Rufford Junior Staff Training Explores Hidden Harm

Staff at Rufford Junior spent some time this week exploring the issues faced by children in drug and alcohol using families. They are focusing on staff training to understand more about the way young children might be affected by substances and what support might be available.

Parents are due to start thinking about the issues themselves with the schools parent's worker running a short course about understanding how substances might affect communities and how to talk to young people sensitively.

Their DrugAware is shaping up with the children starting to think about their campaign ideas.

Educational Wellbeing Alternative Provision Are Getting DrugAware

The Staff and young people at the Educational Wellbeing Learning Centre have just come on board with the Programme. The first step will be to get the young people involved in thinking about what sort of place they want the centre to be, and contributing the D-Vibe Survey and helping review their new drug policy. The Compass education link worker is already on the case to ensure any young person requiring extra support gets it and the focus will be very much on the future. Substance use can really mess up a young person's future aspirations and plans - so watch this space for all the best help and advice from the students as they think what DrugAware means to them.

Governors Drug Training

Can all DrugAware participating schools please let their governors know that there is a drugs focus training for them on 21/03/2012 at 10:00am at Oak Field School. Booking are being taken through the central governor training programme.

Have you got D-Vibe?

D-vibe is a complete data collection, analysis and evaluation tool for drugs issues and education. Developed on effective research models and fully tested and developed with young people and professional users, it is available as a licence for use with schools or organisations wishing to know more about the drug related behaviours, knowledge and experiences of young people.
Using unique log ins, created by you, the user, D-vibe enables you to collect a range of drug related data for any number of cohorts required. The survey includes questions to evaluate knowledge, skills, beliefs and experiences around drugs of all kinds.
Once the planned lessons have been delivered you can repeat the survey, adding a second pass to evaluate changes as a result of the learning.

Year on year D-Vibe can support you to make your drug education the best it can be for all ages.
Surveys are available for Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 and all information can be filtered by ethnicity, vulnerability, age, gender etc.

All questions have a 'listen' button for assisting reading.
Rounded up resilience scores, aggregating all 'ideal answers' ; for each group are shown for each group to provide a quick snapshot.

D-vibe can be used by any school or organisation to collect data for many purposes:
- Locally, to develop education programmes
- To support commissioning
- To anonymously establish drug experience and use in populations and groups
- By entire authorities to compile multiple organisation data in separate and aggregated reports
- To establish baseline data for reports, to make cases and present need to governors and boards
- To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of specific providers, interventions and strategies over time.

D-vibe is supplied free as part of the DrugAware Programme or available as a 2-year single user license, with up to 50 separate surveys or as a corporate licence allowing you to create up to 300 individual single user licences,
with multiple user data viewable locally and centrally by a main administrator.
Contact anna.power@nottinghamcity.gov.uk for more information / costs

Oak Field [special] School are Drug Aware!

Here at Oak Field we know that our young people experience similar issues to other young people in the community in the area of drugs and alcohol.
Many of our young people are dependent upon legal drugs to keep them safe and healthy and are often dependent upon adults to keep them safe. This dependency can lead to pupils believing that all adults can be trusted and so it is very important that pupils are educated in recognising appropriate and inappropriate behaviour from adults and learn to identify who they can tell if they think something is wrong.
Our pupils also need to be educated in learning about their medication routines, the dangers of mixing medication or medication and alcohol and particularly in learning about the people they can trust to take medication from. They also need to learn how to resist pressure from peers and others in the community to take substances and about safe alcohol limits.
Our older students particularly benefit from opportunities to role play through decision making situations and explore the consequences of decisions they make in the safety of a role play giving them the time and opportunity to think through situations and keep themselves safe. They particularly need to learn how to be assertive in making choices that will keep them safe and in resisting pressure that may place them in danger.
All School staff participated in INSET training to raise their awareness about drugs and alcohol with the opportunity to participate in discussions about the issues as they relate to our young people and to review and plan how drug and alcohol education would be planned into the curriculum.
The school offered parents the opportunity to access training in the areas of drugs and alcohol a group of parents took up the opportunity to learn more and explore the issues around drugs; including drug abuse and drug classification. The School;s Family Support also arranged for Queen;s Hospital to deliver training to parents to support them in giving legal medications to their children.
The school launched Drug Aware with a whole school assembly with pupils engaging in a range of activities exploring topics related to drugs and alcohol. Activities aimed at younger children ranged from identifying items in household cupboards to sorting medications from other packages and identifying people in school who can help. Activities aimed at older pupils included identifying alcoholic and soft drinks to exploring the effects of alcohol with beer goggles!!
Key Stages have been working in areas across the curriculum to ensure that pupil;s are provided with the appropriate information for their learning needs. For younger pupils work has included learning about the people in school who can help them to take their prescribed medications and exploring messages about safety in household products through multi-sensory exploration and stories. Older pupils have been exploring legal medications and routines including side effects. They have also been exploring the consequences of decisions they make and learning how to be assertive under pressure from peers and strangers to take substances.
Later in the year there was a second Drug Aware assembly. In this assembly the 6th Form performed some small drama;s exploring dilemmas and situations which young people might find themselves in and outcomes of choices they made.
The drama;s were filmed and the film will be available to use in discussions and training sessions within the wider community. This will help raise awareness of the whole community to the ways in which drugs or alcohol can impact on young people with learning difficulties and the risks they need support to manage.

