Phone use and phone policy
Wednesday 26 March, 10:00 - 11:00
- Date: March 26, 2025
- Time: 10:00 – 11:00
- Cost: TIOB Member Rate – £90, Non-member Rate – £180
- Audience: Deputy Heads, Assistant Heads, Heads of boarding, Houseparents, Assistant houseparents
- Platform: Zoom (online) – seminar
Course Outline:
This course is aimed at boarding staff interested in phone use policy and education within schools. Our speaker, Jon Bird, will explain why it is not just about bans and how pupils communicate with family and friends in term time. Jon completed his MA in Residential Care at the University of Buckingham with a focus on phones and communication.
Training topics:
- Whole school phone policies
- Educating pupils
- Assessing phone use in your school
Learning outcomes:
- Understand phone use approaches
- Understand the important role of both education and restrictions
- Be able to identify next steps for your school
Speaker:
Jon Bird, Houseparent, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz
Jon started his boarding career in China in 2005. After going to university and earning a degree in Chinese language and History at SOAS, he then completed his PGCE at the Institute of Education (UCL) specializing in Mandarin Chinese and EAL. He took his first job as a teacher at a school in the South West of England. It did not take long before he moved into the boarding house. He has held positions of Visiting Tutor, House Tutor, Assistant Houseparent, Acting Houseparent and Houseparent.
After teaching in both China and the UK, he moved to Switzerland in 2020 where his hobby of coding and passion for computers turned into a subject specialism for coding and robotics. This interest led him to complete his MA in Residential Care, with the University of Buckingham, focussing on the phone and the how boarders communicate with their family members and close friends.
Jon is a level three trained DSL, he is a member of the Institute of Boarding and holds a certificate in international boarding from the BSA.
