Smartphone Safety
Smartphone Safety
Alcester Academy deters year 7 from needing a smartphone to start secondary school. This is made very clear at the KS2 to KS3 transition from primary school. During 2025, the Academy has worked very closely with an organisation called Smartphone Free Childhood in order to educate new parents on the dangers of youngsters using devices. Ambassadors from the organisation invited new parents to an information evening held at Alcester Academy in the summer of 2025, before students started the school.
In Autumn 2025, Smartphone Free Childhood collaborated with Generation Focus to write an Open Letter to Bridgett Phillipson about this issue. Alcester Academy chose to support this communication. More details can be found by reading this article: School heads call for blanket ban on smartphones
Alcester Academy will continue to deter both year 7 and 8 students from needing a smart phone into the academic year 2026-27.
The Three Rivers Alliance have produced videos for existing parents to illustrate how to keep your child’s phone as safe as possible. These videos are available for Apple products and android devices and can be found via the MCAS platform. We thank King Edward VI Shakespeare’s School for leading on this work.
As a reminder, there are recommended legal ages for your child to registered for specific apps on devices as follows:
A New Guide - What I wish my parents or carers knew
The Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, published a guide in early January 2026 that may be of interest to you all. I highly recommend reading it. Mrs Mellors
What I wish my parents or carers knew by Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza.
