Mobile Phones and Digital Devices

1. Purpose

Care Cove is phone-free for learners all day, every day. Phones distract from learning, carry bullying, exploitation and harmful content into the room, and stop young people talking to each other and to us. A phone-free day gives our learners space to settle, focus and build relationships.

A phone ban on its own is not enough. The University of Birmingham's SMART Schools study (2025) found that restrictive school phone policies alone made no difference to pupils' wellbeing, sleep, attainment or behaviour, but that more time on phones and social media overall went with worse outcomes in all four. So we pair the phone-free day with teaching and family work aimed at total screen time, including evenings, through the RESET Tech mastery pillar, the Family Tech Plan and the Digital Detox Challenge.

The routine also prepares learners for school. Mainstream schools now follow the same rules, so a learner who masters the Phone Dock here is practising what they will go back to.

2. Scope

This policy applies to every learner, whoever commissions their place, and to all staff, supply staff, counsellors, coaches, volunteers and visitors. It covers the whole day from arrival at 08:45 to departure, including breaks, lunch, outdoor classrooms, off-site sessions, work placements and transport we arrange.

3. Law and guidance

• DfE Mobile phones in schools (statutory from 29 June 2026; schools follow it from 1 September 2026). It expects schools to be phone-free by default across lessons, breaks and lunch, with exceptions only where they are justified. The guidance names schools rather than alternative provision. We follow it in full because it is right for our learners, so there is no phone use during the school day, including breaktimes.

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, on online safety and child-on-child abuse.

• Searching, Screening and Confiscation (DfE, 2022), applied through our Searching, Screening and Confiscation policy.

• Supporting pupils with medical conditions at school (DfE) and the Equality Act 2010, for medical and disability exceptions.

4. Roles and responsibilities

5. The Phone Dock routine

Docking is explained to every learner and family at the initial meeting, before day one, and written into the Family Tech Plan.

1. On arrival, before breakfast, the learner puts their phone, switched off or on silent, into their own locker at reception. The locker stays locked until they leave, and cannot be opened during the day without a member of staff.

2. Arrival staff record "phone handed in" on the Connect register, in the same action as attendance and the meal.

3. All day, the phone stays in the locker: lessons, breaks, lunch, outdoor classrooms and Move sessions. At breaks, the Unplugged Club offers chess, cards, board games, drawing and music.

4. At the door, the learner collects their phone as they leave, whether at the end of the day, at a staggered departure time or early for an appointment. Phones are not used inside the building.

Late arrivals dock in the same way. If a learner needs to contact home during the day, staff help them use a Care Cove phone in private.

6. Smartwatches and other connected devices

Smartwatches, smart glasses, tablets, laptops, games consoles and any other device that can go online, send messages, take photos or record are treated exactly like phones and go in the locker. A simple watch that only tells the time is fine. Learners go online on site only through Care Cove's managed devices, as the Online Safety and Acceptable Use policy sets out.

7. Exceptions

We make an exception only where it is genuinely needed:

• Medical need, such as a phone that runs a glucose monitor;

• Disability, as a reasonable adjustment, for example a communication app;

• Young carer circumstances, where a learner must be reachable by the person they care for.

Each exception is agreed by the Head of AP with the learner and family (with the Clinical Advisor for medical needs) and written into the learner's plan, and into their individual healthcare plan where they have one. The plan says which device, where it is kept, who can see it, what it can be used for and where. Use is limited to that purpose, in a set place. Where we can meet the need another way, such as a Care Cove device or calls through reception, we do. Exceptions are reviewed at every plan review, at least half-termly. Other learners are told only that some people have a plan for a good reason.

8. If a learner will not dock their phone

We never fight over a phone. A phone is never taken by force, and refusing to dock never leads to a learner being sent home or excluded.

1. Private conversation. The key mentor talks with the learner away from others. They find out why: worry about being out of contact, a family situation, fear of theft, anxiety, or someone else expecting them to answer.

2. Staff hold the phone at reception. If the learner does not want to use the locker, they can hand the phone to staff, who keep it at reception in a sealed, named bag until the learner leaves.

3. Same-day call home. The key mentor or Head of AP calls the parent or carer that day, calmly and without blame, to explain and ask for their help.

4. A plan with the family. We agree what will help, for example the parent taking the phone at drop-off, or the phone staying at home, and write it into the learner's plan. The weekly multidisciplinary meeting reviews it.

