THE headteacher at a leading Oxford independent school has claimed mobile phones offer “limitless” possibilities for education in the classroom.

Meanwhile, a student at another Oxfordshire school is trying to overturn a ban on their use during break times.

Headington School’s Caroline Jordan has praised the “controlled” use of smartphones in the classroom, claiming it is the modern day equivalent to “having access to a calculator in a maths lesson”.

The Oxford independent girls school is one of the top 100 schools in the country according to GCSE result tables, with 83.6 per cent of students gaining A* to A grades this summer .

Mrs Jordan said: “Increasingly, teachers are keen to make use of the resources available on the Internet and the impressive interactive educational software specifically created for particular subjects.

“In addition, many teachers develop their own resources using the ever-more powerful and user-friendly technology available.”

But at Didcot Girls’ School, a high-achieving academy, the use of phones during morning and lunch breaks will be banned from the start of term tomorrow.

Headteacher Rachael Warwick has said, although the new technology has been used in the classroom, the school has chosen to prevent children from using phones for leisure or contacting parents and guardians.

Mrs Warwick said: “We are really committed to using technology in an interesting and powerful way.

“In the classroom phones are used for searching something on the Internet or even taking photographs of homework.

“But it needs to be under the teacher’s direction.

“Research shows schoolchildren spend more than three hours online every day and quite a lot of feedback we’ve had from parents was really positive about not having phones during breaks .”

But Year 11 pupil Sophie Sheppard launched a petition in August against the ban, calling it a “violation of privacy” and has so far got 470 signatures.

The East Hagbourne resident, 15, said: “ Most of us who have phones use it to contact our friends or our parents during the school day. We need it to keep in contact with our family.”

But Mrs Warwick said: “We already run a system where parents can leave messages for children, and we will keep providing that service.”