Dear Families,
I hope that you enjoyed a relaxing Easter break and that students have enjoyed their first week back at school. It has been another busy week at Preston, with students in Year 11 sitting their Geography drop down day on Monday, before joining together for their final whole year group photo on Wednesday morning. This week also marked the start of their GCSE examinations, with their GCSE Food and Nutrition practical assessments taking place throughout the week. Year 9 students had vaccinations on Tuesday and Wednesday, while many students wore an item of green clothing for earth day on Wednesday. Thursday saw our Year 10 revision evening, and it was lovely to welcome 104 Year 10 students and their families onto site to look at effective revision techniques. This weekend sees our latest Duke of Edinburgh expedition, which looks like seeing uncharacteristically positive weather. I hope the students involved are packing their sun cream!
The bulk of my letter to you this Friday focusses however on one topic which continues to gain national press attention; young people and their mobile phones.
At the start of the year, the government strengthened the guidance given to schools around mobile phones. It states that pupils should not use mobile phones or other smart technology with similar functionality throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, break times and lunchtime. We have been clear with students around this, with a rule that mobile phones must not be seen or heard during the school day. In line with this, we have stopped using mobile phones for activities such as Kahoot quizzes within lessons and have made it clear that they are not needed in class. However, we are aware that we still have a number of instances where students are failing to follow these rules, using their mobile phones within toilet cubicles during lessons and over their lunch break.
Alongside this guidance, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is currently working its way through Parliament. This will place a legal duty on schools to enforce an outright ban on mobile phones in schools. As such, we are looking to reset our expectations more firmly around mobile phones from September 2026. This will likely include a ban on mobile phones being accessible during the school day, in line with national policy.
I understand that there will be a wide range of views on mobile phones, and these will likely differ between the families of our youngest students at eleven years of age and those of students turning sixteen in Year 11. As such, we are looking to develop a clear policy that supports all families, regardless of their individual views on students owning a mobile device. As part of the below Google Form, I am hoping to gather valuable community feedback to help develop this policy, which we will implement stringently from September.
I am currently basing our direction on the points below, which I believe are important to share openly:
- Some families will want their child to have access to a mobile device during their walk to and from school. While many may decide to seek a mobile-free childhood both inside and outside of school, I do understand that, for some, a mobile phone forms an important link in ensuring student safety while travelling to and from school. Banning students from bringing their mobile devices to school entirely has the potential to cause issues in this area for some of our families.
- A small number of our families utilise tracking apps on their child’s mobile phone to monitor their location before and after school. Similarly, banning students from bringing their mobile devices to school entirely has the potential to cause issues in this area.
- A small number of our students use their mobile devices to monitor medical conditions, particularly type one diabetes. We would not want to develop a policy that jeopardises their ability to manage their condition effectively.
- Many families will wish to seek a mobile-free childhood. Allowing students to bring a device openly to school causes unnecessary peer pressure, which may impact families choosing to follow this route.
Again, I am keen to support all families, regardless of their individual views on the points raised above.
As a result, we are looking closely at a policy in which students are able to bring their devices to school, but where these devices are then inaccessible during the school day. We are clear that simply telling students not to use them, leaving them switched off and in bags, has not worked. I believe we therefore have two routes remaining.
- To have tutors collect mobile phones at the start of each day. This is a simple and cost-effective solution, but one that places significant responsibility on the tutor. The average mobile device is valued at around £600, and even half of a tutor group bringing a device of this value to school would see the tutor responsible for £9,000 worth of electronic equipment each day.
- To utilise a lockable pouch-style system, within which students keep their device. These pouch-style systems have become increasingly popular and allow students to keep their device in a magnetically sealed pouch, which is locked at the start of the day unlocked at the end of the school day. These “Yondr”-style pouches have become popular in settings such as spas and swimming pools, including Bath Spa, as well as in theatre and comedy shows.
I currently believe that Yondr-style pouches provide the best all-round solution for students at Preston. This would involve:
- Students who wish to bring a mobile phone to school placing their device within a pouch during tutor time, which is magnetically locked at that point.
- A number of unlocking stations placed across the school site, which allow these pouches to be unlocked from 3pm onwards.
- A significant sanction put in place for any student failing to place their device into the pouch at the start of each day, or placing a second ‘dummy’ device into the pouch. This would likely be in line with our policy around tobacco, to align with new legislation banning devices, and would likely lead to suspension.
- Students with a diagnosed medical condition, monitored using their mobile phone, would receive an exemption card.
I am keen to gather community feedback on this proposal and would value your opinion being shared through responses to the questions found within the Google Form emailed home.
Thank you,
Matt Doble