One of England's biggest academies plans to ban smartphones - full list of 42 schools which could be impacted

• A trust which manages more than 40 different schools across England has announced it plans to go phone-free.
• It has already begun trialling bans and other approaches at some of its secondary schools.
• Trust leadership says phones have had a big impact on both pupils’ learning and their mental health.

Thousands of students across dozens of English academies may eventually be going to school without their smartphones - for their own good.

Digital safety experts say that for many families, conversations around a child getting their first phone typically begin around the time they start secondary school. But while smartphones can open up a new, online world to young people, they also present risks, including being exposed to inappropriate content or misinformation - while some struggle to switch off or regulate themselves on social media. Some parents are even opting for feature phones for their children, which can call, text and perform simple functions, but don’t have internet access.

Now one charitable trust, which manages dozens of state-funded academies across England, is taking the matter a step further. Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) chief executive Tom Rees told the Guardian that they plan to become the first in the country to go completely phone-free.

The Trust is responsible for some 35 thousand pupils across its portfolio of schools, some of which have already begun trialling smartphone bans this term. Rees said that the impact of smartphones on both learning and mental health has been “catastrophic”, and even when phones are tucked away in bags or pockets, students were still preoccupied with them.

OAT has confirmed that being phone-free is the plan eventually. A spokesperson told us: “Moving forward and over time, we believe it is desirable for us to move to a position where children do not access their phones at all throughout the school day. Teaching and learning, behaviour and children’s mental health are all impacted negatively by mobile phones.”

But the Trust added that there was no rush, and each of its many schools would work on its own timeline. “Our schools are at different stages of the journey. A quarter of our secondary schools are piloting different approaches to this over the autumn term, and one is phone-free, where it’s been really successful and is popular with parents and students.

“We want schools to do this at their pace - they are best placed to make the decisions because they know their schools best, and because we want them to consult with their parent and pupil communities,” they added.

Ormiston Academy Trust’s schools

According to its website, the Trust runs 42 academies across England. These include 32 secondary schools, six primary schools, three alternative provision schools, and one special school.

Secondary schools

• Ormiston Bolingbroke Academy, Runcorn, Cheshire
• Broadland High Ormiston Academy, Hoveton, Norwich
• Brownhills Ormiston Academy, Brownhills, West Midlands
• Ormiston Bushfield Academy, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Ormiston Chadwick Academy, Widnes, Cheshire
• City of Norwich School, Norwich
• Cliff Park Ormiston Academy, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• Cowes Enterprise College, Isle of Wight
• Ormiston Denes Academy, Lowestoft, Suffolk
• Ormiston Endeavour Academy, Ipswich, Suffolk
• Flegg High Ormiston Academy, Martham, Norfolk
• Ormiston Forge Academy, Cradley Heath, West Midlands
• George Salter Academy, West Bromwich, West Midlands
• Ormiston Horizon Academy, Stoke-on-Trent
• Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy, Ilkeston, Derbyshire
• Ormiston Maritime Academy, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire
• Ormiston Meridian Academy, Stoke-on-Trent
• Ormiston NEW Academy, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
• Ormiston Park Academy, Aveley, Essex
• Ormiston Rivers Academy, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex
• Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy, Oldbury, West Midlands
• Sandymoor Ormiston Academy, Sandymoor, Cheshire
• Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy, Pelsall, West Midlands
• Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, Stoke-on-Trent
• Ormiston Six Villages Academy, Chichester, West Sussex
• Stoke High School, Ipswich, Suffolk
• Ormiston Sudbury Academy, Sudbury, Suffolk
• Ormiston SWB Academy, Bilston, West Midlands
• Tenbury High Ormiston Academy, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire
• Ormiston Venture Academy, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• Ormiston Victory Academy, Costessey, Norwich
• Wodensborough Ormiston Academy, Wednesbury, West Midlands

Primary Schools

• Ormiston Cliff Park Primary Academy, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk
• Edward Worlledge Ormiston Academy, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• Ormiston Herman Academy, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• Ormiston Meadows Academy, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Packmoor Ormiston Academy, Stoke-on-Trent
• Ormiston South Parade Academy, Grimsby

Alternate provision and special schools

• Ormiston Beachcroft Academy, St John’s Wood, North London
• Ormiston Bridge Academy, Fulham, West London
• Ormiston Latimer Academy, Notting Hill, West London
• Thomas Wolsey Ormiston Academy, Ipswich, Suffolk

Does your child having a phone at school give you peace of mind knowing you can reach them, or is it a distraction from learning? Have your say and make your voice heard by leaving a comment below.