The Off Switch is a simple card and app that helps you keep phones from disrupting learning, behaviour, and wellbeing while still giving staff and older pupils a realistic way to manage their own screen habits in line with your policies.
On this page, you’ll see how it works across different settings, example routines you can roll out, and what school leaders usually notice after a pilot.
The Off Switch
× Schools & Educational Institutions
What you’re trying to do
If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
1. Keep phones from derailing lessons, concentration and behaviour.
2. Align with government guidance on mobile phones in schools and wider safeguarding and behaviour expectations.
3. Support staff wellbeing and “right to disconnect” style boundaries in a culture of out-of-hours email and messaging.
4. Give sixth form, FE and HE students an adult tool to manage distraction, rather than relying on confiscation or endless reminders.
5. Offer screen-balanced environments in after-school clubs and holiday camps, where the emphasis is on movement, social connection and play.
Where it starts to go wrong
The issue isn’t that schools “don’t care.” It’s that the environment is built for constant connection, and behaviour policies have to live inside that reality.
1. Phones in bags or pockets continue to light up, buzz, and distract students, causing teachers to waste valuable minutes managing phones instead of teaching.
2. Even where phones are banned, inconsistency among staff, locations, or year groups makes policies difficult to enforce. Staff devices are still present and can be just as distracting, affecting both adults and pupils' perception of fairness.
3. Emails and messages reach staff on personal phones late into the evening, blurring the line between work and home and fuelling burnout conversations in the sector.
4. A total ban on phone usage may be unrealistic, but vague “do your best” rules are insufficient to safeguard serious study time. Students who already struggle with attention, anxiety, or procrastination often find that unrestricted access to apps disrupts their revision, coursework, and sleep.
5. Clubs and camps aim to be active and social, but phones often intrude. Boredom turns into scrolling, and parents expect both safety and reasonable screen limits. Staff need an easy way to enforce shared norms.
How The Off Switch helps
Why it makes sense
The Off Switch complements the 2024 DfE guidance that expects schools in England to prohibit pupil mobile phone use during the school day, including breaks, by helping you manage any remaining phone use (staff, older pupils, wraparound). Evidence linking phone distraction to lower academic performance and attention problems is strong, and reducing exposure and interruptions supports the core business of teaching and learning. After-school and holiday settings are encouraged by child mental-health bodies to balance screens with movement, creativity, and social play. The Off Switch gives you a simple way to create phone-light zones and times. For staff, tools that support switching off from work communications out of hours are increasingly seen as part of a healthy workload and wellbeing approach.
How it fits into your day
During the school day, pupils in schools that fully prohibit phones will mainly use Off Switch after hours. In colleges, sixth forms, or more flexible environments, you can require phones to be Off Switch-ed during timetabled teaching, study periods, and exams while allowing controlled use in social time. For staff, set up modes like In class, On duty, and At home. Tapping their phone on the card at the door or on the desk mutes chosen apps (including work email and communication tools) for that period, in line with your mobile and communication policies. In wraparound and holiday provision, club or camp leaders have a visible “Off Switch station” at sign-in. Young people who bring phones can be asked to tap into a Club or Camp mode (or store devices away completely, depending on age and policy) so the environment stays focused on activities, not feeds. Multi-academy trusts can create shared routines while allowing reasonable flexibility by phase (EYFS versus secondary versus FE). Independent schools and boarding settings can use Off Switch to support agreed “phone windows” in houses and common rooms instead of an unpoliced 24/7 presence.
How it feels over time
Teachers spend less energy firefighting phones and more time actually teaching. Pupils (especially older ones) have a realistic tool to manage distraction and live the digital habits you’re teaching. Clubs and camps feel more like movement and play spaces, not just new venues for scrolling. Staff feel more able to switch off from work communications in the evenings and holidays, which supports workload and wellbeing conversations.
Routines that work well for education settings
“In learning time” mode
Who: Secondary, FE, HE, alternative provision, tuition centres.
