The phone-free, 12-hour school-day experiment

A school in west London is trying to give children their childhood back - by extending its hours from 7am to 7pm. Will it work? Helen Pidd reports

From the isolating effect of the Covid pandemic, to austerity and the cost of living crisis, schools are on the front line of the problems facing the communities that surround them. And on top of those challenges in recent years worries have been going of the effect that mobile phones and social media are having on the mental health of pupils. Now, one school has decided to take drastic action.

For the last seven weeks, All Saints Catholic college in Ladbroke Grove has been opening its doors to children from 7am to 7pm. It's part of a pilot scheme running for 10 weeks with the aim of addressing some of the problems teachers have seen grow over the past few years. The school is in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, many children are eligible for free school meals - and it is thriving. Now it wants to help parents ensure their children do their homework, play games and socialise face to face.