Rolleston College phone policy

Rolleston College has a strict ‘no phones’ policy that must be followed during the hours of operation each day. This policy was introduced by the government, and is enforced at all times at school. Learners are permitted to have their phone turned off and stored in their bag throughout the day, but are not permitted to access it during hours of operation, including at break times.

Read our Phones away for the day news item.

The process

If a learner is found to be using their phone during the hours of operation, it will be confiscated and stored in a secure cabinet at student services. From here, phones are returned to the whānau offices at the end of the day for learners to collect. Whānau/parents and caregivers will be notified of phone use at school, with ongoing issues resulting in meetings/plans being put in place to support the young person's management of their phone.

Exemptions

In some cases, learners may need their phones for essential purposes including medical reasons, or learning support reasons. In these cases, professional evidence is required so that an exemption can be granted. This evidence is then passed to the learner's whānau leader who will organise an exemption for them. Learners with exemptions can only use their phone for the reason the exemption is granted, e.g. checking insulin levels.

Contacting learners

If you need to contact your child during the school day, you are welcome to contact our admin team who will get a message to your child. Please do not call or text learners during the day. This makes it challenging for them to manage their device use here at school. There is also a phone at student services that learners are welcome to use to call whānau or caregivers throughout the day.