saltash.net - Community College

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Drugs Education

Introduction

saltash.net community school recognises the importance of its role in the welfare of its pupils. It is committed to the health and safety of all its members and will take action to safeguard their well-being.

The School has a co-ordinated programme of Drugs Education which sets out to alert pupils to the dangers of drug misuse and helps them to develop the skills required to resist pressures to experiment with substances both legal and illegal. (Part I - Drugs Education).

However, the School realises that some pupils will become involved in incidents of drug misuse and while accepting that each case must be dealt with on an individual basis guidelines have been agreed which will apply to the misuse of substances. (Part II - The Management of incidents of Drugs Misuse).

All staff, both teaching and non-teaching, parents and pupils will be made aware of the school’s drugs education programme and procedural guidelines on the management of drugs misuse in school.

Drugs Education

Through PD we will provide pupils with accurate information about legal and illegal substances and their effects so that they are better equipped to make decisions about their use. Through the programme we will enable young people to develop and practise skills in dealing with potentially hazardous situations and help them to identify sources of available support.

We also aim to encourage an understanding for those already experiencing or likely to experience substances misuse and to minimise the risks for these people. Those in need of support will be assisted to seek help from the appropriate agencies.

The information of related issues such as sex and sexuality and HIV and AIDS in the programme will, it is hoped, help to widen understanding.

The aims will be fulfilled through aspects of pupils’ experiences in the taught curriculum and through the informal curriculum. The former is delivered mainly through PD and Science but other opportunities may arise e.g. in Drama, English, PE. and RE.

The School co-operates actively with agencies such as Social Services, the Community Police, Schools liaison officer and LEA Advisory staff to deliver Drugs Education. We liaise closely with teachers from our contributory schools to ensure that, as in any other area of the curriculum progression through the years provides a coherent whole. Liaison with parents is seen as essential so that parents are aware of school’s overall policy and feel able to share their concerns with us.

The School’s programme of education on legal and illegal substances takes place on the following occasions:

 

  • Year 7 - Smoking - health warnings and School discipline - (Assemblies and PD lessons)
  • Year 8 - Substances - understanding of basic facts.
    Consideration of appropriate techniques for coping with difficult situations
    Recognition of responsibilities for meeting decisions about substance misuse
  • Year 9 - Body care and effects of smoking and alcohol
  • Year 10/11 - Legal and illegal drugs
    Historical, cultural, political, social and economic factors
    Recognition of different patterns in use/misuse involved
    Responsibilities and choice
    Role of the media
    Adverse effects of drugs e.g. anabolic steroids (P.E.)
  • Year 12/13 - Reinforcement of work covered in 10 and 11
    Legal implications
    Use and abuse of drugs