The Government will announce plans today to ban pupils having mobile phones in school with headteachers given the powers to search pupils
The move,says the Government is an attempt to minimise disruption and improve behaviour in classrooms.
The ban will not be statutory but will see prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day, including at break times
Schools will be able to choose an approach to prohibiting mobile phones which suits them.
This could include banning phones from the school premises, handing in phones on arrival at school, or keeping phones locked away.
Many schools have already introduced rules which prohibit the use of phones at school, to help children focus on their education, and the friends and staff around them.
The guidance states that while the majority of pupils won’t be allowed to use their mobile phones during the school day, we know that some children need their mobile phones for medical reasons, or because they have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:
“Schools are places for children to learn and mobile phones are, at a minimum, an unwanted distraction in the classroom. We are giving our hard-working teachers the tools to take action to help improve behaviour and to allow them to do what they do best – teach.”
Last year Unesco, the UN’s education, science and culture agency, said there was evidence that excessive mobile phone use was linked to reduced educational performance and that high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children’s emotional stability.