Welcome on board!

We would like to welcome Seely Junior and Rufford Primary on board this week. The children are starting to think about what DrugAware means to them. Rufford Junior previously got the award and now the newly amalgamated Primary school is wasting no time making sure they reach the same high standard! Good to have you on board!

Children Affected By Parental Drug/Alcohol use - Hidden Harm: Training DVD and resource pack

The Hidden Harm Briefing DVD and pack are available to download. Go to http://www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/training.php and click on 'Hidden Harm Briefing Document/DVD ' under 'Useful Downloads'.

The training has been designed to help professionals working in schools to quickly identify and support children and young people who are affected by parental substance misuse. It is recommended for all school staff, Safeguarding Officers, Governors and Pastoral Staff including those who work with vulnerable pupils. It is essential training for all DrugAware schools!

The package was developed in partnership with the Children's Society and WAM.

To access help and support for children affected by parental drug/alcohol use contact Nicola Crisp at W.A.M (What About Me?) on 01623 635330 or at nicola.crisp@nottscommunityhealth.nhs.uk

Drug use is a real issue for under 11's

Okay, that got your attention, but we are referring to the drug caffeine here. The D-Vibe Survey has been collecting data from young people and there are some interesting local issues emerging. We wanted to flag up the high level of caffeine use by children. The survey told us that between 23 and 60% of children consume caffeine weekly or daily. They report they enjoy energy drinks, not intended for sale to children, as well as coffee, tea and cola. This is bound to have an effect on their behaviour and sleep patterns. As a result a number of school have focused their curriculum on this aspect of drug education and parent awareness and have seen a fall in use as a result. All schools who join DrugAware get access to the D-Vibe Survey facility, enabling more effective targeting of drug education.

NUSA praise for DrugAware Award.

Jode Stead. Head of PSHE at NUSA has been delighted with the difference the support and resources provided by DrugAware have made.
"DrugAware has been a great opportunity for NUSA students to learn about drug education and has offered students the chance to explore a variety of ways to recognise dangers and how to resist negative peer pressure. We think that DrugAware has empowered our students to say No but more importnatly, to know why they are saying No DrugAware has given students strategies to recognise risky situations and learn how to deal with them."
NUSA used the D-Vibe survey to measure pupils resilience before and then after implementing their new DrugAware curriculum. The resilience scores, which is calculated from the number and type of correct answers in the survey, rose an impressive 12 points to over 40, bearing in mind a score of 30 shows a reasonably good level of knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to a drug-free life - this is pretty impressive. This, combined with their fantastic campaign anthem "I don't Do" and other amazing positive campaigns made quite an impact. It is easy to see why the NUSA pupils are proud of their achievements. Now that's what we call a Health Academy!

31 schools are already DrugAware Schools

Last year was an amazing year for DrugAware, with 32 schools achieving DrugAware status. That means that more than 14,000 staff, parents, children and young people have benefitted from better policy, drug education, support and training. We want to say a big thankyou for being the first schools to achieve the award and for sharing their experiences with schools who will be doing the same this year.

