// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Phones to be banned from pupils' bags or pockets under stricter rules for schools in England
Pupils will not be allowed to have their phones on them at all during the school day under stricter government guidance in England.
Statutory guidance came into force in June, making schools and trusts legally responsible for being phone-free throughout the day.
Ministers now say changes to that guidance will go beyond the current "no see, no hear" policies in place in some schools - where phones can remain in pupils' bags if they are not seen or heard - when it comes into force from September 2027.
But head teachers' unions said schools would struggle to implement stricter new policies without additional funding from government.
Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government's "clear message" to parents and pupils was that "school is for learning and friendship, not scrolling".
Access to phones "risks pulling children away from their learning and from each other", the government said.
Schools will be able to decide how to follow the guidance. Some schools have invested in sealed pouches or secure lockers. Others collect phones at the start of the day, or have prohibited them from sites altogether.
Some schools provide pupils with lockable pouches for their phones
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders union, said phones could raise "safety issues" and be an "unhelpful distraction" during the school day. But he said the more robust measures recommended under the new guidance would "come at a cost".
Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the latest guidance "does at least provide some clarity", but added that school leaders "cannot simply make mobile phones disappear".