Pay £25 to lock up your child’s smartphone, school tells parents

Teacher removes mobile phones from pupils

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

Cardinal Newman Catholic School, a state secondary in Hove, 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, 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 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 told parents that the cost of the pouch would be around £25, The Argus reported.

The mother of a pupil starting at Cardinal Newman in September said she supported plans to introduce the magnetic pouches – Simon Dack/Alamy Live News

It is understood that the proposed policy is still under consultation. More than 200 state and private schools in the UK 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.”

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.”

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

Since February, tens of thousands of parents have joined a grassroots movement called Parents for a Smartphone-free Childhood, launched to help parents support each other in delaying giving their children smartphones.

Play The Telegraph’s brilliant range of Puzzles – and feel brighter every day. Train your brain and boost your mood with PlusWord, the Mini Crossword, the fearsome Killer Sudoku and even the classic Cryptic Crossword.