STRABANE ACADEMY

DRUGS AND SUBSTANCE MISUSE POLICY

Date ratified by Board of Governors:22.9.20

Rationale

Strabane Academy is committed to protecting and promoting the health and safety of both staff and pupils and will take action to safeguard their wellbeing. The school recognises the statutory requirement to have a drugs and substance misuse policy and to provide drugs education as part of the curricular provision. This policy has been drawn up in the light of advice from the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI), the Education Authority (EA) and other statutory agencies.

The drugs policy relates to and complements other schools policies as listed below:

Pastoral Care Policy Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. Positive Behaviour Policy Health and Safety Policy Managing Critical Incidents Policy Anti-Bullying Policy Supporting Pupils with Medication Needs Policy

The school is aware that in today’s society most people will be exposed to and/or use some sort of drug at some time. Therefore the school is aware of the risk pupils may be at. Research shows that by post-primary school age a significant number of young people are engaging with substances such as alcohol, cigarettes, (including electronic cigarettes) or solvents and/or have misused prescribed medicines or other substances including new psychoactive substances (NPS).

We believe that this school has a vital preventative role to play in combating the misuse of drugs by young people and we therefore include a drugs education programme in our curriculum.

Parents play a supportive role in the drugs education programme. They are encouraged to discuss drug related issues with their child/children whenever possible. The ‘Drugs and Substance Misuse Policy’ is available in hard copy from the school office or electronically on the school website.

Ethos

Strabane Academy promotes a caring, supportive, close knit community committed to providing an outstanding education that motivates and inspires all to reach their true potential in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Our ethos encourages strong pupil/teacher relationships, where pupils feel confident and comfortable to refer any concern to a member of staff.We acknowledge the importance of our pastoral role in the welfare of young people, and to help pupils feel secure and free from the potential dangers of substance misuse and to make them aware of the structures within school for dealing with this.We want our pupils to be able to make informed and responsible decisions about drugs by increasing their knowledge and by developing in them appropriate values, attitudes and skills.

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Definitions

The following definitions are taken from CCEA “Drugs: Guidance for Schools in Northern Ireland.”

‘Drug’ and ‘substance’

“include any product that, when taken, has the effect of altering the way the body works or how a person behaves, feels, sees or thinks”.

Within this policy the terms ‘use’, ‘misuse’ and ‘abuse’ refer to the use of a drug for purposes for which it was not intended or using a drug in excessive quantities.

As well as everyday substances such as tea and coffee, drugs include: alcohol and tobacco and tobacco-related substances, including nicotine replacement

therapy (NRT), and electronic cigarettes; over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol and cough medicine; prescribed drugs, such as antibiotics, painkillers, antidepressants, inhalers and

stimulants such as Ritalin; volatile substances, such as correcting fluids or thinners, gas lighter fuel, glues and

petrol; controlled drugs, such as cannabis, LSD, ecstasy, amphetamine sulphate (speed),

magic mushrooms (processed), heroin and cocaine; new psychoactive substances (NPS), formerly known as legal highs; other substances, such as amyl or butyl nitrites (known as poppers) and

unprocessed magic mushrooms.

Drug Use

“...refers to taking a drug; there is no value judgement, although all drug use has an element of risk.”

Drug Misuse

“refers to legal, illegal or illicit drug taking or alcohol consumption, which leads a person to experience social, psychological, physical or legal problems related to intoxication or regular excessive consumption and/or dependence. Drug misuse is therefore taking drugs, including prescribed drugs and NPS, that cause harm to the individual, their significant others or the wider community.”

Therefore the Drugs and Substance Misuse Policy aims to protect young people from the harm associated with the use and misuse of substances.

Aims

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Our school aims:

To ensure that each pupil feels valued, special and unique, and a member of the school community.

To provide a secure and caring environment to ensure the emotional and physical welfare of pupils as well as their academic progress.

To develop pupils’ full academic potential by integrating a wide range of important areas including aspects of health education, careers education and study skills in order to enhance pupils personal and social skills as part of the NI Curriculum and Preventative Curriculum.

To help pupils feel secure and free from the potential dangers of child abuse, substance misuse and bullying and making them aware of the structures within school for dealing with such issues.

