Headteachers and educators are becoming increasingly alarmed by the evidence being presented to us about the negative impact of smartphone use.

There is now an overwhelming bank of evidence that links the huge increase in young people's mental health issues to smartphone usage. Evidence shows that the younger a child has access to a smartphone the more likely they are to suffer with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self harm or worse.

Children as young as 6 have access to the world and more concerningly, the world has access to them. I was at a Headteacher meeting yesterday and heard that 90% of 11-13 year olds have received unwanted explicit content on their phones - usually through Whatsapp.

Our intention is to support parents to make an educated and informed decision as to whether you want your child to own their own smartphone and when that happens. At the moment, it is very difficult for parents to make that decision as it has become the norm, everyone else has one and brings their phone to school. We hope that by giving you plenty of notice that Wellstead will not be taking in smartphones from September 2026 you can be more in control of that decision. We will still be happy for your child to bring a non-smart phone to school.

The cluster has arranged an information evening for parents in September 2025, where experts will present the evidence in order that you can fully understand why schools across the country are so concerned.