Roll of honour

Blessed Robert Widmerpool RC Primary and Nursery
Blue Bell Hill Primary School
Crab Tree Farm Primary School
Denewood Learning Centre
Djanogly City Academy 11-14 Centre
Edale Rise Primary and Nursery School
Edna G Olds Primary and Nursery School
Fernwood Junior School
Firbeck Primary and Nursery School
Glapton Primary and Nursery School
Glenbrook Primary and Nursery School
Hadden Park High School
Heathfield Primary and Nursery School
Hogarth Primary and Nursery School
Hospital and Home Service
Huntingdon Primary and Nursery School
Middleton Primary and Nursery School
Milford School
NUSA Nottingham University Samworth Academy
Riverside Primary School
Robin Hood Primary School
Rosslyn Park Primary School
Rufford Junior School
Scotholme Primary and Nursery School
Sneinton St Stephen's CofE Primary
St Augustine's RC Primary and Nursery School
Sycamore Primary School
The Bulwell Academy
The Nottingham Bluecoat School and Technology College
Top Valley Comprehensive School
Walter Halls Primary and Nursery School
Whitegate Primary and Nursery School
Oakfield School

We already have a further 17 schools signed up and there are a few free places left. So if you haven't already - why not get on board?

Campaign Winner

Here's the latest winner of the week, a Drug Brick from St Stephen's C of E school.
"DrugAware means... to stay safe"

We couldn't put it any better, well done!

Winner of the Week!

Take a look at the DrugAware poster that is this week's Winner!

It's a great awareness raising poster for parents and carers to store medicines, alcohol and tobacco and well away from children.

Well done, we love your brightly coloured text and marvellous pictures.

Our Journey to Becoming DrugAware - A DrugAware Coordinator shares his experience

Our journey for Whitegate School becoming accredited with DrugAware began on 28th April 2010 when we received an e-mail inviting us to join the DrugAware Scheme. We received an information pack for the programme, a DrugAware checklist, details of the Nottingham DrugAware Standard and details of the bursary available of £400. It has been hard work, but well worth it.

The second stage was for our learning mentor and me to attend a briefing session at College Street on 18th May 2010.It was clear how the project in Nottingham was a real attempt to try and break the poverty trap and drug usage cycle, and an attempt to help people to raise their life expectations. We thought it was a clear way forward. We could see how the project would allow the school to work with other agencies towards achieving the Standard and how vulnerable groups would be targeted.

We were given very clear and achievable targets based on the standards; Policy and Enforcement, Curriculum, Pupil Support and Early Intervention, Parents and Community and Celebration and Promotion. We wanted our school to be accredited and by doing so, we hoped we would be influential in the choices the children might be faced with making. We made a clear list of things we had to do, how we would do them and who it involved.

For Stage 3, we returned to school and introduced the staff and governors to the DrugAware programme. Key to this was how important it was and how we would work together in small achievable steps to enable this to happen.

The journey from here to receiving the award has been a very enjoyable and informative time. We have had to rely on each other and trust each other to do particular tasks at certain times. We had to write an action plan and timetable a sequence of events. We had meetings with DrugAware staff who were very supportive and made valuable contributions. We had an introduction assembly to launch the project, staff training after school and staff meetings to deliver a revised policy and scheme of work. We had to plan ahead for parent and governor training sessions. The Governors attended a training day at Highfields Fire Station and parents attended sessions at school. We surveyed the children using 'd -Vibe' and after analysing the data with Anna Power, we were able to inform our teachers about concerns and knowledge gaps and they were able to address this in the classroom.

The staff from the DrugAware team were very well received by the school community. It was remarked how friendly, knowledgeable and helpful they were. Parents, Governors, the police and other members of the school community attended our launch assembly and our celebration assembly at the end.

Our Chair of Governors felt the DrugAware Team gave information which was easy to understand and digest, that they made everybody feel comfortable and relaxed, and that they helped us manage and achieve. The DrugAware Team were very approachable and made staff feel that they could ask any questions without feeling stupid.

Phil Chadwick, DrugAware Coordinator at Whitegate School

Winner of the week!

congratulations to this week's Winner of the Week who has written a fabulous rap as part of their drugAware work:-

Drugs
If you're gonna have a DRINK,
make sure you stop and THINK.
You don't need a DRUG,
you can always have a HUG.
Say not to tobacco,
drinking ain't cool,
it makes you look like a silly fool.
Don't drink and drive,
if you wanna stay alive.
This stuff you shouldn't do,
it could always come back to you.
frikey, Frikey, brap, brap, word
Wicked!

Being DrugAware means.....

Here's another drug brick from Sneinton C of E Primary school:
"DrugAware means you can say NO! Trust nobody who has drugs. To be honest with people about what you think. Be self aware. Life is better with none."

Sneinton Cof E Campaign Winner

Take a look at this week's Winner of the Week. It's a fantastic acrostic poem from a pupil at Sneinton C of E Primary School.

