Collective Letter from West Sussex Schools Regarding Drugs

October 2019 Dear Parent and Carers This is a collective letter from the headteachers and principals of all of the schools and academies listed below. It concerns the access to, and potential use of, illegal drugs in the local area and seeks your support to work alongside Police, Social Services and schools to tackle this menace together, thus keeping all of our children safe. We have all become increasingly concerned about the amount of drug-related incidents that are being reported to us by our students. Our approach, first and foremost, is to address this through education by providing a strong and wide-ranging Personal Development curriculum. We are, of course, extremely vigilant in schools and it remains rare for drugs to be in the possession of students at school. However, when such incidents do occur they are very serious breaches of our behaviour policies and always merit serious sanctions when investigations have revealed concerns to be valid. Such sanctions range from fixed-term exclusion to permanent exclusion depending on the severity of the issue in question and the policies of the individual schools. In view of this, we have collectively agreed to draw your attention to the risks that direct or indirect involvement in drug-related activity can have for your child, and the potential repercussions that follow such involvement. We are very proud of our young people and we take our roles in keeping them safe very seriously. We know that you do too and that is why we request your support in discussing the contents of this letter with your child. The last thing we ever wish to see is students at risk of harm and/or having their place in a school community removed as a result of using, promoting, supplying or possessing any class of illegal drug/psychoactive substance within a school setting or on their way to or from any of our schools. We are saddened by information from Sussex Police which confirms that access to cannabis and other illegal drugs/psychoactive substances is becoming more commonplace within our communities. Obviously the purchase of such drugs is not regulated in the way that alcohol would be for young people and the risks can be far greater. In view of this you need to be aware that your child could be offered the opportunity to sample, purchase, transport, store or supply illegal substances. The people responsible for this clearly do not care about your child's future and will often target young people, in particular, as a means of dealing, transporting or storing drugs for them. Our school leaders have been informed by Sussex Police that there are a number of 'known' lines of supply into West Sussex from towns and cities a very long way from our schools. We have also been informed that young people are actively targeted in parks and other places where they are known to congregate when they are deemed old enough to meet friends socially outside of the direct supervision of their parents/carers. We would really appreciate it if you could ensure that you are aware of your child's whereabouts, when they are in the community, and specifically that you are aware of what they are putting in their school bags and coats before coming to school. Often a precursor to experimentation with cannabis is involvement with cigarettes and e- cigarettes/vapes. Frequent checks will reassure you that there are no visible or sensory indications that your child is starting to become involved with anything you would not approve of. An early response to this, if applicable, would give you the very best chance of ensuring that they will not come to any physical or mental harm in the future. It will also save your child from the potential risk of losing their school place. We do hope that you can accept that this letter, sent to all parents in our school communities, is intended to inform you of a wider problem we are experiencing and that our priority is the safety and wellbeing of your child. To this end, please do talk to us if you are worried and we have included some helpful links at the end of this letter for anyone who has concerns about drugs in their local community. Thank you in anticipation of your support. Yours faithfully The Headteachers and Principals of: The Weald School Tanbridge House School Millais Forest Midhurst Rother College Steyning Grammar School Christ’s Hospital Useful links: Frank: https://www.talktofrank.com/ Change Grow Live: https://www.changegrowlive.org/ NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/drug-addiction-getting-help/ West Sussex County Council: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/keeping-healthy-and-well/drug-and-alcohol- support/ .

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