Wales-wide guidance on school phone use to be drawn up

Headteachers will be "strongly encouraged" to restrict pupils using phones during the school day, Wales' education minister has said.

Anna Brychan promised to set "clear national expectations on how mobile phones are used in schools".

Plaid Cymru has said it will not ban phones from schools, as some children need them for medical reasons, but UK ministers aim to change the law to make England's schools "mobile phone-free environments by default".

Welsh government-commissioned research found most teachers wanted national guidelines on mobile phone use in schools.

Brychan said she would start consulting on rules for schools and councils in September.

She said: "I want to be clear: as cabinet minister I fully support, and strongly encourage, headteachers to introduce clear and robust restrictions on mobile phone use during the school day, up to and including a full restriction across the school site."

Most schools already have mobile phone policies, a government-commissioned survey found.

But it found 82% of respondents wanted statutory restrictions – a set of rules that all schools must follow.

Julian Kennedy, head teacher at Olchfa Secondary School in Swansea and vice-president of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru told BBC Radio Wales Drive it was "very difficult" to police the use of mobile phones in schools.

He added students being distracted in class by their phones was "widely reported" across schools in Wales, with phones going off during classes and some students to asking to leave class to go to the toilets and check notifications.

The Association of School and College Leaders Cymru welcomed the plans for national guidance, but Kennedy said "the vast majority of phone use takes place outside school", adding he believed schools needed to work with students' families in "partnership".

It is not yet clear how restrictive the national guidance will be but officials say it will allows schools, if they want, to stop children using their phones throughout the day.

Some schools already limit pupils' use of their phones, including by locking them in pouches at the start of the day.

In England, schools are expected to stop pupils using phones, including during lessons, apart from in exceptional circumstances.

Brychan added: "I am mindful some children will always need exceptions for medical reasons, for example.

"By consulting on guidance at the start of the school year I am giving schools the clarity they want quickly, and creating a safer learning environment by reducing distractions now."

Later, on Tuesday, she outlined her priorities in a statement to the Senedd.

It comes a day after the UK government announced a social media ban for under-16s.

At the Senedd election, Plaid Cymru promised restrictions on mobile phone use in its manifesto.

The Welsh Conservatives said the workforce survey showed "clear support for stronger national action".

Tory education spokesperson Sam Rowlands said: "The Welsh Conservatives want mobile phones out of classrooms, so pupils can concentrate and standards can improve across Wales."

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said the First Minister, Rhun ap Iorwerth, recently "seemed to rule out banning phones in schools, but today the education minister has been clear that could still be an option - schools needs clarity".

"What's important is that schools and unions are engaged with and the school workforce is supported in these decisions."