"Drugs are not safe
Remember not to take
Utterly bad
Gets me mad
Alcohol gets you drunk
Wish people had more sense
A good friend won't give you drugs
Real friends give you hiugs
Everyone should be drug free, just like me!"

Well done!

Sneinton C of E Create Fantastic DrugAware Display!

We heard through the grapevine that Sneinton C of E school had a fantastic DrugAware Display in their hall. To find out exactly what they had been getting up to we sent someone along with a camera to investigate! As you can see from the pictures; pupils, staff and parents had been busy learning new things, getting involved and producing great DrugAware work. There were rap lyrics, posters, pictures and slogans alongside information sheets. We were really pleased to see you had all been thinking about how you and children in your care could stay safe and make healthy, informed choices. Keep a look out as individual work may be appearing here as part of Winner of the Week!

Well done everyone! It looks like you had lots of fun doing the DrugAware Award and congratulations on completing and celebrating your Award last week.

Drug Brick Graffiti Wall gets everyone involved in being DrugAware!

Take a look at Sneinton C of E's campaign where staff, pupils and parents and carers were asked to jot down what being DrugAware meant to them. These were then collected to form a graffiti wall display where everyone could share their ideas.

It looks fabulous and your ideas were so fantastic!

Well done everyone, what a great achievement!

Being DrugAware means......

Sneinton C of E asked pupils, staff and parents and carers to fill in a Drug Brick for their Graffiti wall. They have shared their ideas in their school community and we wanted to share them with you! Here's one from a pupil. It says:

"Being DrugAware means I know when to take drugs at the right time and to take the right drug that the doctor gives me. Say no to drugs."

Winner of the Week!

Take a look at this week's winner.It's another colourful poster which shows lots of different substances that can be dangerous to us from tobacco, to medicines to alcohol. Well done!

I've heard lots of other schools have been busy with poster competitions and Drug Brick Walls. Wouldn't you like to see your work here? Email them to drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

New website launched for children and young carers

A new website for children and young carers affected by domestic violence and parental substance abuse has gone live. Take a look by going to

http://www.helpinghandsnottingham.org.uk/home.php

the link also appears as a useful link in our 'school's resources' section of website.

Winner of the Week!

Welcome back after the Christmas Break and here's this week's winner. It includes needle and drug safety information and has a picture of a large wine bottle, highlighting that we need to be equally careful around drugs and alcohol that are often seen as socially acceptable.

Happy New Year! - Reminder for final DrugAware Award evidence

All your final actions need to be completed before 31 March 2011!

Welcome back to DrugAware after the Christmas break. It's now 2011 and the Early Intervention DrugAware project is nearing its end with only 85 days left to go. We know there are several schools who have already planned their celebration and others who are finishing up and ticking off the final tasks from their action plans. Now's the time to check in with the DrugAware team - Dawn Bond or Anna Power - to advise us of your progress and make sure you get any extra support needed to make that final push and finish. Maybe you want to :-

- submit schemes of works
- confirm policies have been updated and adopted
- book a celebration date
- access training
- get ideas for campaigns and promotions
- anything else you need to finish!

Contact us at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or anna.power@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or ring 0115 8764790. We know all the hard work you have put into the scheme, so we want to make sure you have the best chance of finishing. We'll be contacting you all soon to make sure you are on track.

Get in touch! You may be closer to the finishing line than you think!

Early intervention approach improves pupils' future life chances

Read the new article on the success of the DrugAware Award released today. More children and young people referred into treatment sooner. Go to:
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=12936

Winner of the Week for next week!

Well done to our latest winner. Even our youngest DrugAware pupils are taking part in DrugAware lessons and campaigns. We love your drawing.

If you've been busy at school or at home creating DrugAware pieces, why not show everyone your talent. Perhaps you've considered a Christmas theme. We'd love to see what you've been up to.

Email your work to:
drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.org.uk

or post to:
Dawn Bond, The DrugAware Team, Healthy Schools, Floor 2, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG.

Winner of the Week!

Congratulations to this week's winner who has been looking at smoking and the law. You have used fab graphics and a fantastic colour palette to make an eye catching poster. Well done!

If you'd like your DrugAware work shown on this website, please send your work to or contact the DrugAware Support Officer at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk,

0115 8764790

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Winner of the Week!

Well done to this week's winner who has tackled the subject of smoking for their poster. You have covered both the law and the health implications of smoking and we love your slogan - "Don't Smoke, it's a Huge Joke"!