To develop high standards of behaviour, whereby teachers are fair, consistent and compassionate in their approach to keeping good order in school.

To ensure that pupil achievements both within and outside the classroom are recognised, valued and celebrated by the school, and in this way, raising pupils’ self-esteem and worth.

Objectives

to develop a consistent approach to drug-related issues in line with the school’s pastoral care provision that all members of the school community can adopt;

develop, implement and review a drugs education programme as part of the provision of Personal Development (PD) within the curriculum;

to develop procedures and protocols that address drug-related issues across all areas of school life;

establish procedures for managing specific incidents of suspected drug misuse; and monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the policy in line with whole-school self –

evaluation procedures.

Roles, Responsibilities and Legal Duties

The Board of Governors

collaborate with appropriate staff, pupils and parents or carers to foster and support developing and reviewing its drugs policy;

facilitate the consultative process where the school community can respond and contribute to the policy’s effectiveness and quality. The governors examine and approve this before implementing it in the school;

ensure details of the policy are reviewed biannually and after a drug-related incident; are fully aware of and adequately trained to deal with suspected drugs related

incidents, including alcohol and tobacco, tobacco-related products, electronic cigarettes and their appropriate disciplinary response

The Principal

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is responsible for determining the circumstance of any drugs-related incident. In any suspected drug-related incident, the Principal should contact the parents or carers of those pupils involved

If it is brought to the attention of the Principal that a pupil is in possession of a controlled drug or any other item that is a danger to himself or someone else, the Principal should challenge the pupil in order to ascertain if this is true in the presence of another adult. The pupil can be asked if his or her personal belongings can be checked in order to ascertain the facts. With pupil consent the search can be carried out in view of the pupil and another adult. If the pupil refuses they should be kept under observation in a private place away from other pupils until the PSNI arrive

if the Principal has reasonable grounds to suspect that drugs are being used or supplied on the school premises he will inform the PSNI immediately and

should ensure that in any incident involving a controlled drug there is close liaison with the PSNI

After informing the PSNI, the Principal should confine his responsibilities to: the welfare of the pupil(s) involved in the incident and the other pupils in the

school; health and safety during the handling, storage and safe disposal of any drugs /

drugs related paraphernalia, using protective gloves at all times; informing the Board of Governors; agreeing any appropriate pastoral or disciplinary response; reporting the incident to the Education Authority; completing a written report and forwarding a copy to the Board of Governors and

the designated officer in the Education Authority.

The Designated Teacher for Drugs

The Designated Teacher for Drugs is Mrs Sayers. She is responsible for: co-ordinating the school’s procedures for handling suspected drug-related incidents

and training and inducting new and existing staff in these procedures; ensuring that the school’s disciplinary policy has an appropriate statement about any

disciplinary response resulting from suspected drug-related incidents; ensuring that the school’s pastoral care policy has an appropriate statement about

any pastoral response resulting from suspected drug-related incidents; liaising with other staff responsible for pastoral care; being the contact point for outside agencies that may have to work with the school or

with a pupil or pupils concerned; responding to advice from first aiders, in the event of an incident, and informing the

principal, who should contact the pupil’s parents or carers immediately; taking possession of any substance(s) and associated paraphernalia found in a

suspected incident; pupil(s) involved in a suspected incident; completing a factual report using the schools Drug-Related Incident Form, which they

forward to the principal; and reviewing and if required updating the policy every two years and after a drug-related

incident, where learning from the experience could improve practice.

Staff (teaching and non-teaching)

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All staff should be familiar with the content of the school’s drug policy. They should also be fully aware of their responsibilities, should a suspected drug-related incident occur. It is not the staff’s responsibility to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident, but they should:

assess the situation and decide on the appropriate actions to take; notify the Principal and the designated teacher for drugs at the earliest opportunity; deal with any emergency procedures to ensure the safety of pupils and staff, if

necessary (see Appendix 3); forward any information, substance or paraphernalia received to the designated

teacher for drugs, who will respond accordingly (see Appendix 4); use the school’s Drugs Incident Report Form to complete a brief factual report on the

suspected incident and forward this to the designated teacher for drugs (see Appendix 5);

consider the needs and safety of a pupil when discharging him or her into the care of a parent or carer who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or another substance (staff, who are in loco parentis, should maintain a calm atmosphere when dealing with the parent and, if concerned, should discuss with the parent alternative arrangements for caring for the pupil); and

invoke safeguarding procedures; if a parent or carer’s behaviour may place a pupil at risk (see Appendix 4.5).

