NI school to provide secure pouches for pupils' phones

As soon as pupils enter the school they will have to put their phone in their pouch.

"It locks and you need a magnet to unlock it," Ms Quinn said.

"Teachers will have access to a magnet so if we want to use a phone for teaching and learning it can be opened up.

"At the end of the day we will have magnets around the school and the pupils will unlock their pouch as they're leaving."

The school told pupils about the pouch plans during an assembly.

Ms Quinn said the pupils had "the reaction that you would expect".

"They have questions, they are nervous, they are excited," she said.

"We've asked them to have an open mind and to engage with us so we can make it right for the college.

"Already we've had pupils stop at my office or stop staff and give suggestions.

"There will be pupils who this will cause some uncertainty to and we just want to work with them and bring everyone with us."

Education Minister Paul Givan had previously advised schools in Northern Ireland to restrict pupils from using mobile phones during the school day.

But his plans to buy pouches for schools to prevent mobile phones being used had faced criticism.

Ms Quinn, though, said Victoria College had decided to provide pupils with phone pouches long before the minister's move.

"We've been working on this for just under a year," she said.

The school has funded the pouches for pupils from their own budget.

"The cost of a pouch is slightly less than the cost of the majority of GCSE or A-Level textbooks," Ms Quinn said.

"We've made a choice within our current budget to prioritise this, but school budgets are tight."