Your Own Device and Mobile Phone Policy

Your Own Device

Pupils are required to bring their own internet-connecting device to lessons so that all rooms are, in effect, an IT room. This enables research, collaboration, content creation and all of the other benefits which technology can provide, whenever and wherever the teacher chooses to make use of them. We make full use of Google applications, including email, file storage, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and others. As long as the device has a web browser and a keyboard (but is not a smartphone or tablet), it will be entirely sufficient for our needs. You are free to choose whatever device best suits their preferences and budget.

A Chromebook works very well for our purposes and can be bought relatively cheaply (from our experience, we would recommend ASUS, Dell or HP Chromebooks with at least 8gb of memory). Equally, if you prefer Windows, or an Apple device, these will work perfectly well with our systems. It is important to stress that Chromebooks work slightly differently to Windows laptops, and it is not possible to install other applications in the same way.

Digital Citizenship

A fundamental aspect of our approach to the use of technology is the Digital Citizenship programme. This takes the form of PSHE lessons, talks by visiting speakers and sessions focusing on social media. Whilst our filtering policy is reasonably liberal, as covered below, it is with the deliberate view that the solution to encouraging young people to use the internet appropriately and effectively is human rather than technical, especially with regard to laying the foundations for later life.

For more information, please see our eSafety Policy or contact our IT Department, and they’ll be happy to help.

Filtering and Monitoring

The starting point for our approach to filtering and monitoring is that we trust and expect our pupils to do the right thing, with appropriate safeguards where necessary. Various categories of websites which we feel are inappropriate are therefore blocked, but the majority of social media sites are not on the basis that there are plenty of worthwhile, interesting and appropriate uses for them. We are required by the Independent Schools Inspectorate to have certain filtering and monitoring standards in place, and we are continually reviewing and developing our network to ensure that we have an effective oversight of how it is being used. Clearly, discussions about what constitutes appropriate use, both in and out of school, fall within the scope of the Digital Citizenship programme.

Mobile Phone Policy

There is no requirement to bring a mobile phone into School; we will ensure that all internal communication necessary can take place within School without the need for a mobile device. However, if your son or daughter would like to bring their phone into School, please ensure that it is clearly labelled and note the following expectations for pupils in Years 7-11.

Years 7-9

Pupils in Years 7-9 must hand their phone in to their Houses before the start of each school day (Monday to Friday) where they will be stored in a secure locker. Pupils should collect their phone from their Houses after School (3.55pm - 5.00pm). On Saturdays, Year 9 pupils are not required to hand in their mobile but need to follow the ‘hidden phone policy’ as in Years 10-11.

Years 10-11

Pupils in Years 10 and 11 do not need to hand in their phones during the school day, but they are expected to follow our ‘hidden phone policy’. Day pupils may only use their mobile in a designated area/room in their respective House during break and lunch periods as directed by House staff. Boarders will be able to use the same area or use their phone in their dorms.