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Some schools ban mobile phones from school grounds, while others require them to be handed in, or restrict their use.
Glyn Potts, head teacher at Newman Roman Catholic College in Oldham, could not hide his irritation at the morning headlines announcing a government ban on mobile phones in state schools in England.
His school, like the vast majority, already has a mobile phone policy. "All banned and have been for 10 years," he said, dismissing the announcement by the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, as a "smokescreen" to distract from the real challenges facing schools, such as underfunding, teacher recruitment and providing for pupils with special educational needs.
At Newman RC College, there's a zero tolerance approach towards mobiles. Pupils can have their phones with them for the journey to and from school, but as soon as they cross the threshold into the school grounds phones must be switched off and kept out of sight for the duration of the school day.
Pupils are banned from even holding them in their hands, whether it's lesson or break time. If mobiles are seen they are confiscated and not returned until the end of the day. It is a measure of the effectiveness of the policy that although the vast majority of the 1,502 pupils carry mobiles, staff will only see two or three a week at most.
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