1.2 Mobile Phones

Safeguarding and Promoting Children’s Welfare

1.2.1   Mobile Phones

Mobile phones have a place in settings, especially on outings when they are the only means of contact available and can be helpful in ensuring children are kept safe.

The pre-school mobile phone is always held by admin personnel as an additional line of communication. The pre-school mobile phone camera will only be used for recording maintenance issues and will never be used to take photos of children. In the event of an emergency, such as a lock down or medical emergency 999 call, a mobile telephone (either the pre-school phone or a member of staff’s telephone) may be taken into the pre-school building or outside area.

The safety of children in this setting is paramount. Casual or inappropriate use of mobile phones by staff may pose a risk.  Personal mobile phones (i.e. of staff, students, volunteers, parents or other visitors) must be kept in the office during sessions and are safely accessed at lunch times only.

Visitors to pre-school are prohibited from taking mobile telephones beyond the internal key coded door, as sign posted. This excludes parents and carers that are dropping off or collecting from pre-school although use of mobile phones is prohibited during these periods.

The statutory guidance listed in the Statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage means that providers should take contact telephone numbers and a mobile phone on outings.  We do not store parents contact details on pre-school or staff mobile phones.  The only exception to this is the Administration Manager who holds contact details of committee members and staff on her personal mobile phone, to enable her to conduct pre-school business out of hours.

Use of Mobile Phones on an Outing

During an outing, photographs are only to be taken on a pre-school camera. This is so that we can ensure that images are not displayed on social media sites.  Parents are not permitted to take photographs during outings and, due to current restrictions, will not be allowed to use their mobile phones for the duration of the outing. The leader of the outing takes the pre-school mobile for use in emergencies. Staff will not have access to their own mobile telephones, following exactly the same procedure that is followed during a normal pre-school session.

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This policy has an annual review period and, as such, will be reviewed and signed off at a management committee meeting of Cullompton Pre-School each year, as shown below.