Independent schools lead the way on mobile phone ban in classrooms

EdTech has become one of the hottest topics in education with agonised discussions underway about how much device use is too much device use.

While opinion is split, educators in the independent sector speak with one voice when they say phones are not appropriate in lessons.

With a Scottish Government consultation underway seeking views on a phone ban for state schools, devices may be removed from every classroom.

Many independent schools are already ahead of the curve.

Anthony Simpson is head teacher of the newly co-education Erskine Stewart Melville Schools (ESMS) in Edinburgh.

Mr Simpson says that, for the past 10 to 15 years, his school has had a “really strong” anti-mobile phone policy.

“It’s always commented on by staff that you just don’t see them because if you get a phone out, it’s detention,” he added.

ESMS considered the pouch system introduced by state schools in Edinburgh but decided the system was “overkill”.

Mr Simpson also thinks back to a previous school he worked in where pupils would have three phones - two dummy and one real - in order to avoid the pouches. Young people were also buying strong magnets online to open the pouches.

Mr Simpson also said he disliked the possible change in tone to the start of the school day that pouches would bring. Rather than being warmly welcomed into school, pupils are being admonished and given a negative instruction.

Instead, the school has developed a phone-free curriculum.

Parents are also supportive of the firm line taken - and receive the school’s backing in return. A few years ago junior school parents joined together to agree on a joint age that children would receive their first mobile phone.

The change was, Mr Simpson said, “massive”. Phone ownership in P4 went from 30 per cent to zero and in P7 from 90 per cent to around 30 per cent.

“For us, it’s just really clear rules, and it’s always been the culture.

“The reason it works so well with us is because we’ve got full buy-in with the parents, and we’re working in partnership with the parents on it,” he added.

From 8.45am until 3.45pm there are no mobile phones in sight on the Kelvinside Academy campus.

Dr Lucy Hay is a new arrival at the school, beginning her role in August, and says she has been “very impressed” at how well pupils adhere to the ban.

The deputy rector adds that students are “not perfect” but caveats that by saying the job description of “young person” includes pushing the boundaries.

In response, teachers set out a clear explanation of why phone use is minimised.

“I will often liken some of the boundaries and policies we put in place as being a bit like, it’s not that the government wants to spoil your fun by not letting you drink until 18.

“Physiologically you are not ready to cope with alcohol in your body.

“At that age, neuroplasticity is still so formative, you’re trying to actually create all those interconnections in the brain.”

Dr Hay does not believe an out-and-out ban is the right way to solve the issue of phone use in schools.

“The minute you ban something, the nature of teenagers and young people is that they’re going to find an alternate way to access it.

“Suddenly it becomes this dark, underground conversation, and you’re therefore not part of it, and that then makes the role of the advocate or the supporter of this young person even more difficult.”

It’s no easy decision, the former scientist adds, but balance is everything.

Dr Hay said: “It is their life, it is part of their DNA. And devices do give some benefits - they can help with organisation, they can help with planning.

“So it’s about us trying to facilitate what’s reasonable for our young people in order to ensure they have the most positive experience in terms of their learning socially and emotionally?”

Hutchesons’ Grammar School introduced a comprehensive policy restricting smartphone use during the school day last year.

David Campbell, Senior Depute Rector of Hutchesons’ Grammar School, said the policy followed “extensive consultation with pupils, staff, parents and heads of department, including other schools, alongside growing research highlighting associations between excessive smartphone use and stress, anxiety and low mood.”

It also reflected safeguarding concerns, including the risks associated with filming and photography without consent.

“While recognising that smartphones have become an important part of daily life and that families rely on the ability to communicate with their children, the school believes pupils benefit from having protected time away from the distractions and pressures of their devices,” he said.

“The policy supports concentration and engagement in learning, encourages face-to-face interaction and social connection, and gives pupils greater opportunity to be present, active and involved in school life.

“These are important factors in promoting positive wellbeing and a healthy relationship with technology.”

From the start of the 2025-26 school year, pupils from S1-S5 have been required to have their phones switched off completely and stored in lockers before the start of the first lesson, with the same applying to earpieces and headphones.

Gordonstoun, in Moray, limited its phone use nearly 10 years ago. Head Simon Cane-Hardy describes the boarding school as having “led on the debate”.

Once the use of the devices was limited during the daytime, Mr Cane-Hardy said, “there was an immediate impact, the school was noisier, and children spoke to each other rather than scrolling through their phone”.

“They held real conversations, catching up with each other face-to-face, not via social media,” he said.

The temptation for a quick glance at the phone remained so, following a consultation, the school took the decision in September 2023 to go a step further.

“Other than for our most senior students, mobiles must be left in boarding houses during the school day and are not returned until 6.15pm, before being handed back before lights out.

“Restricting the use of mobiles makes the school day much easier, removing the pressure on students from constant phone alerts and improving concentration levels and student performance.”

“At the heart of this, is the responsible use of technology,” Mr Cane-Hardy added. “We have a welfare responsibility for all our students and that includes appropriate controls on young people’s access to an online world which they don’t fully understand and can’t control.”