At Liberty Academy in Hull, putting phones away has become part of the school day, and six months in, staff and pupils say it has changed the feel of the place.
The secondary school introduced a phone-free policy in November. When students arrive, they lock their phones in personal pouches that can only be opened using magnets installed outside the gates when they leave.
Chris Mulqueen, executive principal at the Heartwood Learning Trust, which runs the school, said: “It’s made a phenomenal difference. Students socialise with each other much better. Life inside of school is more predictable.”
He added: “I think for them as well it’s a safe space, a space where they can just be a child.”
Freyja, 13, told the BBC that the pouches had been “very beneficial”.
She said: “No one really goes on their phone anymore, and it’s very helpful education-wise, because obviously we’re here to learn and we’re not here to be on our phones all the time.”
Scarlett, also 13, said she had felt “quite unsure” at first.
“I didn’t know how people were going to handle it and I didn’t know how I was going to contact my mum if I needed her. Now I can just get a teacher or reception to ring her,” she said.
“People communicate more with each other and I think people’s grades are improving because they’re not just thinking about their phone all the time.”
Marcel, 14, said he had been “nervous” about the pouches at first, but they had become part of his daily routine.
He said: “They have really changed the school a lot. Nobody really goes on their phone in lessons, and classrooms are much less disruptive now.”
After students enter the school, teachers check the pouches. Some students are also scanned using metal detectors to make sure all phones have been locked away.
Mulqueen said the changes had had a “significant impact on behaviour”.
“It’s about the appropriate technology for the appropriate time,” he said.
“We would actually encourage them to continue to use phones outside of school, but I think there are times and there are places where it’s not appropriate, and therefore this teaches them some aspects of resilience.
“It teaches them a positive kind of behaviour as well.”
Liberty Academy, previously called Archbishop Sentamu Academy, was given a “requires improvement” rating by Ofsted in April 2024.
Inspectors said pupil behaviour and the curriculum had improved since the school was rated “inadequate” in 2022. A monitoring visit in June 2025 found leaders had made further progress, but pupils’ outcomes in national assessments remained too low.
The Heartwood Learning Trust has also brought in the policy at the five other schools it runs in York and North Yorkshire.
The policy came in before the government announced in April that it would introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England.
The pouches cost the trust £15 each and the school has about 1,400 pupils.
“Obviously the trust has invested heavily in this,” Mulqueen said.
“The pouch is £15 but will last their lifetime inside of school, so you’re going to get five years out of that. That’s £3 a year.
“In terms of a calm, quiet environment that’s more peaceful for them and their thought processes, then I would say to some extent it’s always going to be worth it.”
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