Drug and alcohol education mapping exercise 2013
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Transcript of Drug and alcohol education mapping exercise 2013
Drug and alcohol education in schools
2013 Teacher Mapping Exercise
Key Messages
Drug and alcohol education provision remains inconsistent.
Primary schools have less access to support and resources, but secondary schools also identify unmet needs.
Assessment and evaluation, continuity in learning and quality assurance of resources and external support remain weaker areas.
While there are examples of excellent drug and alcohol education teaching, many teachers highlighted a lack of curriculum time, constraints on finance for resources and training, and delivery by non-specialist services.
About the research
Teachers from 288 schools across England responded to our questionnaire during June 2013. Follow-up telephone interviews were carried out with 20 of these.
156 respondents were from secondary schools and 70 from primary schools, the remainder in other settings, e.g. middle schools, FE colleges, PRUs
The majority were reached directly through the PSHE Association’s mailing lists.
School drugs education and policy
Most respondents (95%) said that their school provided some drug and alcohol education
86% said that their institution had a whole school drugs policy (8% said ‘No’ and 7% ‘Don’t know’)
“The school drug policy isn’t in the staff handbook…but it is on the online system if people want to look at it. In teaching they would only refer to it if there was a safeguarding issue.”
Time available for drug and alcohol education
A lack of curriculum time was noted by interviewees as an important constraint. The hours allocated depended on the importance placed on drug and alcohol education.
“The most important aspect which could be improved would be curriculum time... it’s about having enough time to build effective teaching and experience.”
Pupils generally receive 1-2 hours of drug and alcohol education a year or less
Key stage one
Key stage two
(lower)
Key stage two
(upper)
Key stage three
Key stage four
Key stage five
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
None
< 1 hour per year
1-2 hours per year
> 2 hours per year
Teachers’ views on what makes an effective teaching resource:
85% Engages pupils’ interest82% Makes pupils think about their attitudes and values
59% Links with other health ed & wider issues in pupils’ lives
55% Sparks discussion52% Meets the needs of a range of pupils51% Gives opportunities to build and practise life skills46% Creates continuity and builds on previous learning37% Can be delivered by non-specialist teachers33% Identifies clear learning outcomes31% Has been evaluated and shown to be effective23% Contains hard-hitting messages
Secondary schools’ access to resources
Secondary schools felt there were some gaps in their drug and alcohol education resources:
Feel that the school is well equipped to
teach all areas needed
Mostly, but there are a few gaps
Sometimes, but several resources
are less than ideal/need updating
Little access to effective resources
Perceived gaps (secondary)
In interviews and comments, a common complaint was that resources were not up-to-date, or not relevant for their pupils.
This was reflected in two-thirds of secondary teachers wanting resources on ‘legal highs’
Generally, secondary teachers were keen for resources which placed drug and alcohol use in the context of other issues in their pupils’ lives...
Most popular topics for resources (secondary)
65% ‘Legal highs’
56% Links between d & a use and sex and relationships
55% Links between d & a use and mental illness
52% Coping with stressful situations without using d or a
47% How many peers use (countering myth that ‘everyone does it’)
44% Links between d & a use and personal safety
43% Practising assertiveness skills
40% Thinking critically about the media and alcohol
Primary schools’ access to resources
A fifth of primary schools (19%) said they had little access to effective resources.
Just 16% felt they were well equipped to teach all areas
Yes, feel that the school is well equipped to
teach all areas needed
Mostly, but there are a few gapsSometimes, but several
resources are less than ideal/need updating
Little access to effective resources
Perceived gaps (primary)
From the most popular requests for new resources, primary schools seem to perceive a lack of basic, substance-specific teaching resources.
“Lots of resources are for secondary schools. (We) need specialist resources for Key Stage 2 which inform without scaring.”
Most popular topics for resources (primary)
50% Alcohol44% Illegal drugs (general)43% Tobacco43% Practising assertiveness skills41% Safe use of medicines
34% Thinking about values, attitudes and working towards long-term goals
30% Thinking critically about the media and alcohol
27% How many peers use (countering myth that ‘everyone does it’)
27% The law around drugs, alcohol and tobacco
What informs schools’ teaching?
Anecdotal evidence is drawn on more than structured needs assessment.
Over half of schools don’t take into account assessment of pupils’ learning.
Primary schools draw on a much narrower base of information: one in ten primary schools said their teaching was informed by ‘none of the above’
Drug and alcohol education is informed by...
None of the above
Other (please specify)
Surveys of pupil behaviour
Class needs analysis
Pupil involvement in evaluating
Assessment of pupils’ learning
Incidents among pupils
Local data
National events or trends
Informal school knowledge on pupils
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
SecondaryPrimary
Non-specialist teachers
Mixed confidence amongst teachers in delivering PSHE and drug and alcohol education remains an issue within schools
“The real barrier that effective (drug and alcohol) teaching faces within the school is that it is not delivered through a PSHE team which leads to a huge variety in delivery.”
“We have some staff who are excellent practitioners, but others are very wary of having to teach PSHE and 'awkward' lesson materials.”
Financial constraints
some interview participants indicated that their schools lacked the financial capacity necessary to secure good external resources of support
“It is hard to find funding to bring in outside speakers and it is sometimes also hard to afford good resources.”
School support
For all types of support , secondaries were more likely to access them than primaries.
Advice on school drug policy
General advice on drug and alcohol education
Classroom resources
Factual information about drugs and alcohol
Staff Training
0% 50% 100%
SecondaryPrimary
School support
FRANK, the police and the PSHE Association were all used more by secondary schools than primary
Other
Charity/ Company/ Independent consultant
Police
PSHE Association *
FRANK website
Local authority advisor
0% 50% 100%
SecondaryPrimary
* Because the majority of respondents were contacted through the PSHE Association more schools would be expected to cite this as a source of support.
What schools wanted more support on
Classroom resources (81%) were most popular. Next most popular were best practice guidance
(57%), policy updates (53%) and good practice case studies (50%)
Secondary schools were more likely to want:
Updates on research about effective drug and alcohol prevention (50% vs 34%)
Resources to help assess pupils’ needs (44% vs 33%)
Advice on assessing pupils’ learning and evaluating drug education provision (49% vs 30%)
Targeted resources for working with pupils seen as ‘at risk’ (41% vs 20%)
Opportunities to network with other practitioners and experts in the field (31% vs 20%)
Parents
Overall, 40% said they would like advice on working with parents.
Some interviewees from primary noted that parents were often uneasy with drug and alcohol education being taught.
Two respondents from secondary settings reported that external support for engaging parents with PSHE had now been withdrawn because of cuts, leaving the teachers themselves feeling less confident about working with parents.
For more information
The full report detailing the findings from the survey can be downloaded from http://mentor-adepis.org
Contact us:[email protected]@mentor-adepis020 7553 9920