Make sure pupils don't ever use phones at school, Phillipson tells teachers

According to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, all schools in England should follow new government guidance and go phone-free for the entire school day. She said it was

not appropriate for phones to be used as calculators or for research during lessons

as well as break times and lunchtime in a letter sent solely by the BBC, as well. Teachers will be examining schools on the implementation of their cell phone plans going forward, she revealed, with teachers also being advised not to use their phones in front of pupils. One head teachers' union said that using Ofsted to police schools' cell phone policies was "deeply flawed and misguided.

Schools were first given phone numbers by the previous Conservative government in February 2024, but Phillipson wrote in her letter that it

did not have the clarity or consistency that schools need. She said the government had therefore

strengthenedthe guidance issued last week to make itexplicit

that students should not be using their phones at school. Matt Vickers, the shadow policing minister, told BBC Breakfast that he is

completely supportive of us empowering headteachers to ensure that classrooms are places of learning. However, Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said the letter was yet more information and that

doesn't represent change, it's just more delay. Phillipson's letter to schools comes just less than a week after the government revealed that it would begin a three-month inquiry on banning social media for all under the age of 16 in the United Kingdom. Teachers have been encouraged to

contribute your educational knowledge," according to the education secretary. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party's leader, has already stated that if her party were in power, it would have introduced such a ban. Ofsted has given its own recommendations on how it will inspect schools based on the government's recommendations. Parts of the instruction include instructing employees not to use their computers for personal use in front of pupils. According to new studies from the survey company Teacher Tapp, 86% of primary school teachers said they were able to use their phones at school for personal use, but only during breaks, while 44% of secondary school teachers stated that they were allowed to use your phones freely. Only 2% of both primary and secondary teachers polled said their schools had banned students from using phones completely during the school day.

Tony McCabe, the head teacher at St Joseph's High School in Horwich, Greater Manchester, said he welcomed the instruction because cellphones can be

very detrimental for young people during the school day. He told BBC Breakfast that screen time for children was

overkill,

with others using the devices for up to five hours before the school day even began. Except in emergency situations requiring adult supervision, cellphones are forbidden from being used at his kindergarten. But he said that finding a balance was critical, adding,

We've got to prepare them for the world of work out there. That involves emerging technology. We can't deny that it exists, and I think that schools have a place and a responsibility to educate young people how to use technology properly and efficiently.

Esther Ghey, a mother of Brianna who was killed by two teenagers who had seen violent material online, said the advice was

a step in the right direction,butit did not go far enough. If there was no federal ban, she told BBC Breakfast that there was a chance that the phone rules on phones would have become a postcode lottery, where some schools could enforce policies more effectively than others. The teaching unions have generally welcomed the social media dialogue, but they have resisted the suggestion that Ofsted monitor schools' cell phone policies. Schools, not the threat of heavy-handed inspection, needs to be supported by the government, not by the threat from heavy-hand inspection,

Paul Whiteman, the National Association of Head Teachers' general secretary, said. The letter, according to Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, would bring clarity to schools and parents, and he hopes that it would be the first step toward a total ban on social media for children under the age of 16. Although the government's study on social media concerns affecting the whole United Kingdom, its recommendations for schools on phones only includes England, as education is a devolved policy area. Last year, the Senedd said that phonesshould not be banned

outright" from Welsh schools, but that schools should be encouraged to set and implement their own policies. Education Minister Paul Givan had previously advised schools not to buy their children's smartphones until they hit the age of 14. In Northern Ireland, Education Minister Ed Miliband has previously advised teachers not to purchase their children phones until they reach 14 years old. Schools have been given government guidance on how they should operate, such as students being required to hand in phones before lessons or not being allowed to use them on school trips.

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