cranbourne Secondary College will provide students and their parents and carers with information about items that can or cannot be brought to camps, excursions, special activities and events, including personal mobile phones.

Exclusions

This policy does not apply to

Out-of-school-hours events
Travelling to and from school
Students undertaking workplace learning activities (subject to work place requirements), e.g. work experience
Students who are undertaking VET (subject to RTO requirements)

Related policies and resources

School Policy: Student Wellbeing and Engagement and Bullying, Discipline and Personal Property policies

Review period

This policy was last updated on 12/11/20 and is scheduled for review in November 2021.

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