Parents charged £25 to store children’s phones during school day

PARENTS have been told they will have to buy £25 pouches to lock up their children’s smartphones under a proposed new policy at a school in East Sussex.

Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove, a state secondary, has told parents that from September pupils will be expected to have a magnet-secured wallet as part of its uniform policy.

Pupils will have to lock their devices away in pouches made by Yondr, an American company, at the start of the school day, making them inaccessible until they go home.

Claire Jarman, the head teacher of the school, told parents that too much time was having to be spent on enforcing its existing smartphone ban.

In a letter to parents, seen by The Argus, a local newspaper, Ms Jarman said: “As a school we are increasingly concerned about the impact of smartphones on our young people.

“Students receive up to three strikes per half-term until they are required to hand in their phones to staff.

“Speaking bluntly, this is not working; too many students at Cardinal Newman School are disregarding the rule and failing to hand in when required.

“This is in turn creating a huge workload for our staff, time and energy we would prefer to be focusing on supporting students in more positive ways.”

The letter also told parents that the cost of the pouch would be around £25, The Argus reported. It is understood that the proposed policy is still under consultation. More than 200 state and private schools in Britain have already introduced Yondr pouches in their schools.

The mother of a pupil starting at Cardinal Newman in September said she supported plans to introduce the pouches.

Writing on Facebook in a public group, she said: “This seems like a reliable way to monitor phone use. Kids don’t need their phones during the school day, but they do on the way to and from.” It comes after research by US non-profit Common Sense Media found that the average young person receives 237 notifications every day, including many that distract pupils while they try to learn.

Half of parents with children in secondary school were concerned about the amount of time their children spent on electronic device, according to a survey by parent-teacher association Parentkind.

A spokesman for Yondr said: “Parents are not simply purchasing a pouch , but a comprehensive phone-free programme which ensures their child can now learn and socialise in a distraction-free environment.

“The cost of the Yondr programme at £25 per student delivers great value, when we consider the huge benefits that our Yondr partners see once they become phone-free schools.”

The Department for Education issued guidance in February backing head teachers who ban mobile phones throughout the school day, including at break time.