30 Thames Valley schools to go phone-free with new funding
The Police and Crime Commissioner is investing more than £250,000 to stop students using their mobiles in the school day
Thirty secondary schools across the Thames Valley are being given a share of £254,000 to help remove mobile phones from the school day.
Schools in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes will receive funding from Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber to introduce secure storage for pupils' devices.
The money will pay for measures including lockable pouches, lockers or boxes, with pupils unable to access their phones during the school day except in an emergency.
Mr Barber told Greatest Hits Radio demand for the funding had been high.
“We were massively oversubscribed, which just shows the level of demand there is to make sure there’s a practical solution for getting phones out of schools,” he said.
“We’ve prioritised schools that don’t already have a solution and couldn’t find funding from their own trust or their local authority.”
The Phone Free Schools Fund was launched in June, with the aim of creating better learning environments and giving pupils time away from the pressures and distractions of smartphones.
Mr Barber said he believes that break is important both in lessons and during pupils' free time.
“During the school day, when children should be concentrating on their education, concentrating on just being children, actually having those breaks from the distraction of mobile phones has a real benefit.”
The PCC says phone-free policies could also help safeguard young people from issues including online conflict, harmful content and exploitation.
“We cannot eliminate the risk entirely - students will still have access to their phones outside of school hours - but limiting access during the school day will guarantee pupils a break from online pressures and exposures,” he said.
He added that schools which have already introduced full phone-free policies have reported “significant benefits and improved positive behaviours”.
The £254,000 has comes fromselling seized items which cannot be returned to their rightful owners and can only be spent on community purposes.
Mr Barber said: “This money isn’t taxpayers' money, this has not come out of a policing budget – we use this sort of money every year to support good causes which will help us prevent crime.”
Pupils will still be able to use their phones while travelling to and from school, but the funded schemes must prevent access during the school day except in an emergency.
The first schools are expected to introduce their phone-free measures during the autumn term.
Which schools are receiving funding?
Berkshire
- Baylis Court School
- Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School
- Dedworth Middle School
- Denefield School
- Holyport College
- Kings Academy Binfield
- Langley Grammar School
- Maiden Erlegh School, Earley
- Maiden Erlegh School, Reading
- Oakbank School
- Reading Girls' School
- River Academy
- Slough and Eton CofE Business and Enterprise College
- St Edward's Royal Free Middle School
- The Wren School
- UTC Reading
- Wexham School
Buckinghamshire
- Aylesbury Vale Academy
- Pebble Brook School
- The Cottesloe School
- The Grange School
Oxfordshire
- Gosford Hill School
- Lord Williams’s School
- Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge, Sonning Common
- Meadowbrook College
- The Oxford Academy
- Wheatley Park School
Milton Keynes
- Glebe Farm All-Through School
- Kents Hill Park School
- Shenley Brook End School