Cunningham Hill Infant and Junior Schools, St Albans

When Cunningham Hill Schools united with 33 other St Albans primaries to take a stand on smartphones, the results were striking. With no devices on-site and strong parental backing, children began to rediscover play, imagination, and real-world connection. Head of Schools Matthew Tavender shares how this bold, collective action helped tackle online bullying, misinformation, body image issues – and brought joy back to childhood.

The school

Cunningham Hill Schools are a federation of Cunningham Hill Infant and Junior state primary schools in St Albans with 420 pupils aged 4–11.

Head teacher: Matthew Tavender

The problem

Inappropriate content
Teachers reported issues with inappropriate content being sent on WhatsApp.

Misogynistic ideologies
Staff observed a big focus on Andrew Tate amongst Year 6 boys, which they attributed to the content they were seeing on social media.

Body image issues
Unhealthy body image concerns were increasing. Smartwatches were contributing to calorie-counting in both girls and boys.

Cyberbullying
There were problems with children being left out and bullied online. Teachers said this was the number one issue they were dealing with in school.

Misinformation
Teachers were noticing children talking about fake news they had seen online and believing it was real.

The action

Collective action
In May 2024, Executive Head Justine Elbourne-Cload, along with Head of Schools Matthew Tavender, brought together 33 of the 36 primary school heads in St Albans to take collective action. The group committed to banning phones in their schools and wrote a collective letter to parents asking them to delay giving their children smartphones until 14.

They introduced an SFC parent ambassador in every year group, with a lead ambassador in regular contact with the school to ensure ongoing support for the movement.

The impact

More play
Children are playing outside more. Teachers have reported "seeing children’s imagination returning" as they become less reliant on screens.

Less cyberbullying
Teachers have seen a steep drop in cyberbullying reports during school holidays. Where previously they would receive multiple reports from parents about WhatsApp issues, this summer there were none.

"We don't allow technology on our Year 6 residential trip to Wales. Rather than just waiting for the next text message, the children spent their day digging holes. Some children struggled at the beginning because they didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how to play outside. But after just a day, they were all desperate to play outside. They didn’t care what the weather was like, they just wanted to go down to the beach."
Matthew Tavender, Head of Schools, Cunningham Hill School

Key information

Local authority
St Albans City & District Council, Hertfordshire

Policy
Smartphones banned from school premises

Date policy implemented
May 2024

Pupil demographics
Number of pupils: 420
Age range: 4–11
Pupils eligible for free school meals: 15.5%
English as an additional language: 42.9%

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