From September, Baleares International College Sa Porrassa will be a phone free school. Students will store their mobile phones in our new magnetic Yondr pouches until the end of the school day.
We are all only too aware of the many challenges that smartphones have brought to our children and young people's mental health, exposing our youngsters to harmful and dangerous content, as well as compromising both sleep and healthy relationships. For all these reasons, Baleares International College SAP has decided to be a "No phone access" school.
From September, we will be using a system called Yondr that has already been implemented in thousands of schools across 27 countries. Yondr consists of magnetic pouches that store mobile phones; every morning, any students in primary and secondary (up to and including Year 11) who bring a phone to school will secure it in a personally assigned Yondr pouch, and they will remain in it until the end of the school day. Students are required to bring their Yondr pouch to and from school each day and are responsible for their pouch at all times.
Sixth Form students will be allowed to use their phones but only in accordance with the rules of use established by the school, and which will be fully explained to them.
The evidence of the growing number of schools across the globe who are successfully using such pouches is very powerful, creating happier, more engaged students in school, free from the distraction of the buzz or the ping, and engaging, working and playing better together.
(Of course, our school policy can not prevent your child accessing harmful content at home if they have a smart phone; there are a growing number of organisations pushing for smart phones to be illegal for under 16s. As such, you may be interested in the web site https://smartphonefreechildhood.co.uk/