If you'd like your DrugAware work shown on this website, please send your work to or contact the DrugAware Support Officer at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk,

0115 8764790,

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Winner of the Week!

Take a look at this week's winner. Continuing on from last week's theme, it also tells us where we can go to get safe advice when we are unwell, the chemist's. Well done. We love your picture.

If you'd like your DrugAware work shown on this website, please send your work to or contact the DrugAware Support Officer at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk,

0115 8764790,

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Winner of the Week!

Well done to this week's winner which signposts us to people who we can go to for help when we are ill or unsure. You have made a beautiful poster on the computer!

if you'd like your DrugAware work shown on this website, please send your work to or contact the DrugAware Support Officer at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk,

0115 8764790,

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Winner of the Week!

Congratulations to this week's winner with a fantastic poster including all the different drugs that can be harmful to us.

Want to show us what you've been creating? Then send us your DrugAware work. Post or email photos of your posters / displays / role play / t-shirt designs etc to us.

Please email your work to

drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Alternatively, we can photograph your original work for you. Contact Dawn Bond on the email above or 0115 87 64790 or post to

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Glapton Primary and Nursery School hold DrugAware Assembly

On Tuesday 2nd November, Glapton held an afternoon DrugAware assembly. The whole school came along to learn about the DrugAware Award and how they were going to get involved. A poster competition for DrugAware and the Anti-Bullying Week was launched and we can't wait to see what Glapton pupils come up with!

The photo shows Glapton pupils proudly wearing their DrugAware stickers in front of their stunning Green Town display. We hope to feature some of your posters on this website, so when the competition is over send them in!

If you would like to get your pupils involved with DrugAware, the slideshow presentation and poster templates for both secondary and primary school pupils are available from the member's downloads section of this website. Any problems, please contact Dawn Bond at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or phone on 0115 8764790.

Winner of the Week!

Take a look at this week's winner of the week, which highlights the real health problems associated with drug misuse. Well done!
We'd love to see what you, your class and your school have been up to as part of DrugAware. Why not send a photo of your posters / displays / role play / t-shirt designs etc into us, so we can show everyone how you've got involved and DrugAware?

Please email your work to

drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Alternatively, we can photograph your original work for you. Contact Dawn Bond on the email above or 0115 87 64790 or post to

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Next Week's Winner of the Week!

Take a look at next week's colourful winner. It certainly grabbed our attention!

We'd love to see what you, your class and your school have been up to as part of DrugAware. Why not send a photo of your posters / displays / role play / t-shirt designs etc into us, so we can show everyone how you've got involved and DrugAware?

Please email your work to

drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Alternatively, we can photograph your original work for you. Contact Dawn Bond on the email above or 0115 87 64790 or post to

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Alcohol Concern release report on Alcohol-Harm Reduction Strategies for Children and Young People

Young drinkers attending A&E cost NHS £19m per year.
A new report published on Saturday by the charity Alcohol Concern provides a stark picture of the cost to the NHS from drinkers as young as ten.

To read the full report go to

http://www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/training.php and select Alcohol Concern's Report from under 'Useful Downloads'.

You can also visit Alcohol Concern's website at http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk/ where you can download a related case study

Winner of the Week

Well done to this week's winner with it's brilliant message -'it's your life - you decide'. This highlights that we have choices and that it's our responsibility to make our own choices.

As always, we'd love to see your drugaware work. Please email or send to drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
or
Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Winner of the Week Returns!

After a bit of a gap, we have another winner of the week! We like how this poster shows the many kinds of drugs and alcohol that can pose a risk to us.

Congratulations on being our winner of the Week!

If you or your school have produced any work as part of DrugAware, we'd love to see it and put it right here on our News page.

Either send a photo or an original to

drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or

Dawn Bond
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools (Floor 2)
Loxley House
Station Street
NG2 3NG

Spotlight on Education Link Workers! Everything you need to know about ELWs and their work!

An ELW from Compass Young People's Service tells us about their role in Nottingham Schools.

My role as an Education Link Worker for Compass Young People;s Service is centred on working with young people in secondary schools with drug and alcohol issues. I primarily receive referrals from one key contact that I hold within each school. This contact is typically a teacher who co-ordinates learning mentors and other support staff within the school and they are made aware by other staff members of any drug and alcohol issues that students in the school may have.

