25 Sep 2025
A group of parents from multiple primaries across St Albans have written a letter to Beaumont’s head urging him to ban pupils from bringing smartphones onto school premises.
It follows an announcement at the end of the summer term by Sandringham School head Alan Gray, which said new Year 7 students starting in September 2026 will not be allowed to bring in smartphones.
The policy will extend to all future Year 7 cohorts in 2027 and 2028, so that by September 2028, no student in Key Stage 3 (Years 7–9) will be permitted to bring a smartphone to school. The policy for Key Stage 4 students will be reviewed once this phased approach is fully in place, suggesting the ban may extend to other year groups.
Now parents from schools including Wheatfields, Fleetville, Cunningham Hill, St Michael’s and Oakwood are calling on Beaumont head Martin Atkinson to follow suit.
They said that as parents of future students, they were concerned that Beaumont has not yet indicated plans to adopt a similar approach to Sandringham, despite proposals of a review to their smartphone policy back in June 2024.
“We strongly believe that aligning with this policy – or going further – would demonstrate Beaumont’s leadership and commitment to putting students’ wellbeing first. A consistent stance across St Albans secondary schools would also provide families with clarity and reassurance, helping us to make confident choices in guiding our children’s use of technology.
“We urge you to reconsider Beaumont’s current position and adopt a clear policy to phase out smartphones for Key Stage 3 at the earliest opportunity. Other schools that have taken this step report fewer phone-related incidents and better classroom behaviour. While each school community is different, a phased ban – starting with new Year 7 cohorts- could help establish a positive culture across the school and give students more opportunities to build relationships free from the influence of technology.
“Importantly, by not allowing children to bring smartphones into school, Beaumont would also help to reduce the expectation that students need to own or use them outside of school. This would directly support parents in setting healthy boundaries at home and contribute to better mental health, stronger family relationships, and healthier development for our children beyond the school gates.”
The campaign is aiming for as many signatures as possible before the letter is sent to the school in time for their open day on October 8.
Parents can add their names to the list of signatures here: https://forms.gle/edcjTYSqGHqb9bBEA.
St Albans has been at the forefront of the campaign for tougher restrictions on access to apps and smartphones for young people, since the St Albans Primary Schools Consortium of local primary headteachers issued a joint letter calling on parents not to let their children have a smartphone before they are 14.
Earlier this year hundreds of Harpenden parents also signed a petition calling for a blanket ban on smartphones for Year 7s in the town’s secondary schools after pupils attending the town’s primaries were told they will not be allowed to bring a smartphone into school from September.
The Smartphone Free Childhood movement has taken root across the district, with WhatsApp groups set up to promote the campaign.
Beaumont’s current policy on mobile phones states: “Students are allowed to keep personal possession of their mobile phones only on the strict condition that they are never used, seen or heard in school. This rule applies from the point that students enter the school site to the point where they leave the school site. If a student is seen or found in contravention of this rule, the device(s) will be confiscated…
“This rule applies to all parts of the school day, including lesson and curriculum time. Teachers must not ask students in Years 7-11 to use a mobile phone in a lesson. If it is determined that access to a device would be beneficial to support learning, teachers must plan for this and arrange for a school-issued device to be used e.g. arranging to use a Chromebook trolley or booking a PC room. There are no exceptions to this rule during the school day while students are on site…”
Pupils are warned that their phones may be searched if a teacher believes it could contain potentially harmful files or data, including sexting, upskirting, threats of violence or assault, and the police may be contacted if necessary.
The policy also extends to day trips, off-site PE fixtures, tournaments and events, and KS3 residential trips.
In response to a request for comment, Beaumont head Martin Atkinson responded this evening and said: “We very much share parental concerns about children’s exposure to the online world at a young age and we see it as a very positive step for parents not to give their children a smartphone until the age of 14.
“As a school we have supported these moves by changing our policy in recent years to do away with phone use in lessons and to be stricter about confiscations. Beaumont’s position is very clear that no child will require a phone in school and if staff members see or hear the phone it is their responsibility to take it away.
“Our policy supports parents who choose not to provide their children with a smartphone at all, safe in the knowledge that this will not disadvantage their child in school.
“We respect what other local schools choose to do and we have considered the option of an outright ban on student possession of smartphones at Beaumont, but we decided against it.
“A key reason for this is that we do not want to impose on parental decisions beyond our remit as a school. We know that phones are a very useful tool for communication and safety, and we felt that banning smartphones would put pressure on parents to purchase alternative devices for their children to meet these needs. This would incur an additional expense for households, when we know many choose to save money by repurposing an old smartphone within the family. We also know that parents can manage this responsibly, even with a smartphone, by removing certain functionality from the phone, investigating the different contracts available, limiting access to the device etc.
“There is more than one way to be a careful parent and, while we encourage everyone to think hard about these choices, we do not see it as our role to tell anyone how to bring up their children.
“We welcome and respond constructively to direct communication from parents/carers of our students and we always reflect carefully on what they tell us, but that does not mean we can be pressured into changing our policy via petitions or a campaign in the local media. It is our job to try to act in the best interests of the whole school community, not to do what one group demands.
“We are always open to the possibility of making improvements to our practice and we review all our policies on a regular basis in the light of emerging evidence and the Department for Education’s guidance. Any feedback received on this and any other issue will be taken into consideration as part of this process. We constantly strive to protect our students from harmful online material and other dangers arising from technology as a key part of our mission to promote their healthy development into thriving adults, and we are very grateful to the Beaumont community of parents and carers for the overwhelming support we get from them in this endeavour.”
