Ormiston Academy schools in Suffolk to become phone-free

The Guardian has reported the Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) will restrict phone use by students while they are at school.

The trust has already began to reduce access to phone usage at its schools across the country. 

OAT runs Stoke High School, Thomas Wolsey Academy and Ormiston Endeavour Academy, all of which are in Ipswich, as well as Ormiston Sudbury Academy, and Ormiston Denes Academy in Lowestoft. 

It has already banned access to phones at its primary, special needs and alternative provision schools with its chief executive Tom Rees saying it was also needed across secondary schools to improve learning. 

READ MORE: Suffolk secondary school building project estimated to start next summer

The trust runs Ormiston Endeavour Academy in Ipswich (Image: Ormiston Endeavour Academy) In a recent interview with The Guardian, Mr Rees said: "We are seeing a clear correlation between mental health and mobile phone and social media use, in particular. 

"Not all mobile phone use is equal and the relationship between that an adolescent mental health, we think, is overwhelming. 

"There is a responsibility for society to respond, and a responsibility for schools to make it harder for children to access inappropriate content through the school day and restrict the draw of social media."

READ MORE: Education group to maintain a presence in town despite current home going up for sale

Mr Rees also added that he believes allowing pupils to keep phones during the school day was an insufficient response to the disruption mobile phones can cause. 

It is not yet known when the new phone-free rules will be implemented at the OAT-run schools in the county.