Aim for Cheshire to become first county to make all classrooms phone-free
It's amid Esther Ghey's campaign for phone-free education
Cheshire could be the first county in the country to make all its classrooms phone-free!
A campaign being led by the mum of murdered Warrington teenager Brianna Ghey is looking at rolling out a scheme where pupils place their phone in a pouch at the school gate.
This initiative, led by Cheshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, is aimed at making the county the first where all its high schools have phone blocking technology.
Brianna Ghey's old school, Birchwood High, is one of nine schools in Cheshire that have been using lockable phone pouches for more than a year.
It's led to an 80% reduction in safeguarding issues and record GCSE results.
Charlotte Nichols, Warrington North MP, said:
"I'm very excited about what this means for young people, but also teachers in our schools across Cheshire.
"We have had a fantastically successfully pilot at Birchwood High School and the positive effects that we're seeing not just for the students, but also for the teachers who say they can just get on and teach without having to worry about being recorded by students or students not paying attention because they're distracted on their phones.
"I want this for all children in the country"
"The amount of safeguarding issues has fallen by 80% in a single year and we're seeing educational attainment going up for the pupils.
"I want this for all children in the country, but I want it for all children in Cheshire so that we can be a model to take to the government and show them that this is something that can be done."
Esther Ghey is campaigning for phone-free education, and is calling on the government to introduce a statutory ban on phones in schools.
Several schools across the North West have adopted phone pouches, including at Tarleton Academy in Lancashire.