Copyright walesonline
The headteacher of a secondary school in Cardiff has said he is going to ban mobile phones after a trial showed pupils at his school without their phones talked to each other more. When pupils return to Mary Immaculate High next week after the half term break they'll return to a school free of mobile phones, headteacher Huw Powell has told WalesOnline. All pupils will have to leave their devices in locked-up pouches at the start of the day and will then be able to have them back at the end of the day, he said. The move follows bans in some other schools and one county is even advising restrictions on smart watches and other digital devices. Mr Powell said after trialling the initiative on years seven and eight students it was agreed it should be imposed across the whole school. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here . He said that during the trial before half term staff noticed some of the younger pupils who were without their phones conversed with each other more, especially at break and lunch times. Mr Powell explained that up to now the school has allowed pupils to go on their phones at break and lunch times but that isn't going to happen anymore. "We always had a partial ban but pupils have been allowed to use their phones at break and lunch. We have been trialling pouches," he told WalesOnline. "The phones stay in the pouch locked up and they leave them there and take them back at the end of the day. "Sometimes phones can cause issue in schools. It's also about communication and young people talking to each other instead of being on their phones. In the trial with years seven and eight we found pupils talking more and reading instead of being on their phones at break and lunch. We consulted with pupils and parents and a majority of parents thought it was a good idea." Mr Powell said he understood some young people need to travel a distance to school and need their phones on them for security and to stay in touch with their families. But he said there was no need for phones throughout the school day and there are devices they can use in the school, if needed, for learning. The approach is backed up by experience at other schools in Cardiff and across Wales. A few miles down the road at Cardiff West Community High a phone ban has seen attendance increase and disruption decrease . After banning mobile phone use in school in summer 2024 Cardiff West Community High reported a 60% fall in exclusions, attendance rise from 80% to 83% and there's been a 72% reduction in fights. Pupils are talking and communicating more and are focusing more in lessons, staff said. Meanwhile a group of secondary school headteachers in one part of Wales, backed by local primary school leaders, are asking parents not to let their children have smartphones at all until they are 14 in what they believe is a UK first. School leaders in Monmouthshire said they were responding to concern about bad behaviour and violence among school-age children linked to social media and videos accessed and spread on phones. Different mobile policies are in force in schools across Wales. Some ban them altogether, others allow pupils to bring phones in but say they must be switched off and others lock them away securely until home time. There is no overall guidance and the Welsh Governmment says it is a matter for individual schools. Members of teaching union NEU Cymru recently warned that phones in schools are part of rising problems of violence and disengagement in school. After its "behaviour summit" the Welsh Government said a mobile phone forum had been set up to look at guidance for schools.
