A headteacher has insisted that a 12-hour school day will give pupils 'buckets full of endorphins' - as the 7am to 7pm scheme comes into effect today.
Children at All Saints Catholic College in the affluent neighbourhood of Notting Hill, west London, will partake in a whole host of activities instead of spending the time at home on their devices when classes finish at 3.15pm.
This includes homework time and activity clubs from dodgeball, basketball, art, drama and cookery classes in a bid to break the cycle of smartphone 'addiction'.
Andrew O'Neill insisted the change will allow for 'meaningful relationships with their (pupils') peers and with their teachers'.
The controversial decision to introduce a 12-hour school day comes after the headteacher, 42, found 'shocking' things on confiscated mobile phones, including pupils blackmailing strangers and catfishing one another.
Headteacher Andrew O'Neill says the change will allow for 'meaningful relationships with their peers and with their teachers'
Mr O'Neill said that his pupils at All Saints (pictured) were growing worse at making eye contact and holding conversations
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he said: 'It's pretty clear across the sector this is a real issue in terms of the vacuum that phones fill for children when they go home.
'There's a crisis in attendance and if we look at the last 10 years or so there's a depletion in services that are available to children after school.'
He said the school will ensure homework is done within that time, while also making sure that children take part in activities so they go home 'with a bucket full of endorphins'.
All Saints, which is rated 'outstanding', banned its 900 pupils, aged between 11 and 16, from carrying phones in 2016 but allows the devices to be kept in bags or lockers.
Mr O'Neill, who was crowned'Head Teacher of the Year' in the 2022 Pearson National Teaching Awards, said that a number of pupils were falling victim to online crime, including cyberbullying, sexting and blackmail.
He added that he was also worried about children's increasing inability to make friends in real life, often choosing to play online games into the early hours of the morning with those in other countries.
Andrew O'Neill (pictured), head teacher at All Saints Catholic College in Notting Hill, west London, has introduced a 12-hour school day in a bid to reverse a '100 per cent phone addiction' among his pupils
Good Morning Britain's debate this morning over whether a longer school day will break the habit of children spending most of their free time on their phones. Pictured: Andrew O'Neill (left) and Matt Green the Rapping GCSE Science teacher (right)
He told The Times that his pupils were growing worse at making eye contact and holding conversations.
The father-of-three said his children were only allowed 'brick' phones and smartphones, without any social media apps installed, for tracking their location.
Mr O'Neill added that he hoped pupils could experience a childhood like he had growing up in Barton, near Darlington, Durham, where children played outside rather than heading to their bedrooms to spend time on their phones.
The head teacher also said that parents had a responsibility to keep their children safe online and called for those who failed to do so to be reported to social services or prosecuted.
The move comes after John Wallis School in Ashford, Kent, introduced special pouches to lock devices away all day.
The pouches keep phones sealed until pupils unlock them using a magnetic lock as they leave at the end of the day.
The school reported a 40 per cent decrease in after-school detentions and a 25 per cent drop in truancy since the scheme started in January.
