I applaud these schools for taking this stance to help protect our growing children from social media/smartphones. Mobile phone policies will certainly be a major factor in our decision making (when our children reach secondary school age) and we are choosing schools. I understand the fears parents have about children on public transport etc but children managed on buses/trains when travelling to and from school for years (decades even) before phones were even a thing. They will be safer, more independent/resilient and happier without these smart phones.  Well done Streatham and Clapham and Emmanuel Schools! You will certainly be on my 'schools lists' when it comes to secondary education for my children and I am totally in support of your new policies. 

From what I understand about what Emanuel, Streatham & Clapham, Alleyn’s etc are saying to parents, they are seriously concerned about the effect of smartphones and social media on their children’s wellbeing and academic attainment, so are really discouraging parents from giving smartphones at all, at least at the younger end of the school.

I am definitely swayed by this approach when looking at secondaries! I would absolutely love for my children to go to a school where a significant proportion of their friends were not on smartphones/social media, at least for the first couple of years. The approach taken by these schools really helps parents make their mind up about when to give a smartphone without the fear factor that their child will be the only one without one. I’m all for it!!

Manta - I couldn’t agree more - and interested to note you work in tech, as the smartphone ban seems commonplace with the Silicon Valley techies for their own children..

This is about schools banning smartphones completely on site, not just having them put away in lockers etc - ie a real change in the normal phone ban policies that have been in place across schools to date - and the result of schools taking these steps is that it is more likely parents won’t buy a smartphone for home use, far less likely that those who don’t have an ‘out of school’ smartphone will be socially isolated as they will no longer be a minority, less chance of being mugged on the common for devices, less at risk of all the hazards that come with social media access etc etc etc..

I am very sure many more schools will adopt this stance over the next year and the debates in government that have been taking place over the last few mths suggest more significant changes in government policy to protect our children are likely too.

The pace public opinion and schools are moving on this is great. There is a huge difference between banning smartphones even being brought to school and putting them in lockers.

I believe the Emanuel (and maybe s&c) approach is also to discourage families from getting their kids smartphones at all. This would be a big factor in our secondary school choice. (& I say this as someone who's worked in tech for 15+ years!)

Hornsby Y6s who take phones to school hand them in to the office each morning
From Sept they will not allow the children to bring smart phones or smart watches on the school site

I can only speak from our experience but we have a kind of ‘hire ‘ arrangement for the school devices , which are monitored and site search restricted. The kids enter into a responsible usage agreement and don’t message each other on the school devices.
They have to go outside at breaks. No devices.
Everyone knows no phones are allowed during the day in school and the school devices are for school work only. Even at home they are only allowed to search up subject related sites on the school device.
It’s just the norm for them.

Wimbledon High invested in see through lockers last year; phones kept in there all day. Nothing to suggest that will change for next year. They have discouraged WhatsApp groups. My daughter is in year 7.

I don’t understand how the ban of smartphones helps in schools where they extensively use tablets. At S&C nearly everything is done in tablets that have access to the internet. Parents struggle to get kids doing homework and not going on you tube and various sites. I am sure kids are also surfing the web at school and using online chats. How is it different from a phone when they can access everything anyway from their tablets?

I assumed smart phones were already banned during school hours??? I am a bit shocked this is just happening now. Especially for Hornsby house??! Surely kids so small don’t have smart phones and if they had they were always banged??!
Or is it a ban even on the trip to school? The issue with that is if kids are taking trains or buses it would be hard for them to check on travel disruptions.
The best policy would be to lock the phones on entrance, as many secondary schools are already doing.

At Ibstock Place school phones are switched off and go in lockers all day. Children receive a detention if phones are seen. This has been the policy for years.
Surprised to learn from this chat how many schools allow phones during the school day.

Well done to all of these schools!

The new Emanuel and S&C policies go further though and ban smartphones from the school rather than saying they can put in lockers. They will only be allowed to bring brick phones on site.

And to clarify - the ban is not just for earlier years like Emanuel but also for more senior years. It's just the general school policy

Trinity has always had this policy, for years. All phones need to be locked in lockers for the entire day and can't be touched until 3.45. This includes lunch breaks etc. If anyone gets caught with the phone, they get confiscated and there are sanctions. We love it and boys don't even question it as it's now normal

It seems fine if they are walking to school but smartphones enable them to check train/bus information