Thomas Mills High School and Sixth Form is leading the way with a new mobile phone protocol for high school students from September onwards.
The change to the policy is aimed at helping students to have a better relationship with their mobile devices.
From the start of the autumn term, students will be required to keep phones in their lockers during the school day rather than their bags or pockets. The school already expects students to not to be seen with their phone during the day although they are permitted to bring them onto the premises.
Headteacher Philip Hurst says although most pupils are really good at upholding the previous policy, this new move eliminates the temptation to use the phone.
“For me it’s not just about attainment and concentration I think it’s also about wellbeing,” he said.
“We must develop the community that we want and we want people involved, engaged and taking part in things. For schools we’ve got to have more clubs, more activities, more trips so that we engage children positively.”
The move to tighten the protocol around mobile phone use has been welcomed by the Smartphone Free Childhood campaign. Their co-founder Daisy Greenwell told the BBC that the new policy was a “great step to allow children to have that time at school to socialise, study and to focus”.
She added: “We all know how hard it is to focus when you’ve got your phone in your bag – it’s virtually impossible. We need to give children the space to get on with what they are supposed to be doing in school.”
