New Year 7s to be banned from using smartphones

Six Kent secondary schools have announced they are banning new Year 7s from using smartphones, starting in September this year.

The Tunbridge Wells schools include The Skinners' Kent Academy, Bennett Memorial School, St Gregory's Catholic School, The Skinners' School, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls and Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys.

In a joint statement, school leaders said the initiative aimed to ensure pupils were "not subjected to harmful content online throughout the entire day".

They added the scheme also aimed to "support student wellbeing, learning and social development".

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said schools should be "phone free" throughout the day.

The school leaders say the ban includes students wanting to use their phones as calculators or for research, and they have called on parents to support their initiative.

"We have already seen a growing trend where parents are not buying smartphones for their secondary aged children, and we fully support this movement," they said.

However, the leaders added pupils were allowed to bring a basic phone, provided it had no internet capability and to be switched off until students left school site.

If pupils are caught breaking the rule, their smart phone will be confiscated for seven days while their basic phone would be confiscated for 24 hours, the schools said.

However, exceptions apply for those who use their smartphones for medical monitoring.

The schools says pupils who need to use their smartphones for medical purposes will need parents to confirm this with the school.

From September 2027, this will apply to Years 7 and 8, and from September 2028 it would apply to students of Years 7, 8 and 9.

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