Tamworth high school principals spot change after state-wide phone ban

These are the items public school principals in Tamworth weren't expecting to cough up cash for when phones were taken out of the classroom.

The state wide phone ban was introduced across NSW public high schools by the Labor government from the first day of Term 4, 2023, at the start of October.

The ban applies to class time, recess, and lunch, and in Tamworth has seen students hand in their phones to be locked away at the start of each day.

A month into the ban, the Leader sat down with the principals from Oxley High School, Tamworth High School, and Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School to find out what the good, the bad, and the unexpected has been since students switched off.

With the three high schools already having some sort of restrictions on mobile phone usage in the classroom in place, it was what would happen out in the playground which the school leaders were most concerned about.

Oxley's relieving principal Natalie Hill said she spent the first few days of the ban walking laps of the school at lunch and recess.

She said before the ban she'd pass students with their heads buried in the phone, but now things have changed.

"Kids were talking, they were coming up with activities to do," she said.

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"Students have actually found ways to entertain themselves, which is a credit to them, because they've embraced it."

Farrer's principal Clint Gallagher said as soon as the ban came into place he noticed much more noise at recess and lunch.

"Our playground activity has been dramatically increased," he said.

"It's a terrific thing.

"Boys can blow of some steam at breaks and be more settled in the class."

Tamworth High principal Paul Davis said he had seen the positive outcome of the ban evolve in the playground during the last month.

"They're getting better at it," he said.

"It took them a while to get their heads around that they actually had to talk to each other, and play with each other, or find games."

When the principals at Tamworth's four public high schools first heard the phone ban would be coming into play they rallied together to come up with a uniform approach to the situation.

Mr Davis said when the principals gathered to chat about the new policy the most important thing was consistency.

"That's something we needed to do for our kids, because our kids largely move within the public system," he said.

"It makes it a lot easier for us as a community.

"Kids know it doesn't matter where you go, that's the rule, and that's what we do."

The leaders came up with a three strike policy, which would be the same across all four schools.

If a student is caught with their phone in class or in the playground the device is taken off them and they are given a verbal warning.

If the same student is caught a second time they're given a formal suspension warning, and the phone is taken off them.

And on the third strike, the student is suspended from school.

Mr Davis said there had been a few kids fall into the strike one and two categories, but "very, very few suspensions".

More kids on their feet during recess and lunch has led to a few more trips to the sick bay.

Both Oxley and Tamworth high schools staff noticed an uptick in grazes, cuts and bruises since the start of Term 4.

Ms Hill said the first aid kit at Oxley has needed to be restocked more regularly as a result of the phone ban.

"They're actually getting out there instead of sitting there on a phone and being passive," she said.

"They're actually running around and doing things that kids do and should be doing."

Mr Gallagher said the Student Representative Council (SRC) at Farrar predicted there would be more kids wanting to use sports equipment during breaks and started fundraising throughout the year.

He said the group of students had been recycling bottles and cans at the city's Return and Earn stations to fund new sports equipment, which they lend out during recess and lunch.

At Tamworth High, Mr Davis said students were requesting clocks in every classroom when the phone ban was brought in.

"We had to put digital clocks up, because the kids can't read normal clocks," he said.

"It's the things you just don't think about."

Students have also had to start using physical EFTPOS cards to make purchases at the canteen, and printing out their timetables to know what and where their classes are.

Principals are expecting a cultural change to trickle through classrooms in the next few years.

Mr Davis said he believes as new year levels transition from primary school to high school each year, hesitation to hand phones over to teachers will drop off overtime.

He said since the phone ban has been introduced, the students who have struggled with the policy the most are in the upper year levels.

"A lot of the younger kids particularly are just leaving their phones at home," Mr Davis said.

He said the older students who have just "forgotten what it's like to not have their phone" have taken a bit longer to adjust.

"We will get their eventually," he said.

Ms Hill said she was "surprised" to see how easily the students at Oxley had adapted to the new rules.

The school already had a partial restriction in place, meaning phones already weren't allowed in the classroom, and the teaching staff had been preparing the student body for the change in the months leading up to the ban.

Mr Gallagher told the Leader while his cohort may not admit it in front of their friends, after talking to students one-on-one many have told him it's been a great thing for their learning.

"People have been very happy, and we've only had positive interaction from parents," he said.

As a father himself, Mr Davis said he thinks parents are probably glad to see their kids away from their screens.

"They're on board with it, because they're sick of kids on their phones as well," he said.

All three principals agreed the ban had been a positive policy, and hoped to see it continue through future generations.

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