ELW;s are responsible for building relationships with teachers and support staff within their schools. I am assigned six schools which I work with during school term time. I ensure that I have one main contact within the school, however, I encourage other staff to approach me with concerns or referrals. I build up links with other teaching and support staff by attending multi agency and CAF meetings. These meetings are a good opportunity to network and ensure a range of staff have contact details for Compass. I also meet with School Nurses and Education Welfare Officers to introduce myself and my role and ensure they are aware of referral pathways.

I promote my role in schools and in the community. I offer assemblies to all schools I work with. The schools where I have held assemblies have had a higher number of students who approach their teachers to self-refer themselves to Compass. I also attend various events held in the schools and also the community to promote my role. The most successful event I have attended in the past year was a Healthy Schools event at Hadden Park High in July 2010. This event was very well organised by the school and there were a large number of professionals in attendance, all raising awareness about healthy living. All pupils from years 7-10 attended, and were offered information on sexual health, healthy eating, weight management, exercise, and drug and alcohol support. I saw every year group and offered them age appropriate information on drugs and alcohol. I also handed out a quiz for young people to complete. Approximately 200 quizzes were completed and the Head of the Learning Support Unit at Hadden has compiled the results and will give feedback to Compass.

We have exceeded our targets for getting young people in secondary schools and Pupil Referral Units into treatment in 2009-2010. These referrals came from teachers, learning mentors, school nurses, parents and students. Many schools that Compass work with have consistently referred throughout the year. This shows the importance of having Education Link Workers present in schools. The DrugAware award has also encouraged schools to have a better awareness of the impact of drug and alcohol use on young people and I feel this has lead to teaching staff being better equipped to identify drug and alcohol use amongst young people and refer them readily into treatment.

There has been an increase in the past year in the number of schools training their staff to use Ngage within school, Ngage is a very effective tool to promote communication between young people and workers, and enables young people to describe what is happening in their lives by using cards, pictures, and wipe boards. Conversation is led by the young person and is at their own pace. Schools have found this to be a useful resource and it is helping identify drug and alcohol issues in young people, as well as other issues such as, bullying, sexual health issues, self confidence, crime, and relationships. Education Link Workers are able to assist school staff in using Ngage within schools, and this has helped build positive relationships between Compass and schools.

I feel that the Education Link Worker role provides a valuable service in schools and builds positive relationships between Compass and schools and with other agencies within schools such as Connexions, CAMHS, Behaviour Support Team, School Social Work Services, and the Youth Service. Most importantly, the Education Link Work role provides young people with support tailored to their needs and goals and I personally enjoy the successes of supporting young people to cease or reduce using drugs and alcohol.

Children carry shameful secret of parents drink and drugs abuse

In a report released in August 2010, it was reported that over a hundred children a week, some as young as five, were calling ChildLine concerned and often scared about their parent's drink and drug taking.
Last year the free, 24-hour service took 5,700 calls (1) from children - some still at primary school (2) - wanting to talk about the problem. Many of them also revealed they were being beaten, sexually abused or neglected.
This report provides a heart-rending insight into the lives of children who are desperately trying to cope with a traumatic role reversal where they are attempting to look after their parents, brothers and sisters. Yet despite this 'huge burden of responsibility' they are more concerned with solving their families' problems than their own.
Over 4000 children who rang last year said they were worried about their parents' excessive drinking. These youngsters were also more than three times as likely to mention suffering physical abuse (35%) than other children who called (3). And there were issues with family conflicts (20%) and sexual abuse (10%).
One 10 year-old-girl told ChildLine: "My mum drinks all the time. She leaves me alone lots of the time. I feel scared and lonely. I look after mum when she drinks and put her to bed. She shouts and hits me. I don't want to feel pain. I want to die."
And a 13 year-old-boy said: "My mum is an alcoholic. I need to stop mum and dad arguing and fighting. This is always happening. I feel upset at the way my dad treats her. I feel sad because she goes off for days and drinks. I have not told anyone about what is happening. I like to keep it a secret."
Head of ChildLine Sue Minto said: "The fallout from parental drug and alcohol abuse is a ticking time bomb in many children's lives. It's vital these children are helped before lasting damage occurs. The ChildLine service has given a voice to these hidden children, many of whom feel they have a shameful secret to hide. Many have never told anyone before calling us.
"Children living with parental alcohol and drug problems are at more risk of harm and we need to find ways of helping them sooner. But we must also remember they can be fiercely protective of their parents. One young girl's first comment to the ChildLine counsellor was, 'I don't want anything to happen to my mother'."
Parental drug misuse was reported as a problem in the lives of 2,284 children given ChildLine counselling. These children were almost six times more likely to call about their own drug misuse themselves. They also reported physical abuse as a main problem (25%), family relationship problems (19%), and sexual abuse (8%).
One 12-year-old boy told a ChildLine counsellor: "My dad is beating me and my younger brother; dad injects something into his arm and shouts at me and beats me. My brother and I have bruises. My teachers see this and when they ask I tell them I had a fall."
Sue Minto continued: "Some children told ChildLine about their parents' severe mood swings, episodes of violence, and emotional instability. Some said their parents were regularly sick, and that caring for them had affected their schooling, or prevented them forming friendships with other children. This means teachers can be well placed to ask questions and initiate help for a vulnerable child.
"These children desperately need help to tackle their problems but feel they have no one to turn to. So they often end up caring for their siblings and even their own parents by themselves."

