Ex-head backs MP in pupil phone ban

AS general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Pepe Di'lasio puts across the views of thousands of senior education officials to Government Ministers and in the media.

- ROB PARSONS

But until two months ago he was at the educational coal face himself as headteacher at Wales High School in Rotherham, grappling with the day-to-day challenges of helping South Yorkshire's teenagers to thrive.

So in a week where local MP Miriam Cates put pressure on policy-makers to clamp down on the potentially damaging use of smart phones and social media by under-16s, Mr Di'lasio knows from personal experience what the impact can be.