'It's early days' but lockable phone pouches hailed a success at Furze Platt school

Furze Platt Senior School says a new scheme to lock away pupils’ smartphones during the school day has already made a noticeable difference to attention and social skills – and is here to stay.

All 1,500 students are now required to bring in special magnetic pouches each morning and lock away their phones at the school gates.

The pouches stay with students throughout the day but can only be reopened at designated stations after school finishes.

Deputy headteacher James Sheppard, who led the rollout, said: “The overwhelming majority of our students have bought into it.

“It’s very early days, but already we’re seeing a more bubbly, chatty atmosphere around the site during break times. There’s a lighter feel.”

The school had long operated a ‘no see, no hear’ phone policy, but as smartphones became harder to resist, Mr Sheppard said, the previous system was taking up more and more of the teachers’ time.

“There’s increasing evidence that even a phone just vibrating in a student’s pocket can distract them for up to 20 minutes,” he said.

“All the evidence says that taking away the distraction of smartphones in lessons helps student progress.

“Taking that distraction away from their break times helps build personal relationships and conflict resolution – all the things that we want to help our young people grow into well-rounded young adults.”

After exploring the options, the school opted for lockable pouches from Yondr – the same supplier used at Charters School in Ascot and 250 schools across the UK.

Teachers are ‘overwhelmingly in favour’ of the changes, said Mr Sheppard, and initial feedback from parents has been largely good.

“It’s not universal, but the vast majority understand exactly why we’re doing it and support us,” he said.

Students who forget their pouches must hand in their phones at reception and collect them after school – and also face disciplinary consequences.

There are random spot checks and sanctions are in place for anyone who tampers with the system or brings a second phone to school.

The pouches cost the school £15 each – amounting to about £22,500 for the whole school. This first wave was funded directly from the school budget.

Mr Sheppard said that there was a decision by school governors and the leadership team to prioritise this expenditure, given its benefits.

“This was actually a very straightforward and easy decision,” Mr Sheppard said. “Smartphones are definitely not helping our young people’s growth and development, personally or academically.

“We therefore have a responsibility to do what we can as a school.”

In terms of funding going forward, nothing has been finalised – but Mr Sheppard highlighted that for its first expenditure, the school had to purchase five school years’ worth of pouches at once, which it will not have to do in future.

The pouches have a life of about five to seven years, and if students lose or tamper with them, they pay for a replacement.

In any case, Mr Sheppard said the school is ‘committed’ to keeping the pouch scheme in place.

“We're not just looking at doing this for six months,” he said. “This is permanent.

“From all the national dialogue, my belief is it's probably a matter of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ there is a full ban in every school, in one shape or another.”