School to ban use of mobile phones during day

A secondary school has banned pupils from using their mobile phones during the school day.

Wymondham High Academy, in Norfolk, said it would give pupils in Year 7 to Year 11 lockable phone pouches for them to place their mobiles in during school hours from January 2026.

The school wrote to parents to say staff felt pupils were becoming overly dependent on their phones, which was "detrimental to their education and to their emotional wellbeing".

Chris Smith, the school's head teacher, said he was introducing the ban following "overwhelmingly positive" feedback from other schools who had implemented the measure.

"This is about wellbeing, focus and giving students space to be present," he added..

"We want every student to experience a school day free from the pressure of constant notifications, messages and distractions.

"By creating this phone-free time, we are giving our young people the chance to connect face-to-face, focus on their learning, and protect their mental wellbeing."

Elsewhere, Framingham Earl High School, near Norwich, has had an "off-and-away" rule around phones since 2020.

Becky Arnold, the school's head teacher, said the pouches were a "brilliant" measure.

"Mobile phones are hugely addictive; children are susceptible to the algorithms that are on there to make them be addicted to them," she said.

"The time in the school day is about education and learning, and we want them to learn those social skills and interaction skills face-to-face, as well as their English, maths and science."

An Education Committee report this year surveyed 900 schools using similar pouch systems and found 83% saw improved student engagement, 74% experienced better behaviour and 65% noted gains in academic achievement.

Ms Arnold added: "It's incredibly difficult for parents, and working adults want to be in touch with their child or see they've got to school safely.

"There's so many benefits to mobile phones, you don't have to have all the encyclopaedias in your home, you can just look on the internet, but there are also lots of dangers with using the internet."

Susie Davies, who runs a group called Parents Against Phone Addiction in Young Adolescents, said: "Schools when they introduce the pouches find children have better attention in class, and less toilet breaks because they're not sneaking to loos to check their phones."

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