When: Lessons, seminars, supervised study, exams.
Apps off: Social media, games, messaging, streaming, non-essential web browsing.
What stays on: Learning platforms (VLE), notes, calculator, exam tools where allowed; for staff, registers and safeguarding systems.
How it helps: Keeps learning spaces aligned with research and guidance on phone distraction and DfE expectations on mobile use, without making staff constantly police every pocket.
Staff “on duty” mode
Who: All phases, all school structures.
When: Teaching time, playground/bus duty, assemblies, parents’ evenings.
Apps off: Personal social media, non-urgent messaging, personal email; optionally work email and chat during contact time, in line with policy.
What stays on: Safeguarding / MIS apps if used live, emergency contacts, and school switchboards.
How it helps: Models the attention you’re asking from pupils, protects staff from constant low-level distraction, and supports safe, attentive supervision.
Study & revision mode
Who: Sixth forms, FE colleges, HE, exam-prep centres, holiday revision courses.
When: Library time, silent study, exam-prep sessions.
Apps off: Socials, games, non-essential messaging, streaming, shopping.
What stays on: Research tools, notes, citation managers, learning platforms, timers; music if allowed.
How it helps: Students working towards GCSEs, A-levels, vocational qualifications or degrees get an adult way to ring-fence concentration, rather than relying on confiscation or pure willpower.
Wraparound & holiday blocks
Who: After-school clubs, breakfast clubs, holiday clubs, residential camps.
When: Club hours, activity blocks, mealtimes at camp.
Apps off: Everything, or everything except calls for older young people, based on your safeguarding risk assessment.
What stays on: For older groups, emergency contacts; for staff, incident-reporting or first-aid apps.
How it helps: Supports balanced programmes with more movement, outdoor time and play, and fewer heads-down scroll moments, which is exactly what child wellbeing charities recommend for school holidays.
Staff “off-duty” mode
Who: All schools, trusts, colleges, nurseries, and camps.
When: Evenings, weekends, school holidays.
Apps off: Work email, messaging and platforms.
What stays on: Personal communications, emergency contact routes where agreed.
How it helps: Aligns with “right to disconnect” style thinking now discussed in UK education circles, giving teachers and school leaders a concrete way to protect their own time.
Common questions
We’re already following DfE guidance on phone bans. Why would we need this?
The current guidance expects schools in England to prohibit mobiles during the school day, including breaks.
The Off Switch doesn’t replace that. It helps you:
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Manage remaining phone use (staff devices, sixth form/college, trips, wraparound, holiday programmes).
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Support staff wellbeing and after-hours boundaries.
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Give older pupils an adult way to manage phones outside strict no-phone times (e.g. at home when revising).
Will this conflict with safeguarding or emergency procedures?
No. You decide which apps and channels stay available in each mode. For example, staff can keep access to safeguarding systems and landline contact while muting non-urgent apps. In pupil-facing modes you can require full device storage, or allow limited emergency contact only, based on your risk assessment.
Does this mean loosening our phone bans?
It doesn’t have to. In many primary and early-years settings, pupil phones are not allowed at all, and Off Switch is purely for staff and wraparound/holiday contexts. In secondary and post-16, it can help reinforce existing rules. For example: Phones Off Switch-ed and away during all timetabled learning.
How does this work for special schools and alternative provision?
Because The Off Switch is flexible, you can:
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Keep strict no-phone spaces where that’s safest.
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Use Off Switch to support individual pupils who do carry devices (for medical or safety reasons) to manage when they’re active.
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Give staff better control of their own phones in highly complex, high-demand environments.
What about holiday camps and residentials?
Camps and residentials often want a different relationship with phones: less scrolling, more doing. The Off Switch allows:
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Clear “phone windows” for check-ins with home, wrapped in big “phone-light” activity blocks.
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Simple, physical routines that staff can enforce consistently.
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An evidence-aligned way to balance tech with outdoor play, movement and rest, which is exactly what child-mental-health organisations recommend.