The Misbourne

Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire · Secondary · Academy · Rural · 1100+ students

Policy: Pouches for Years 8–11 (Sept 2025). Phased implementation of no smartphones on site starting with Year 7 (Sept 2025), rolling up year by year to Year 11. Only basic phones (no camera, no app store, no mobile internet) permitted, for travel only. Explanation can be viewed here and policy here.

“Being smartphone free in Year 7 is the most transformative change that requires considerably less money, effort and time, and brings many more benefits in terms of behaviour change.”

Mike Worth, Deputy Head

What prompted you to act and what was the turning point?

"For us it came down to three things: safeguarding, mental health, and learning.

We can't commit to keeping students safe if they're on-site with unfiltered internet in their pocket, not just seeking out dangerous content, but having it delivered to them without their choosing. After the assassination of a public figure in the US, the first thing that some young people saw the next morning was a video of a man being murdered, sent to a group chat unprompted. They didn’t go looking for it. We can't permit that while students are in our care.

The trigger was accepting our existing approach wasn't working. Almost every pastoral issue, so many safeguarding concerns, almost every mental health referral had a smartphone or social media issue intertwined with it."

How did you implement the policy?

"We’re clear about which model is better long-term: moving towards basic phones is significantly better than the pouch infrastructure route. Pouches are better than nothing, but they are hard.

We introduced two strands from September 2025. For Year 7 and all future cohorts, no smartphone or smart watch on site at all, rolling up year by year until 2029–30. Basic phones are permitted for the journey only. For current Years 8 to 11, smartphones are locked in pouches for the school day.

We over-communicated at every stage, starting out with a letter to Year 5 parents at every feeder primary, through to open evenings, transition visits and summer school. For students, one channel: a scripted assembly projected simultaneously to every classroom. We didn't delegate it to loads of different people to explain it in different ways. Everyone heard the same message.

We also have to show that we’re proactive in upholding the policy. We do this kindly and discreetly but also robustly. Spot checks using a handheld metal detector are carried out by two staff with students chosen at random. Confiscation is two school weeks for a first offence, four for any subsequent offence. The deterrent has to be strong enough that students weigh the risk properly. It can be a hard sell but the impact is clear."

Timeline:

Letter to Year 5 parents across all 40 feeder primaries (June 2024) → Open evenings, offer day letters, May information evening, transition visits, summer school (Sept 2024–July 2025) → smartphone-free Year 7 begins, Pouches live for Years 8–11, scripted whole-school assembly (September 2025) → Zero Year 7 confiscations, zero cyberbullying reports, 15% Year 7s no longer own a smartphone (within one term).

What objections did you face and how did you respond?

Objection: You should be teaching children how to use these devices, not taking them away.

Response: We absolutely are going to teach them about technology and how to use it safely, but we don’t believe they should have access to it at the same time. They need to learn about these things beforehand.

Objection: How will I know my child is safe on the way home? How will I be able to contact them?

Response: A curated list of approved basic phones was published well in advance. Students may use these on the journey to and from school only. Families wanting to track their child’s location may use AirTags or equivalent, registered with the school. The 15-month notice period gave every family time to make alternative arrangements.

Objection: My child needs their phone for medical reasons.

Response: Several students with medical needs (diabetes, heart conditions) were identified before the policy launched and given Velcro pouches from day one. Where needed, we personally sat with families to help set up appropriate parental controls on the device, giving them medical reassurance while keeping it consistent with the school’s safeguarding and wellbeing approach.

“The number of families who said ‘I want to send my child to your school because of this policy’ – that was really, really positive and encouraging.”

What has been the impact?

15% Year 7 students no longer own a smartphone (up from 2% the year before)
0 cyberbullying or harmful online behaviour reports in Year 7 survey before Christmas
0 smartphone confiscations in Year 7 in two terms since the policy launched

The policy is changing behaviour at home, not just on site

"Previously around 2% of Year 7 students told us they didn't own a smartphone. Within our first cohort under the new policy, that figure is already 15% and we expect it to keep rising as local primaries follow with their own smartphone-free policies. That tells me this isn't just a school rule. It's shifting what families decide to do at home."

Cyberbullying in Year 7: effectively eliminated

"In a pre-Christmas survey, zero Year 7 students reported experiencing any form of cyberbullying or hurtful behaviour online. The Head of Year 7 summed up reports of online issues in four words: ‘significantly less than normal’. Online conflict used to sit at the root of a large proportion of our pastoral referrals. For this cohort, it has almost entirely disappeared."

Zero enforcement burden and not one confiscation

"We haven't had to confiscate a single smartphone from a Year 7 student in the two terms since the policy launched. No difficult conversations with parents, no escalations. Compare that to the ongoing complexity of managing pouches in older year groups and the case for the rolling cohort approach makes itself."

What are your top tips for schools considering change?

Prioritise the basic phones cohort approach over pouches. A smartphone-free Year 7, rolling up year on year, achieves greater behaviour change for a fraction of the effort. If you can only do one thing, do this.
Use one channel. Script a whole-school assembly, deliver it simultaneously to every classroom, record it and share it with families the same day. Inconsistency gives objectors room to manoeuvre.
Use your sixth form. Ask them honestly whether they wish they'd had less access to smartphones in Year 7. The answer is almost always yes. Let them say that to your incoming Year 7s.
Keep the education going. The policy doesn't end the conversation; if anything it makes it more important. Keep weaving it into assemblies. Remind students why it matters and why it's in their interest.

“When we ask our sixth-form students honestly whether they wish they'd grown up without a smartphone in Years 7 to 11, almost everyone says ‘yes’. They have only one caveat: only if their friends hadn't had one either. That testimony, delivered directly to younger students by sixth-form peer mentors, is more persuasive than anything a teacher can say.”