If a learner still will not hand the phone over, they stay with us and with an adult. Staff calmly remind them not to use it, phone home straight away, and keep the conversation going. If the phone is used to film, threaten or hurt someone, staff follow the Behaviour, Rewards and Restorative Practice policy and tell the DSL.

Safeguarding. Persistent refusal, panic at being out of contact, or a second phone can be signs of criminal exploitation, a controlling relationship or worry about home. Staff tell the DSL, who considers the concern, updates the learner's exploitation screening and contextual risk map, and acts under the Safeguarding and Child Protection policy.

Searching. Staff do not look through a learner's phone. If a device may hold evidence of harm, staff secure it and pass it to the DSL, as the Searching, Screening and Confiscation policy sets out. Nobody ever looks at a nude or semi-nude image; the Online Safety and Acceptable Use policy explains what to do.

Every refusal is recorded on Connect, and patterns go to the weekly meeting and the learner's plan.

9. Contacting learners during the day

Parents and carers who need to reach their child call Care Cove on 07879 818254. Staff pass on the message straight away or bring the learner to speak privately on a Care Cove phone. In an emergency, staff act at once. Families are told this at the welcome meeting and in the welcome pack.

10. Off-site learning, travel training and placements

• Outdoor classrooms during the day: phones stay in the lockers. Staff carry a Care Cove phone, a first aid kit and emergency contacts, as for every off-site session.

• Longer trips: the written risk assessment sets out the phone arrangement, normally staff holding phones in named bags, or an agreed arrangement such as returning phones before learners travel home from the venue.

• Independent travel training: learners may need their phone for maps, tickets and contacting staff. The travel training plan says when the phone is returned and how it is used. Learners save the Care Cove number, and staff carry a Care Cove phone.

• Work placements and tasters: phone use follows the employer's rules and the placement agreement and risk assessment.

• Transport we arrange: the learner docks their phone on arrival in the usual way. The journey risk assessment sets out any phone arrangement for the journey itself (see the Transport and Escorting policy).

11. Staff phones

• Staff do not use personal phones in front of learners. Personal phones stay on silent in the staff area and are used only in staff-only spaces.

• Staff use Care Cove phones for off-site sessions, transport, travel training and contact with families. Personal phones are never used to contact learners or to take photos of them.

• In an emergency where no Care Cove phone is available, staff use any phone to get help.

• Visitors do not use phones in learner areas unless staff agree.

12. Lost or damaged phones

Phones are brought in at the owner's risk, but we take reasonable care: lockers are locked and reception is covered by CCTV. If a phone is lost or damaged while we hold it, the Head of AP looks into it and tells the family the same day. The Director will consider reasonable compensation where we were at fault.

13. Working with families

Most phone use and almost all sleep happen at home, so families are our partners.

• Family Tech Plan. Agreed at the welcome meeting and signed by the learner, parent or carer and key mentor: where phones charge overnight (outside the bedroom, as NHS sleep advice suggests), a wake-up time that stays within two hours on school days and weekends, and no screens in the hour before bed. Families choose the details; we help them stick to them.

• Digital Detox Challenge. An opt-in weekend challenge set with the family: phone charging outside the bedroom and no screens in the hour before bed. Learners report back at the next check-in and we celebrate it.

• Screen time. Learners report their weekly screen time from their phone settings at their first check-in each week.

• Sleep and Screens workshop. Once a half term over breakfast, including setting up screen-time controls on the family's own phones.

Workshops are practical and free of judgement. Many parents struggle with their own phones too.

14. Monitoring and review

The Connect register shows daily phone compliance for every learner. The Head of AP reviews refusals and exceptions weekly and reports compliance to the commissioning local authority through monitoring when asked. The SWMC reviews compliance and any concerns termly. This policy is reviewed annually, or sooner after an incident, a change in law or guidance, or a contract change.

15. Related policies

• 01 Safeguarding and Child Protection
• 06 Online Safety and Acceptable Use
• 07 Behaviour, Rewards and Restorative Practice
• 09 Searching, Screening and Confiscation
• 12 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• 16 Transport and Escorting
• 21 Staff Code of Conduct
• 24 Supporting Medical Needs and Administering Medicines
• 26 Off-site Learning and Educational Visits
• 27 Work Experience and Vocational Placements
• 29 Anti-Bullying

Document control and ratification

This policy is signed off by the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Head of Alternative Provision, and ratified by the Social Work Management Committee. It is reviewed every year, or sooner after an incident or a change in law, statutory guidance or contract requirements, and it is available to any commissioning local authority on request.