The findings in this report are based on detailed analysis of calls to ChildLine from April 2008 to March 2009.
The NSPCC is the UK's leading children's charity specialising in child protection and its vision is to end cruelty to children. The NSPCC runs projects and services across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands, including ChildLine, the UK's free, confidential 24-hour helpline for children and young people and the NSPCC Helpline for adults concerned about the safety of a child. It helps over 10,000 children and their families every year.
(1) Calls to ChildLine from children who talked about parental drug and alcohol misuse represents four per cent of all (156,729) children counselled by ChildLine.
(2) Last year, 20% of the children who called ChildLine about their parents' alcohol problem were aged 5 to 11. (701 calls)
Similarly, 19% of the children who called ChildLine about their parents' drug problem were aged 5 to 11. (368 calls)
(3) For children who call ChildLine and mentioned a concern about a significant other's alcohol misuse, the most discussed 'main problem' was physical abuse (35 per cent of these calls, 1,392 children counselled).

Alcohol Awareness Materials now available for schools!

An Alcohol Awareness Week is an excellent way to launch your drugs education topic. We have supplied some materials to help you run a day or week event on alcohol for young people

Included are posters, a slide show, inset material, information to access services and lots more!

Go to http://www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/training.php 'Useful Downloads' to 'unzip' the Alcohol Awareness Week materials.

See the other AAW news item from today for more details about the week and how to access more resources.

New contact details for the DrugAware Team!

The DrugAware Team have now relocated to Loxley House. Our Postal Address is now:

The DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
Loxley House
Station Street
Nottingham
NG2 3NG

Phone us on 0115 8764790 and

email us at drugaware.admin@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Winner of the Week for Bank Holiday Week!

Here's our winner for next week - "Make a Choice". You win our DrugAware Goody Bag.

Well done for highlighting making choices, an important aspect of DrugAware.
We love the big blue question mark and the different colours.

If you'd like the chance to see your DrugAware work here, either email your entry to drugaware.admin@collegest.org.uk or post to
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
College Street Centre
College Street
Nottingham
NG1 5AQ

Winner of the Week!

And our Winner of the Week this week is.....

"No Drug, Healthy Heart"

Well done! You have found an excellent slogan which highlights important aspects of being DrugAware - understanding risks and making healthy choices.

Your goody bag will be with you next term.

As always, we'd really like to see the DrugAware work you've been doing so....

why not send it in? You could see it displayed on our website!

Either email your entry to drugaware.admin@collegest.org.uk or post to
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
College Street Centre
College Street
Nottingham
NG1 5AQ

Volatile Substance Abuse - Training Leaflet available to download

VSA is featured in'Tips by Email'. To access training and information on this subject have a look at Re-Solv's leaflet and booking form, available from the member's download section. Go to Schools - Training Resources - Useful Downloads.

It's not too late to sign up for Tips by E-mail -offering up to date information and advice on drugs, alcohol and their effects on young people. Sign up can be done through the DrugAware website or by going via www.tinyurl.com/drugaware

Winner of the Week for last week!

Here is our winner from last week.

We were very pleased to see our winner has highlighted the link between mental health issues and drug and alcohol misuse with the tag: "drugs will mess with your head". This is an implication that is often overlooked.

Well done! A DrugAware winner's goody bag will be with you next term!

Winner of the Week!

Congratulations to our latest winner of the week.

We love your message "No Drugs, No Danger" and your poster design is well set out and clear.

A DrugAware goody bag will be with you next term!

If you have produced some work whilst getting DrugAware, why not send it to us? You could see it displayed on our website!

Either email your entry to drugaware.admin@collegest.org.uk or post to
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
College Street Centre
College Street
Nottingham
NG1 5AQ

Education Link Worker Posters Now Available

Download, print and display an ELW poster in your school today.

