Healthy Schools

Nottingham


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Nottingham City PCT
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The Guidance
guidance

The DfES booklet "Drugs - Guidance for Schools (2004)" contains clear direction on most issues relating to drugs in school. The statutory and non-statutory guidance for developing your school's response to drugs issues is clearly laid out. It covers all drugs, including alcohol, tobacco and medicines. It has sections to help you to plan your drug education, write a policy, plan what to do if there is an incident and advice on best practice.

It is important that staff have access to this guidance as well as the local protocols and policies that interpret this and wider guidance. Schools need to be aware of the guidance's relationship to your drugs policy and practice.

It is a requirement that every school has a drug policy, which includes the agreed response to drug related incidents. You can download it on this page in the' useful downloads' section.


Drugs - What's the Score?

dealers. We live in a drug using world. From our morning coffee, to the medication we use or the glass of wine or beer we have in an evening. Drugs may be our saviour or our downfall, recreational or vital for our well-being - but all have the potential to harm if not used with care.The most commonly used drug is alcohol. Whilst many people use alcohol safely and responsibly we are seeing the age at which young people experiment with alcohol falling. We are also seeing an increase in the amount and frequency of alcohol consumed, with female drinking on the rise. Alcohol and other drugs put young people at risk in a number of ways. If alcohol is misused, young people's health may be damaged, they may get involved in criminal activities, they may be assaulted or become involved in unplanned sexual activity.

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.

If young people are to grow up safe in this drug using world it is important that they develop the knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to make positive and confident choices in relation to drugs of all kinds.

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 and it is here that support and early intervention can make the difference.


Hidden Harm

Some young people live in homes where drug use is the norm, conservative local estimates suggest that as many as 22% of the young people in our schools may be affected by parental drug and alcohol use or that of other family members. Young people 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. However, even though some young people live in challenging circumstances it is important to remember that it does not automatically follow that they are using drugs, or will go on to do so.


Being effective - a whole-school approach

In this fast-changing 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 lucky majority of these come through such experimentation without suffering lasting harm.

When planning drug education and policy it is vital that we cater for all the young people and adults within the school community, acknowledging that they will have different needs and understandings of drugs issues. All the evidence shows that a community that works together to tackle drug use, with a common purpose, is an effective community. Parent's concerns for their children, young people's views and experiences, the stability of a positive school environment, skilled teaching, appropriate support, and effective partnerships are all resources that can be harnessed to make a positive difference to drug use in communities.\

A 'whole-school approach', such as that achieved through meeting the Healthy School Standard for PSHE to include Drug Education, has been proven to reduce drug-use and smoking in schools.

More about the standard for PSHE including drugs/SRE >>



Social & Economic Aspects of Change (SEAC)

The SEAC training is practical and interactive and gives participants the opportunity to explore the techniques and principles for delivering the SEAC materials and provides the starting point for professionals to take the resource away and to begin planning and delivering the material with young people.

The S.E.A.C. pack will be supplied on successful completion of the course. Please see training & events for more detail


D-vibe Online Drug/Alcohol Survey
D-vibe Online Drug/Alcohol Survey

Getting a fuller picture of the young people you support
The key to effective policy and curriculum planning for drugs issues is a knowledge of the local issues that affect the young people you work with. The risks they face, their experiences and knowledge will vary greatly depending on a wide number of factors. Ideally policies should reflect the school community and drug education should have close relevance to the lives of young people so that they are safer in their world.
D-Vibe is a great starting point for any school considering how to develop their drug and alcohol policy and programme
The D-Vibe online survey allows you to collect anonymous baseline data on drug related knowledge, skills and attitudes for young people through the age range, including risk-taking behaviours. Although open to all via the web address www.d-vibe.co.uk, Secondary schools can also opt to become a cohort for the survey.
By pledging a minimum number of respondents in your school we will reciprocate by enabling you to view and compare your data in handy reports. This is achieved through a unique log-in for your school.
Drug and Alcohol Education Planning and Assessment tool
As a cohort school, once your baseline is established you can use the findings to direct policy and plan drug and alcohol education for the cohort. The survey also offers the facility to select the key PSHE curriculum related areas that you have decided to focus upon from the baseline and to create a follow up re-test survey to see if their knowledge, skills and attitudes have improved. Dvibe can truly transform your planning and assessment for drug education to respond to the needs of your students, reduce duplication and focus precious curriculum time.
Material and options are included to use the survey as part of lessons.

Take a look at www.d-vibe.com.

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Check out Drugs Current Affairs....

New Notices
 
Useful Links
 
Useful Downloads
Open lock e-form for recording/reporting drug related incidents
(.doc 196.0 kb)
Open lock Alcohol Safety Lesson Plans KS3/4
(.pdf 3.5 MB)
Open lock Powerpoint slides -Xmas alcohol safety campaign
(.ppt 855.0 kb)
Open lock Xmas Alcohol Safety Campaign Posters
(.pdf 1.2 MB)
Open lock Responding to Medical Needs of Pupils - Unison Briefing
(.pdf 109.1 kb)
Open lock Guidance on Medicines and Meeting Medical Needs in School
(.pdf 215.6 kb)
Open lock Drug and Alcohol Training Programme - Children's Services
(.pdf 1.1 MB)
Open lock Drug & Alcohol Training programme 2009
(.pdf 866.7 kb)
Open lock Flowchart "Responding to Drug Related Incidents"
(.pdf 311.3 kb)
Open lock Drug Related incident recording/reporting form
(.doc 178.0 kb)
Open lock Drug education - parents support
(.pdf 72.1 kb)
Open lock Drug education support
(.pdf 1.0 MB)
Open lock Drug education resource lists
(.pdf 388.8 kb)
Open lock Drug and Alcohol Training Brochure 08/09
(.pdf 1.1 MB)
Open lock Drug Education in the New Secondary PSHE Curriculum
(.pdf 121.9 kb)
Open lock List of locally developed drug education resources - free
(.pdf 111.0 kb)
Open lock The Healthy School Standard Criteria
(.doc 555.0 kb)
Blue lock Drug Education Needs Assessment KS3&4 (Class of it's own)
(.pdf 150.0 kb)
Open lock Briefing paper: Random Drug Tests in Schools
(.pdf 75.7 kb)
Open lock Briefing paper - alcohol use is affecting Nottingham kids
(.doc 29.0 kb)
Open lock Bottling It Up Report on the effect of parental alcohol use
(.pdf 605.0 kb)
Open lock Assessment of Drug education Briefing Paper
(.pdf 274.2 kb)
Open lock The Misuse of Drugs Act
(.doc 22.0 kb)
Open lock Briefing paper - Consulting Young People about Drugs Issues
(.pdf 328.7 kb)
Open lock Regents House Project - leaflet for parents
(.pdf 72.1 kb)
Open lock Joining Forces - National ACPO guidance: Drugs in Schools
(.pdf 866.0 kb)
Open lock Drugs Agencies Poster
(.pdf 1016.9 kb)
Open lock Useful list of alcohol resources (thanks to Richard Ives)
(.doc 73.5 kb)
Blue lock External Contributor Checklist - SEN
(.doc 30.5 kb)
Blue lock Simple Drug Policy Survey for parents / pupils
(.doc 109.0 kb)
Blue lock Policy Statement on the use of visitors
(.pdf 747.4 kb)
Open lock Alcohol Education Guidance - Alcohol Concern
(.pdf 13.5 kb)
Open lock National Healthy School Status - guidance
(.pdf 1.2 MB)
Open lock School Drug Policy Audit
(.pdf 190.6 kb)
Blue lock Drug Education Audit KS 3&4
(.doc 168.5 kb)
 
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