When we saw how damaging social media was for our pupils, we banned smartphones in school. This is what happened

This article was originally published in April 2025. It has been republished in light of Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to crackdown on children’s use of smartphones.

For Matthew Tavender, head of schools at Cunningham Hill primary schools, the problem wasn’t children using their phones during school hours, it was the pervasive influence of social media when his pupils left the classroom.