Oxford private school in new ‘mobile phone ban’ announcement

St Edward’s School (‘Teddies’) in Woodstock Road has extended its mobile phone restrictions to its Year 11 students as well as Year 9 and Year 10.

As such the 16-year-olds will no longer be allowed their phones at any time during the week, with daytime access to them at weekends.

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This followed a recent survey of pupils which said that four in five feel happy ‘all or most of the time’ compared to three in five before the first phone restrictions were introduced in 2022.

Alastair Chirnside, warden (headteacher), said: “This year’s pupil survey has put into numbers what we have been seeing and feeling for a long time: that Teddies pupils are leading more enriched and less distracted lives without their phones throughout the week.

Alastair Chirnside, headmaster of St Edward’s School (Image: St Edward’s School)

“While we know that extending restrictions even further won’t be universally popular with teenagers, last month’s pupil survey has quite clearly demonstrated that, when asked in private, many children are in fact thankful to be given clear rules on phone usage.

“From comments in the survey, it is clear that many children even feel a sense of relief that the burden of moderating their phone use has been lifted from them.”

Pupils at St Edward’s School (Teddies) in Woodstock Road, Oxford (Image: St Edward’s School)

Restrictions have also been extended in the sixth form with the upper sixth now following the lower sixth in only having access to phones after lessons, before handing them in at 10pm each evening.

The school has 817 pupils with 644 responding to the anonymous survey carried out last month.

Almost half said they were spending more time talking to friends, with 32 per cent noting they were working harder and 19 per cent saying they were spending more time reading.

Pupils at St Edward’s School (Teddies) in Woodstock Road, Oxford (Image: St Edward’s School)

One pupil said: “I believe the no-phone policy has been really beneficial at this school for helping friendships and hobbies grow.”

Another added: “I completely agree with it, and I think it’s an incredible way to relieve tensions and build friendships quicker in the earlier years of school.”

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In addition, Teddies has revealed that – in contrast to wider societal trends – it re-introduced landline phones last September, after 15 years without them.

This was part of an overhaul about its mobile phone rules to enable pupils’ contact with their homes, family and friends.

Pupils also have access to Nokia ‘brick’ phones in their boarding houses, and to WhatsApp, Teams and Zoom at certain times through the school’s monitored network, using laptop computers which are managed by the school’s IT department.