Phones are out; play, noise and achievement are in.
Pupils are talking to each other more and playing more sport since cellphones were banned in schools, James Hargest College acting principal Caroline Raynes says.
The government officially banned cellphone in schools at the start of term two, which prevented use of the phones inside school grounds.
But James Hargest College implemented its no-phones policy at the start of the school year and staff immediately noticed the social culture shift to increased personal engagement between pupils.
"There's a definite increase in noise levels — that face-to-face increase and interaction between students ... you can hear it. They are talking to each other. It's lovely.
"Fields and tennis courts have been full of kids, particularly in term one, playing football, volleyball, touch, rugby, but it’s really noticeable in closed areas. Initially the volume increased as kids were talking to each other."
It was nice to see the pupils experience the benefits of the change, she said.
"We grew up with that and now the students get to experience that as well."
The school leadership had been "delighted with the compliance" the pupils had shown to the new rules, she said.
Southland Boys’ High School acting rector Ray Laurenson said the school implemented its no-phone policy almost a year ago with the support of the community and had already reaped the benefit of the change.
"We decided it was important for our boys ... and the impact was stunning.
"We stopped cellphone use of any description in our classrooms and the ability for the boys to focus in class just was outstanding.
"We thought it was going to be really difficult — it wasn’t."
After about two or three days, the boys got used it as their new normal, Mr Laurenson said.
It was a decision he was happy to see made and picked up by the government.
Improved attention was followed by a noticeable change in academic achievement.
The noticeable change in the classroom had been reflected in the results, Mr Laurenson said.
Fernworth Primary School principal Alison Cook said cellphones had not been a challenging problem in the primary school classrooms.
"We always had the odd one that would come to school and it was kept in the office.
"The only possibly relevant [thing] in primary schools are smart watches, but each school does their own thing. But we’ve never had a problem with [pupils] using them in any way, shape or form," she said.
But she believed parents would manage the devices by turning off apps during school time.
"We’ve never had a time where we’ve had to take one off a kid."
The school had been well supported by its parents, Mrs Cook said.
"Because it's never been a big thing, it hasn't been a major change for us as a school," she said.
- By Toni McDonald
