Pupils face losing mobiles for a week

Pupils will have their mobile phones confiscated for a week if they are caught using them repeatedly during school time.Teachers at the Towers School in Kennington say they will supply a “very basic” replacement mobile as part of the tough new crackdown.Head teacher Richard Billings says the punishment only applies to repeat offenders and those who have not broken the rules before will have their phone handed back on the same day – providing a responsible adult collects it from staff.But the policy, which bans the use of mobiles between 8.40am and 3pm, has been criticised by one parent who says the punishment is “heavy-handed”.Hothfield parish councillor Paul Fothergill, 35, whose two daughters attend the school, said: “I understand why they can’t use their phones during school time, but I think taking it away for seven days is heavy handed.“I have refused to give Mr Billings permission to withhold my children’s phones and said I would be taking legal recourse if he did so.“Taking it until the end of the day is acceptable, but a week isn’t.”Mr Billings – who introduced the policy at the start of January – says 99% of parents have welcomed the new crackdown.Since January 2017,… Read full this story

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