One of England's biggest academy trusts to ban phone use during school day for 35,000 pupils

14 September 2024, 11:01

Some 35,000 pupils are to be banned from using their phones during the school day, one of England's largest school academy trusts has revealed.

Ormiston Academies Trust has confirmed it was phasing out access to smartphones at its 42 state schools across the country.

A spokesperson for the trust told the BBC that "teaching and learning, behaviour and children’s mental health are all impacted negatively by mobile phones".

This comes after the previous Conservative government gave school leaders in England the power to ban their use during the school day earlier this year.

A statement from the Department for Education in February said: “Using mobile phones in schools can lead to online bullying, distraction and classroom disruption which, in turn, can lead to lost learning time.”

The new measures will be implemented in all of Ormiston's schools - which include 32 secondaries.

Access to phones had already been prohibited at the trust's primary, special needs and alternative provision schools.

The trust has piloted “different approaches” in eight of its secondary schools for the autumn term after consulting parents with one institution going phone-free.

The change has been "really successful" and "popular" with both parents and students, the trust's spokesperson said.

They added: “We want schools to do this at their pace - they are best placed to make the decisions because they know their schools best, and because we want them to take their parent and pupil communities with them.”

Tom Rees, Ormiston's chief executive, told the Guardian there was a "clear correlation" between phone use and concerns about mental health.

He said: “We are seeing huge and real concerns around mental health, post-pandemic.

“These are not just self-reported, we’re also seeing real concerns about self-harm, attempted suicide, A&E admissions – these are facts from across the world involving young people and adolescents.

“We’re seeing a clear correlation between that and mobile phone and social media use, in particular.

“There is a responsibility for society to respond, and a responsibility for schools to make it harder for children to access inappropriate content through the school day and restrict the draw of social media.”

He added: “Learning can’t happen without attention. A lot of this is about a battle for attention, a battle for focus and concentration. It’s not just about having your phone out and using it, it’s the mere presence of the phone.”

Read more: London school pilots 11-hour day with phone ban to improve wellbeing of pupils

Read more: Labour refuses to rule out introducing VAT on private school fees mid-academic year

Tom Bennett, behaviour advisor for the Department for Education, told the BBC the "smartest thing" a school could do was ban smartphones, which he described as "attention hoovers".

He said the government could make it a statutory requirement for schools to ban them apart from in exceptional circumstances allowed by the head teacher.

A committee of MPs in May said the government should consider proposals to ban smartphones for under-16s.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he is not in favour of “simply banning them” but there is a "serious question" to be asked about what children can access.

Elsewhere, the Australian government has promised to introduce legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for children to access social media - an approach Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, said he was open-minded about following.

Meanwhile, a recent French government report recommended a bar on internet-enabled phones for children under 13, and only allowing access to social media after the age of 16.