'I didn't know how to put my phone down, now I do'

Six months on from lockable phone pouches being introduced at a secondary school, staff and pupils say it has made a "phenomenal difference".

Liberty Academy in Hull launched a phone-free policy in November to limit students' phone use during the school day.

When they arrive at school, students are asked to lock their phones away in personal pouches which can only be unlocked by magnets installed outside the gates when they leave.

Chris Mulqueen, executive principal at the Heartwood Learning Trust which runs the school, said: "It's made a phenomenal difference. Students socialise with each other much better. Life inside of school is more predictable."

He added: "I think for them as well it's a safe space - a space where they can just be a child."

Freyja, 13, said she had found the pouches "very beneficial".

She said: "No one really goes on their phone anymore, and it's very helpful education-wise, because obviously we're here to learn and we're not here to be on our phones all the time."

Scarlett, also 13, said she had felt "quite unsure" at first.

"I didn't know how people were going to handle it and I didn't know how I was going to contact my mum if I needed her. Now I can just get a teacher or reception to ring her," she said.

"People communicate more with each other and I think people's grades are improving because they're not just thinking about their phone all the time."

Marcel, 14, said although he had been "nervous" about the pouches initially, they had become part of his daily routine.

He said: "They have really changed the school a lot. Nobody really goes on their phone in lessons, and classrooms are much less disruptive now."

Liberty Academy, previously called Archbishop Sentamu Academy, was givena "requires improvement" rating by Ofsted in April 2024.

Inspectors found pupil behaviour and the curriculum had improved since the school was found to be "inadequate" in 2022.

A monitoring visit in June 2025 found leaders had made further progress, but pupils' outcomes in national assessments remained too low.

After students have entered the school, the pouches are checked by teachers - with some students being scanned using metal detectors to make sure all phones have been locked away.

Mulqueen said the changes had had a "significant impact on behaviour".

"It's about the appropriate technology for the appropriate time," he said.

"We would actually encourage them to continue to use phones outside of school, but I think there are times and there are places where it's not appropriate, and therefore this teaches them some aspects of resilience.

"It teaches them a positive kind of behaviour as well."

The trust has also introduced the policy at the five other schools it runs in York and North Yorkshire.

The policy was introduced before the government announced in April that it would introduce a legal ban on smartphones in schools in England.

The pouches cost the trust £15 each and the school has about 1,400 pupils.

"Obviously the trust has invested heavily in this," Mulqueen said.

"The pouch is £15 but will last their lifetime inside of school, so you're going to get five years out of that. That's £3 a year.

"In terms of a calm, quiet environment that's more peaceful for them and their thought processes, then I would say to some extent it's always going to be worth it."

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