News OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This from Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary, Isle of Wight – National Education Union. Ed
This week, government guidance around “Mobile phones in Schools” was published.
One section in the document asks “Who is this publication for?” Excellent question, especially as Island schools generally already have mobile phone usage working policies.
It has been suggested the guidance will respond to concerns from parents about mobile phones and improve learning.
First, let’s not forget pupils spend no more than 7-8 hours at school. Youngsters spend the other 16 hours of their day outside of the school environment, so this is where concerns should be tackled.
Tackle poverty
Second, learning would improve if Government tackled poverty. The most recent ‘End Child Poverty’ coalition figures show 8,379 children on the Isle of Wight are living in poverty in 2021/22. This impacts dramatically on a child’s ability to behave and focus on learning.
Finally, the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan has said:
“Schools are places for children to learn … [and] … We are giving our hard-working teachers the tools to take action to help improve behaviour and to allow them to do what they do best – teach.”
The focus should be on learning by listening
After watching the House of Commons yesterday, we should take a leaf out of the Education Secretary’s book and give guidance to Conservative politicians and others.
The Commons is a place where the focus should be on learning by listening to whoever is speaking and contributing to the debate.
The tools to improve their civic and political behaviour
A policy banning mobile phones in the Commons chamber would give our hard-working elected members the tools to improve their civic and political behaviour and to allow politicians to do what they do best, although there may be debate on what this may be.
