The Education Link Worker will advise and support you from the beginning to ensure that correct procedure is followed and that all the necessary personnel are involved in achieving the best outcome for the school and the pupil. Julie is part of a partnership team that includes Youth Issues Officers (Police), Parent Support Worker, STARS (support for pupils whose parents misuse drugs/alcohol) and the LEA Drugs Policy and Programme Officer. Contact the Education Link Worker even if you are intending to ask the police to help you deal with the incident - there may be a lot more to the incident than you realise, link workers have specialist skills and can undertake a screening process with young people on your behalf to find out if there are any other circumstances or risks that you may have missed. The link workers will liaise with your pastoral team or in-school support systems to ensure child protection concerns are addressed and that any immediate and longer term support needs are met and that interventions/care plans are put in place.

Your School Drug Policy should outline what will happen in the event of a drug-related incident. If your school does not have a drugs policy which covers this call the School Drug Advisor on 9476202 as soon as possible.

If you do not have a policy see useful links on the right >>

Local Police Protocols

In Nottingham we have two main protocols in operation for drugs issues in school, both agreed with the Police force. The first sets out how the police will work with schools when there is an illegal drug incident and the second sets out the LEA/Police stance on the use of drug detection dogs or drug testing.

These are available in the downloads area on the right >>

In this modern world where young people seem to face more adult choices at a younger age, it can seem a daunting task to enable them to be protected from the risks of drug misuse. In the face of increasing media and peer influence and social 'normalisation' of drug and alcohol misuse, significant numbers of young people will experiment with legal and illegal drugs as part of their maturing process, however the luckier majority of these come through without suffering lasting harm.

It is worth noting that the majority of young people still do not use illegal drugs and, despite what the media may lead us to believe, illegal drug use has actually started falling amongst young people over the past 3 years.

There will, however, be a minority of young people who will use drugs in a way that puts them at social, physical and emotional risk. They may use dependently or for a complex variety of reasons. These young people may go on to develop problematic drug use unless support and intervention is provided. Some young people live in homes where drug use is the norm, they may be affected by parental drug and alcohol use or that of other family members. They may be carers for other family members because of drug use. They may live in environments where attitudes to drugs are permissive or where familiarity and misinformation create a false sense of security about the risks of drug misuse. Although some young people live in challenging circumstances it does not automatically follow that they are using drugs, or will go on to do so. However, it may be worth considering some of the factors which appear to be concurrent with early drug use.

• Living in a deprived area
• Non/low attendance at school
• Criminal involvement
• Parent, siblings, friends use or misuse drugs
• Evidence of lack of consideration for their child's welfare
• in care of the Local Authority
• lives in difficult circumstances
• has learning disabilities
• Young person is being sexually exploited

Some Protective Factors

There are many factors which can protect a young person from engaging in drug misuse, here are just a few of them.

• Good family relationships
• Good relationships with other significant adults such as teachers
• Having non-using peers
• Having one non-using parent (even if the other uses)
• Having positive role models
• Being involved in organised activities such as clubs, sport, church groups
• Attendance at school
• Inclusion within groups and good integration with peers
• Good decision making skills and high self-worth
• Regular routines and goals in life
• Having talents and abilities recognised and fostered
• Good "health-esteem"

The Education Link Worker at Compass is also available to help in the assessment of pupils considered at risk. There is often a more complex picture of need for pupils misusing drugs and screening will help ensure that the pupil gets the support and interventions they need. Safeguarding issues can be identified, care plans drawn up with the schools multi agency team and referrals to appropriate agencies secured.

Screening can be triggered by a range of circumstances:

• when a disclosure is made about their own or another's drug use
• when the common assessment framework or other assessment suggest drugs may be an issue or contributory factor
• when there is an incident
• when a pupil asks for support

We also offer training to support a designated staff member to undertake substance misuse screening. We recommend that you nominate someone who is already central to the pastoral care of the pupils and who already has a trusted relationship with them. The engagement of the pupil is vital to the success of screening.

If you want more information on setting up screening and support systems in your school please get in touch with the Education Link Worker 0115 9248232 or The School Drug Advisor 0115 9476202

• Support - drug policy
• Information on policy