Drugs Education Programme

We aim to prevent the misuse of substances through the drugs education programme, smoking policy and school rules on drugs. The school rules about substance misuse are available to all pupils at all times in their school planner.

The drugs education programme is delivered within Learning for Life and Work (Personal Development) and Personal and Social Education (PSE). It aims to help young people in the following ways:1) By providing accurate and up-to-date information on drugs and their effects on health,

and on the risks and legal aspects of drug-taking.2) By introducing opportunities to enhance the young people's self-respect, personal

competence and self-esteem by encouraging the development of:a) Positive attitudes and behaviours towards themselves as well as in their social

relationships with others;b) Skills and behaviours which enable them to communicate effectively, assert

themselves, take responsible decisions, identify risks, help others, and resist pressures and influences which might lead them to participate in activities which could have serious consequences for their health and well-being;

c) An understanding of the varying attitudes, values and perspectives which exist towards drug-related issues and so enable them to reach an informed personal viewpoint.

3) By ensuring progression and continuity in the knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and values addressed. The specific content, the depth of treatment, the strategies and the activities included is matched to the age, maturity and circumstances of the young people concerned.

4) The programmes are designed to take account of the degree to which pupils have had experiences with drugs. a) For those young people who are likely to have no experience of drugs, the

programme should aim to maintain this position and minimise the number of young people in the school who ever engage in drugs misuse.

b) For those young people who are likely to have begun to experiment with drugs in an ad hoc and infrequent way, the programme should aim to persuade them to resist experimentation, and delay the onset of regular use.

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c) For those young people who experiment regularly with drugs the programme should aim to empower them to seek help and support, to minimise the proportion of misusers who adopt particularly dangerous forms of misuse, and to try to persuade them to stop.

The Head of Learning for Life and Work, in consultation with the Head of Pastoral Care/Designated Teacher for Drugs, will ensure that a co-ordinated programme for all Key Stages is implemented, regularly reviewed and updated. This will include:

the curricular provision at Key Stage 3 & 4 (Personal Development and other areas of learning);

the use of pastoral time (informal curriculum) across all year groups; and the use of external agencies as appropriate.

Procedures for handling suspected incidents of drug misuse

It will depend on the nature of the incident and the type of substance(s) involved; for example, cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, alcohol, solvents, and controlled drugs may each require a different kind of response. Detailed guidance for dealing with drug and substance misuse are outlined in DENI Circular 2015/23 Drugs Guidance and the CCEA guidance; Guidance on Managing Suspected Drugs-related Incidents (see Appendix 4).

A suspected drug related incident is described as: suspect drugs or drug related paraphernalia found on the school premises a pupil suspected of being in possession of drugs a pupil suspected of possession with intent to supply a pupil suspected of being under the influence of drugs because of their unusual or

uncharacteristic behaviour

Strabane Academy has developed good working relationships with the PSNI, who deliver drugs related programmes, and ensure if a drug related incident is reported it is dealt with in a professional and discrete manner and in keeping with the best interests of the child in mind.

In general, the following sequence will be followed by the staff involved;

1. Disclosures of drugs and substance abuse must be reported immediately to the Designated Teacher.

2. Individual members of staff who suspect a drugs-related incident must ensure the safety for all pupils and other members of staff affected and provide the immediate necessary medical care that is most appropriate.

3. The staff member should identify, remove and secure any drugs / substance and/or associated paraphernalia / evidence, and pass all information / evidence to the Designated Teacher. Additionally, the should complete the drugs incident report form and forward it to the Designated Teacher.

4. The Designated Teacher for Drugs should respond to the member of staff / First Aider; in the event of an emergency, the parents/guardians of the pupil(s) concerned should be informed immediately.

5. The Designated Teacher will take possession of any substance(s) and associated paraphernalia found and will store it in a safe, secure place until it can be dealt with by the PSNI and will inform the Principal. The Designated Teacher will take initial

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responsibility for the pupils(s) involved in the suspected incident and will complete / forward a factual report to the Principal.

