Phones banned in Edinburgh schools – but still no pouches to keep them in

Council funding of £400,000 was agreed in February to support restrictions on mobile phones and other devices in Edinburgh.

Lockable pouches were trialled at Portobello and Queensferry high schools over the last school year, and a council report said it had been “broadly successful”.

Parent Andy Williamson, who led the campaign for a phone ban in Edinburgh schools, said he was “disappointed” but not surprised that the pouches would not be ready for the start of term.

“I think it’s a really fundamental failure of the procurement system,” he told BBC Radio Scotland’s Lunchtime Live programme.

“Two schools in Edinburgh already use the same company, they knew the budget in advance.”

However he acknowledged that the ban was only agreed in June and it would be “probably worth waiting for”.

“I do think that people will adjust quite quickly once it becomes the norm,” he said.

“And I hope that it does have knock-on effects outside of school as well, that kids realise they don’t have to be on their phones all the time.”

Earlier this year, Education Secretary Màiri McAllan announced that all school learning environments would become phone-free.

She urged schools across Scotland to act before the government introduced new legislation.

The Scottish government introduced guidance allowing head teachers to bring in their own phone bans in schools in 2024.

It came after a 2022 study, external which showed that about a third of pupils in Scottish classrooms admitted they had been distracted by the devices.