Mobiles: Smartphone free childcare in London schools

The schools which are implementing, or working towards, no smartphones during the school day include private, state, primary and secondary.

Belmont School in Mill Hill, King Alfred School in Hampstead and Queens Park Community School (QPCS) in Brent have agreed to work towards removing smartphones from schools entirely and to allow only basic “brick” phones (which only offer texts and calls) according to SFC.

At Queen’s Park Community School, a secondary school also in Brent with more than 1,300 pupils, smartphones seen will be confiscated for six weeks, whereas if a brick phone is seen it will only be held for one day.

Stacey Holohan has an 11-year-old son, who has a smartphone which he uses to make calls but doesn’t have social media.

His school also does not allow mobile phones, which she agrees with but doesn’t think a child should wait until they’re 14 either.

Stacey said: “They go to school, some travel really far. How are they going to communicate with their parents if something’s happened?

“If there’s an accident and they’re running late? It’s more peace of mind for the parents.”