Wales-wide guidance on school phone use to be drawn up

Headteachers will be "strongly encouraged" to restrict pupils using phones during the school day, Wales' education minister has said. Anna Brychan promised to set "clear national expectations on how mobile phones are used in schools". Plaid Cymru has said it will not ban phones from schools, as some children need them for medical reasons, but UK ministers aim to change the law to make England's schools "mobile phone-free environments by default". Welsh government-commissioned research found most teachers wanted national guidelines on mobile phone use in schools. Brychan said she would start consulting on rules for schools and councils in September. She said: "I want to be clear: as cabinet minister I fully support, and strongly encourage, headteachers to introduce clear and robust restrictions on mobile phone use during the school day, up to and including a full restriction across the school site." Most schools already have mobile phone policies, a government-commissioned survey found. But it found 82% of respondents wanted statutory restrictions – a set of rules that all schools must follow. Julian Kennedy, head teacher at Olchfa Secondary School in Swansea and vice-president of t