One of England’s biggest school academy trusts to ban phone use

One of England’s largest school academy trusts is set to ban phones during the school day.

Ormiston Academies Trust confirmed to the BBC it was phasing out access to smartphones for around 35,000 pupils 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”.

Earlier this year, the Department for Education under the previous Conservative government updated its advice on mobile phones to give school leaders in England the power to ban their use during the school day.

The new measures will be put in place across all of Ormiston’s schools – which include six primaries and 32 secondaries, spanning as far north as Cheshire and as far south as the Isle of Wight.

Eight of its secondary schools have already piloted “different approaches” to the policy for the autumn term after consultation with parents, including one institution which has gone phone-free.

It has been “really successful” and “popular” with parents and students, the spokesperson said.

Access to phones is also already prohibited at the trust’s primary, special needs and alternative provision schools.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

Tom Rees, Ormiston’s chief executive, told the Guardian that smartphones had disrupted students’ learning and wellbeing, adding that there was a “clear correlation” between phone use and concerns about mental health.

Other schools across the country have also restricted access to phones.

Lift Schools, another multi-academy trust, told the BBC that all of its 57 institutions operate a no-smartphones approach “so that students can focus on their learning”, using pouches which lock the device away from the start to the end of the school day.

Individual schools in the trust have brought this in over the last year, the spokesperson said, adding that most schools around the country have something similar in place.

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

He said there was not a lot of enforcement at some institutions which had already implemented similar policies, adding that a blanket ban would remove peer pressure and allow students to get used to it.

In February, the Department for Education issued guidance to crack down on mobile phone use in schools to “minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms”.

Mr Bennett told the BBC the government could go further, making it a statutory requirement for schools to ban phones 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, outlining “serious dangers” posed to children online.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he is not in favour of “simply banning” phones for under-16s but there is a “serious question” to be asked about what children can access.

Meanwhile, Technology Secretary Peter Kyle has told the BBC he is looking very closely at the impact of an upcoming Australian ban on social media for all under-16s.

The Australian government has promised to introduce legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for children to access social media.