Go to www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/training.php and look under "useful downloads" for your Education Link Worker.

Regents House Service Celebrates 10 yrs of Carer Support!

The Regents House Service provides support for families and friends affected by someone else's drug or alcohol misuse.

Regents House is an instant access service, free and confidential, offering support 365 days a year. Funding through the Crime & Drugs Partnership and Nottinghamshire County Drug & Alcohol Action Team enables Regents House to provide a service across Nottingham City and the conurbations.

The role of Young Person's Education & Family Support Worker at Regents House is to work closely with schools and community organisations; provide education and training around substance misuse issues to parents and carers of young people.

Regents House also provide ongoing tailored support to families and individuals who are affected by the substance use of a young person.

Regents House are celebrating 10 years of carer support this year and will continue to offer support to hundreds of families!

Contact them on 0800 052 59 59

Winner of the Week!

This is our winner for next week (uploaded early because of hols!)

We love this imaginative and highly creative poster with it's message 'Think before you drink!'

DrugAware is all about stopping and thinking - is it safe? And this poster sums this up magnificently. Well done!

All winners of the week will receive DrugAware goodies.

Lesson Plans Available to Download !

Did you know .....?

All resource box lesson plans and activities are now available to download and print in colour. So if you've mislaid one or need further copies, go to

www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/schools.php

select 'member downloads', log in and search the listings under 'Lesson Plans'.

DrugAware Winner of the Week!

Well done to our first DrugAware Winner of the Week!

What a fantastic message - 'Real friends don't offer' and we love the brilliant drawing and bright, happy colours.

Walter Halls produce fantastic DrugAware Posters!

Walter Halls school have been very busy making incredible DrugAware posters!
I think you'll agree they look marvelous and have really positive, healthy messages about being drug free.

Well Done Walter Halls!

Starting this week, we will show some of our favourites in a regular
"DrugAware Winner of the Week".

If you have produced some work whilst getting DrugAware, why not send it to us? You could see it displayed on our website!

Either email your entry to drugaware.admin@collegest.org.uk or post to
DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
College Street Centre
College Street
Nottingham
NG1 5AQ

Calling all Designers, Artists, Poets and Writers!

Feel like getting creative this summer??

We are looking for entrants to our new weekly feature -

"DrugAware Winner of the Week"

If you have, or would like to produce some work with a positive, healthy message as part of DrugAware, please send your work to

DrugAware Team
Healthy Schools
College Street Centre
College Street
Nottingham
NG1 5AQ

or email drugaware.admin@collegest.org.uk

You could see your work here! Keep checking the website!

Firbeck Primary and Nursery School announce: We're Getting DrugAware!

At a special assembly on Monday 12th July, Firbeck introduced their pupils to the DrugAware Award. The DrugAware banner was proudly displayed at the school's front entrance for all parents and carers to see.

The DrugAware Support Officer was invited to talk to the children about the scheme and how they would be getting involved. There then followed an interactive session as the pupils were asked to vote on smoking issues and discussed the helpful and harmful aspects to drugs.

We hope you had fun using the DrugAware voting cards and told your family and friends all about Drugaware when you took your special stickers home.

Good Luck with getting DrugAware!

St Augustine's RC School hold DrugAware Assembly!

St Augustine's held a DrugAware assembly on the 2 July to let everyone know they are getting DrugAware!

Parents attended and their teacher talked about the lessons classes have already had and displayed some Drug and Alcohol resources. The DrugAware Support Officer then spoke to the children and parents about the scheme and the activities they would be doing.

The work started straight away as the school council helped to consult pupils on their Drug and Alcohol policy. St Augustine's pupils were the first to use the new DrugAware Voting Cards! They were consulted on lesson plans including smoking, alcohol, peer pressure and the effects of drugs on our bodies.

Good Luck St Augustine's with getting DrugAware!

New Schools Press Packs Available to Download!

Celebrate and Publicise your School's DrugAware achievements with the new Press Packs. These have been designed to assist you with your media relations.

A media Toolkit, Press Release Templates, Powerpoint Presentation and Poster Template are available for schools to download from the school's members area of the website:

http://www.nottinghamdrugaware.co.uk/teachers/index.php.

Resources are listed as Press Pack - For Schools and Press Pack 2.

Volatile Substance Abuse - Training Leaflet available to download

A Re-Solv training leaflet, information and booking form, is now available to download. Go to Schools - Training Resources - Useful Downloads