The state government announced the reform in June, which requires students from prep to year 12 to switch off their phones and store them in lockers until the final bell.

Minister for Education James Merlino said when announcing the policy that it was created to "remove a major distraction" from classrooms and also to combat cyberbullying.

Murtoa College principal Tony Goodwin said the ban was a good initiative, but its implementation would test schools.

"Like the department has suggested, (mobile phones) distract students from learning." he said. "The ban will also allow for students to better develop their relationships without this distraction."

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Mr Goodwin said Murtoa College's policy would include banning all electronic devices - including smart watches - to try to overcome a grey area.

Warracknabeal Primary School principal Ben Tait said the ban was a "fairly straight-forward policy" that matched much of the recent and ongoing research into the effects of mobile phones on learning.

He said while not many primary school students had mobile phones, the school would still have facilities in place to implement the ban.

"We'll have (the students) handing them into the front office to be stored in a locker," he said. "It's not a massive management issue because the numbers of phones (at the school) is small. It is just formalising what was already in place."

Nhill College assistant principal Kim Magrath said the school had a policy in place for years banning mobile phones.

"Basically the students lock their phones in their lockers," she said. "If they are found with their phone, it is confiscated until the end of the day until a parent can sign it out."

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Stawell Secondary College principal Carlos Lopez said over the years, the schools had done an "outstanding" job managing the issue of mobile phones.

"We will be complying with (the ban)," he said. "It is a positive step forward."

Horsham's St Brigid's College assistant principal of teaching and learning Bettina Bird said while the ban only applied to state schools, the college would follow suit by also restricting phones at the school.

"We believe it is a distraction in the classroom and we're using the opportunity to remove that distraction," she said. "We are looking at a situation where students are required to leave it in the locker for the day."

Mrs Bird said the mobile phone ban might create some anxiety for students and the school's wellbeing team was working through how they would deal with the issue.

"Some of that anxiety comes from the family environment, not knowing if mum is going to pick them up after school or when they are going to be picked up," she said. "Some of it comes from that fear of missing out."

She said the school would put a procedure in place where students would face a consequence if found to be using their mobile phones.

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