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Britain's strictest headteacher calls on Government to ban smartphones for pupils under 16 in school hours By Rory Fleming Published: 10:41, 10 October 2024 | Updated: 10:41, 10 October 2024 e-mail View comments Several leading educational figures, including the woman dubbed the nation's strictest head teacher, have called on the British government to implement a smartphone ban for students during school hours. Katharine Birbalsingh, head teacher of Michaela Community School in Wembley, North London , previously appeared on ITV 's documentary Britain's Strictest Headmistress and made national headlines earlier this year following her banning of prayer rituals during school hours. She has also previously stoked controversy by suggesting that people from the poorest families should set their sights lower, and by implying that female students shunned subjects like physics at A-Level because of the 'hard maths.
' Other notable comments from Britain's toughest head teacher included the stating of her belief that children who self-identified as animals, moons and holograms should be moved to other schools by their parents. Now, Birbalsingh, along with 30 other prominent educationalists such as Lord Nash, former Conservative schools minister, have penned an open letter calling for stricter smartphone governance in British schools. Katherine Birbalsingh, head teacher of Michaela Community School in Wembley, previously appeared on ITV's documentary 'Britain's Strictest Headmistresses' Ms.
Birbalsingh is part of a group of 30 educationalists calling on the UK government to ban smartphones in schools across Britain Read More Who is 'Britain's strictest headteacher' Katharine Birbalsingh? Meet the woman at the centre of a legal challenge with Muslim pupil over prayer ban Addressed to Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, the letter proposed a ban which would impact all pupils under the age of 16. In the letter, the group said; 'We ask you to take immediate action to reduce this impact by ensuring that all schools implement effective smartphone-free restrictions during the school day up until the end of key stage 4 (16 years old). 'We note the increasing concern about the impact of phones on attainment and mental health amongst schoolchildren, and the introduction of smartphone-free regulations around the world'.
Also included in the letter were calls for 'strategic investment' to ensure that schools had the necessary infrastructure available to be able to bring about smartphone-free environments in schools. Previous studies have suggested that such bans on smartphones can prove to be an effective strategy in improving academic performance. A study by think tank Policy Exchange found that in schools which already implement an effective ban - where smartphones are stored securely or barred from campus entirely - are shown to achieve GSCE results one to two grades higher than students in schools with more lenient smartphone policies.
Also contained within the study's findings were direct global correlations to other positive outcomes outside of the academic realm. These included noticeable reductions in bullying and an increase in amounts of healthy physical activity undertaken by pupils. Eton College, Berkshire, recently implemented its own stringent smartphone rules Read More Academy chain with 35,000 pupils becomes the first in England to ban mobiles in all its 42 schools On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, there are already 13 American states in which a similar policy is being implemented, including California.
To date, 11 per cent of secondary schools in Britain have adopted some form of smartphone restrictions. Notably, in June of this year, Eton College announced a new policy in which its Year 9 students would be provided with basic 'brick' phones which can only send and receive texts and calls. The Berkshire boarding school only allows these phones to be used outside of the school day and is also providing pupils with an iPad to support academic study.
This was followed by news that Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT), a managing group of schools with over 35,000 pupils attending across the UK, would be banning phones in the classroom due to 'overwhelming' relationship between excessive smartphone usage and poor mental health amongst the young. Share or comment on this article: Britain's strictest headteacher calls on Government to ban smartphones for pupils under 16 in school hours e-mail Add comment.
