Ofsted should fail schools on safeguarding if pupils are caught using smartphones in lessons, the shadow education secretary has said. Laura Trott to Sir Martyn Oliver, the chief inspector, calling for the watchdog to treat smartphone use as a safeguarding concern. While 90 per cent of secondary schools and nearly all primaries have policies on the use of mobiles, only 11 per cent of settings fully ban them from their premises, surveys suggest. Ofsted鈥檚 new toolkit for inspections, set to be implemented from November, says inspectors should look at 鈥渆xpectations related to mobile phones鈥 when considering a school鈥檚 behaviour and attendance policies. Smartphones and safeguarding In her letter, Trott told Oliver she 鈥渨elcomes the fact that mobile phone use is now acknowledged鈥his correctly recognises the impact phones are having on behaviour in classrooms and the distractions they pose to learning and attainment. 鈥淭hat is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. Smartphones are not just a behaviour management issue; they present clear safeguarding risks, and Ofsted鈥檚 framework should reflect that more explicitly.鈥 Laura Trott Trott told Schools Week Ofsted judging smartphone policies would change behaviour in schools. 鈥淎 fundamental responsibility with Ofsted is around safeguarding, and I believe the evidence shows this is a safeguarding issue,鈥 Trott said. 鈥淚f there was a school where routinely we knew that kids could access pornography, we would obviously think that a safeguarding issue. We should see smartphones in the same light.鈥 Trott said schools should be given warnings if they had poorly implemented smartphone policies 鈥 such as the commonly used “not seen, not heard, not used鈥 rule 鈥 and expect an Ofsted return visit. Under Ofsted鈥檚 new inspections, safeguarding will have its own judgment area with a 鈥榤et鈥 or 鈥榥ot met鈥 decision. An ‘overreach’ from Ofsted Michael Baxter, the head of City Academy London, introduced brick phones for year 7s last month, with plans to phase out smartphones completely. But he said Ofsted judging school smartphone policies was 鈥減robably an overreach鈥. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a rural school or schools in certain contexts it鈥檚 quite hard to move away from allowing smartphones, whereas if you鈥檙e in a city, it鈥檚 easier. Michael Baxter 鈥淐ontext is important, and if Ofsted went down to a 鈥榦ne size fits all鈥 approach, schools would be playing into a deficit from the moment they start.鈥 Other heads support Trott鈥檚 stance. Andrew Downing, the principal of Netherwood Academy in Barnsley, said Trott鈥檚 proposal 鈥渨ould go a significant way to addressing the rising and very real safeguarding concerns of educators and parents鈥. However it would depend on clear, enforceable guidelines and support for schools as it was implemented. Scott Parker, the head of Tarleton Academy in Preston, also welcomed the proposal, but said the issue was not about the presence or absence of a device 鈥渂ut about ensuring that our young people can articulate with clarity the risks posed by smartphones鈥. The government has consistently fended off calls for a national ban in schools, with Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, describing it as a 鈥渘anny state鈥 policy. Ofsted declined to comment and said it would respond to Trott in due course.