Winchburgh school shuns phone bans to embrace devices as 'essential' learning aids

Mobile phones are being embraced as an "essential" learning tool at one of West Lothian’s newest high schools, despite being viewed by many as a modern classroom curse.

Pupils and staff from Sinclair Academy in Winchburgh defended their pragmatic approach to smart devices during a presentation to the Linlithgow Local Area Committee.

A growing number of children from the town’s primary schools now move up to attend Sinclair, which first opened in 2023.

The school—the third RC high school in West Lothian—opened alongside Winchburgh Academy as part of a £60 million investment in education. It shares sports facilities with the non-denominational school and also serves a new Catholic primary in the rapidly growing community.

Headteacher Anne-Marie Jess said that while the school has a cluster of three feeder primary schools, it would welcome pupils from 10 primaries in August as more placing requests have been made.

Sinclair Academy is named after Margaret Sinclair, a trade union and social activist.

The mobile phone approach is in contrast to that taken by Linlithgow Academy. West Lothian Council allows each school to determine its own policy on mobile use.

One of the pupils, Michael, told councillors: “It’s essential for learning. A lot of our teachers use it as a resource.

“At school, for folk who struggle with writing, they can use their phone to read stuff off.”

He was answering a question from Labour’s Tom Conn, who said: “So you see it as a tool that can help you?”

Another pupil, Patricia, said: “I think many people use them appropriately.”

In the presentation, Ms Jess said the school roll had risen from just 80 pupils when it first opened to 282 now. Another 100 pupils will be joining in August.

The new 2026/27 term will mean that the school is well on course to meet its expected total capacity of 660 before 2030.

Another first for the school next year will be its first presentation of pupils in the new fourth year for national qualifications.

In her presentation, Ms Jess said: “Our school is continually evolving. We are now in our third year. The school is now starting to feel wonderfully busy.

“Faith [is] firmly at the centre of everything we do. We strive each day to live out our core values of aspiration, mercy, integrity and service while honouring the life and work of our patron Margaret Sinclair through prayer, devotion and service to others.

“This year we have worked closely with the Margaret Sinclair Society, learning more about our patron during her centenary year. Our chaplaincy group is made up of young people of all faiths committed to putting their faith into action to serve others.”

Councillor Sally Pattle, chairing the meeting, said: “It seems like you have a great school spirit and it’s great to see young people so engaged not just in their school, but in their community around them.”