Councillor Kizzy Gardiner would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the conversations about Smartphone Free Schools. Since we started the conversation the landscape nationally has shifted with much stronger, clearer guidance being provided by government and Ofsted around school being expected to be phone free as default as well as a consultation being launched on the banning of social media for under 16s which is encouraging. 

Please download the letter which we have developed to share with parents about schools choosing to be smartphone free. Please let us know if you want to be a co-signatory of the letter by start of February half-term. The plan once we know which schools have signed up:

• The launch of policy is for the new academic year - September 2026
• We plan to share the letter publicly in March (will confirm a date once it's nailed down)
• We will be centrally producing comms for use in schools (emails and posters)
• We will do videos, social media posts and include the policy in council emails.
• We will have an information page on LBWF website with detail of the policy and FAQs. This will also point people to school website for specific school phone policies
• We'll be sharing information for parents and families about the impact of smartphone use on children and sharing details of parenting courses. 

We're talking to Barnett and Enfield this week about any learnings they have and so will incorporate that before the launch. 

The letter will be signed by each school who is participating as well as the council and Councillor Kizzy Gardiner as Lead member for Children. 

Please fill in this survey to say if you wish your school to sign the letter regarding Smartphone Free Schools by February half-term. 

Smartphone Free Schools – Fill out form

Please fill in the survey even if you do not wish your school to participate so we can make sure we've got a response either way for everyone.