Phone-free Schools
Livingstone Academy Bournemouth has always had a policy of students turning off their phones and keeping them in their bags while in school. Following DfE statutory guidance in being published in 2026, there is the expectation that the academy is doing more to proactively prohibit the use of mobile devices. In response to this, we have teamed up with Blackout to enable students to still bring their phone to school while ensuring they cannot use it during the school day.
Blackout Education helps schools create a calmer, more focused learning environment by reducing digital distractions during the day. Our aim is to support students’ wellbeing and help them develop healthy, responsible habits around technology.
Blackout combines technology, evidence and education to help schools create consistent expectations around phone use. It is designed with safeguarding and privacy in mind.
How does Blackout work?
- Removes access to distracting apps and nonessential notifications during the school day.
- Your child can still make and receive calls or messages if needed in emergency use.
- Turns on and off automatically in line with the school timetable.
- Phones work as normal outside school hours.
- Schools can only see whether Blackout is active on a device, but cannot see or access personal content on the phone.
Privacy and safety: what parents and carers need to know
- Blackout cannot see or access any personal content on your child’s phone.
- It only receives four details: name, school email, year group and phone type.
- The school’s wider records are not shared with Blackout.
- Only approved staff can access the small amount of information needed for the app to run.
Detailed information from Blackout
What is Blackout – Parents & Carers
Top 10 things you should know about Blackout