A letter I signed, along with six other 2017 colleagues, featured on the front page of this morning's Daily Telegraph. The text is below:

'We welcome the Telegraph's Duty of Care campaign which has highlighted the effect of new technology and social media on young people's lives. One big impact of new technology has been the distracting effect of smartphones on children at school. 

In 2015 a study by academics at the London School of Economics found clear evidence that banning mobile phones from schools has a beneficial effect on pupils' ability to learn.

Where schools banned smartphones from the premises, or required them to be handed in at the start of the day, pupils' chance of getting five good GCSEs increased by an average of 2%. 

The improvement was even more marked for lower achieving pupils. Results among pupils in the bottom quarter of achievement improved twice as much as the average. 

At present many school leaders are uncertain how to respond to growing pressure to allow mobile phones in class. 

We believe it is time for the Department for Education to give clear guidance to schools about the evidence on attainment and for schools to get mobile phones out of the classroom'

The letter coincides with warnings from Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock, about the impact of mobile phones on students' achievements. I signed it after receiving feedback from schools in my constituency about the positive effect mobile phone restrictions can have on pupils' attention spans, results and sense of well-being within the school environment.