In January, The John Wallis Academy started using pouches that the pupils phones would be locked in until the end of the day.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So, as students arrive, they put their phone in a pouch and they lock the pouch and it
00:04 will stay locked until the end of the day. As they're leaving to go home, they can unlock
00:08 the pouch as they leave the school site. And then they've got their phone for their journey
00:13 home and for, you know, contacting friends after school. But through the school hours,
00:19 the phone will be locked and remain inside the pouch throughout the day.
00:22 There must have been some pushback from this because phones are such a key aspect of children's
00:28 lives now and everyone's lives. Is there not a way that it could have been used, I guess,
00:32 for their education while ensuring that they're staying safe and it's not a distraction?
00:39 I think the arguments around the benefits of phones inside schools now has been going
00:45 on for years and years. But we're just seeing more incidents of harm, of the dangers of
00:52 phones and also the impact of constant distraction from multiple notifications through the day,
01:00 through messages, through people trying to stay in touch. And even for staying to be
01:06 kept in pockets, there is that constant distraction throughout the day. There is that constant
01:11 feeling of wanting to check and see what the notification is you've just received. So,
01:17 I feel that the new guidance gives schools that greater autonomy to really make a stance
01:23 and make sure that their school truly is phone free.
01:26 Was there no way of sort of looking at how it could be used to, I guess, enhance their
01:31 education whilst making sure that they're not being distracted by the sort of the fun
01:36 aspects of having a phone? Was there no way of kind of having it work in alignment with
01:41 education?
01:43 I think there's, yeah, the benefits for having a phone are by far, by far outseeded by the
01:49 potential risks. I would like to see a stronger approach where phones are banned outright
01:56 from schools. But I accept that schools should have the autonomy as to how they implement
02:01 this guidance. And I think it is guidance. So, schools get to make the decisions themselves.
02:06 What sort of positive effects have you seen from implementing a similar system in your
02:10 school? What are the kind of positives of implementing a kind of restriction around
02:16 mobile phones?
02:18 We've been doing this for a term now. So, we've had six weeks and we've seen much greater
02:24 engagement in lessons, far fewer distractions. The number of sanctions that have been given
02:29 out for students for disruption and for disrupting lessons is down 40%. So, we've seen a massive
02:35 reduction in the number of sanctions. We've seen more students in class, so less truancy,
02:41 less students out. We've had the lowest number of child on child reported abuse and things
02:46 such as bullying, online harassment or abuse. That's the lowest numbers that we've had since
02:52 pre-COVID times. And perhaps the biggest change is the social interaction between students
02:59 themselves. The children are talking to each other more.
03:01 It seems like it's worked quite well in your school. Are you concerned at all in other
03:05 schools there could be certain issues of children trying to hide their phones or bring their
03:10 phones in without teachers knowing? Are you concerned at all that perhaps in other schools
03:14 that could be a reality?
03:18 I think the reality is that any rules that schools bring in, students are really bright
03:24 and really switched on. They will try to find ways around it. And I think when we implemented
03:29 our system here, we were aware that students might hide their phone or bring in a burner
03:34 phone that they could put in their pouch and they'd have another phone. But when you create
03:39 a culture in a school such as we've done to create a truly phone-free school, then even
03:44 if they were to get access to a phone, then they can't call their friends because none
03:49 of their friends have access to one.