6. The Principal will determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. 7. The Principal (in his absence the Vice Principal) will inform the parents/guardians,

Chair of the Board of Governors and the following external agencies as appropriate; PSNI, Designated Officer with the EA. The Principal also has the right to invoke safeguarding procedures if a parent or carer’s behaviour may place a pupil at risk.

8. The Principal, in consultation with the Chair of the Board of Governors, will determine the appropriate safeguarding / disciplinary responses including counselling services and support.

9. A copy of the incident report (see Appendix 5) will be forwarded by the Principal to the chairperson of the Board of Governors and the Designated Officer with the EA (if appropriate).

10. The School will ensure that appropriate pastoral support will be provided for both the pupil(s) involved with the suspected drugs-related incident and those pupils affected by the incident through, for example, the school Counselling Service, Heads of Year, Form Teacher or other trained staff.

NB: If the school receives an enquiry from the media, the caller should be referred only to the Principal (or a designated nominee).

Confidentiality

Teachers cannot and should not promise total confidentiality. They should make the boundaries of confidentiality clear to pupils. Members of staff should carefully consider their response, if a pupil approaches them for individual advice on drug use or misuse. In the case of controlled substances, the staff member should explain to the pupil that they cannot offer a guarantee of confidentiality. If the pupil discloses information concerning controlled substances, the staff member must pass this on to the designated teacher for drugs. The member of staff can direct the pupil to sources of confidential information and advice and to treatment and rehabilitation services (see Appendix 6). Further information about these services is available at www.publichealth.hscni.net

Disciplinary / Pastoral Care Responses

The Positive Behaviour Policy lists the sanctions in relation to drugs-related incidents. These are summarised below;

(i) Supplying or dealing in illegal/controlled drugs on school premises will lead to the Board of Governors initiating expulsion procedures.

(ii) Possessing or using an illegal/controlled drug will lead to a suspension pending investigations which may lead to the Board of Governors initiating expulsion procedures.

(iii) Possessing or using a non-controlled drug or substance will lead to suspension.

NB: Repeated incidents of points (ii) and (iii) detailed above may ultimately result in expulsion. The pupil’s health and well-being will be taken into consideration when making an appropriate response to a drug-related incident.On return to the school, all persons involved in drug or substance related abuse will be strongly encouraged to receive counselling through the schools independent counselling

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service or other external agencies such as DAISY (Drugs and Alcohol Intervention Service for Youth).

Provision of counselling services in the school

All pupils have access to the school counsellor funded by the Department of Education.The Designated Teacher also can provide detail of counselling services pupils may access outside of school.A list of support for parents / carers is available in Appendix 6.The referral pathways for a range of scenarios are available in Appendix 2.

Administration of prescribed medication

The School will operate procedures in respect of pupils taking prescribed medicines in school as described in the School’s Supporting Pupils with Medication Needs Policy.Any pupil found in possession of, or taking drugs or medicines, outside the terms of the arrangements as described in the Supporting Pupils with Medication Needs Policy, will be subject to the sanctions detailed above.

Emergency First Aid Procedures

School staff should be aware of procedures in the event of a medical emergency. These procedures are outlined in Appendix 3.

Training

The school will provide staff training on: Recognising signs of substance abuse (see Appendix 1); Implementing the school’s drug policy; Delivering drugs education as part of the Personal Development Programme; and Responding to a suspected drugs related incident.

The school will also provide; Training to the Board of Governors; and Information for parents / carers (see Appendix 6). The school will also direct parents /

carers to the booklet ‘Dealing with Young People’s Alcohol and other Drug Misuse – A guide for parents and carers’ as a source of support. This can be downloaded from the CCEA website at www.ccea.org.uk.

Monitoring and Evaluation

This policy will be reviewed and evaluated every two years by the Board of Governors in consultation with the Designated Teacher/Deputy Designated Teacher for Drugs, the Senior Leadership Team, School Council and representatives from the school community who are specialist in the area of Drugs awareness.

Appendix 1

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Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

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Appendix 4

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Appendix 5

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Appendix 6

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NB: Non-emergency phone calls can be made to the PSNI on 101

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