On Monday, we had our whole school PSHEE afternoon on Drugs and Substances which was led by Zoe from IT Happens Education...

It Happens Education (RSHE for Schools) | Healthy Relationships & Positive Sex Ed

Zoe gave 3 talks all which were extremely relevant to the pupils. The 3^rd & 4^th Form pupils talk was centred around vaping, cannabis and alcohol, and it also touched upon peer pressure and harm reduction. The 5^th & L6^th Form talk was focused on parties and festivals, looking at the risks and how to get help in difficult situations. Finally, the U6^th Form talk was about the Next Chapter, looking at the risks of travelling, in Freshers week, and a topic that the Upper 6^th were concerned about, drink spiking. All pupils had been invited to answer a survey beforehand, so the talks were tailormade for the needs and requests of the pupils. We were introduced to the very useful website www.talktofrank.com and pupils learnt about initiatives such as Hi I’m Angela and The Loop. Tutors all attended too, as did our new PSHEE Governor, Jean Walker.

As a follow up to this, pupils joined with their twin House for this term (Blackford & Priory, Lyon & Arion, New & Wellesley) for a joint Tutor session on Wednesday afternoon. The themes were discussed and pupils feel that both talks have taught them a lot about drugs and substances.

• Alice 3^rd Form  - ‘Very informative and taught me lots about vaping, drinking and drugs. The follow up tutor session was really helpful for discussion.’
• Tilly 4^th Form - ‘The speaker was really engaging and we learnt many new things. Good recap session during Tutor time.’
• Seb 5^th Form - ‘It was very informative and enlightening. It makes you realise there is so much support available to you. The Tutor sessions were superb at consolidating it.’
• Ben 5^th Form - ‘It was a smashing talk, and I was so surprised with the amount of support provided at the big festivals, with the likes of the Loop, medical and welfare camps.’
• Georgia L6^th Form - ‘I was really impressed and I really enjoyed it. I liked how interactive it was and also the speaker gave practical advice in case we get into bad situations.’
• Charlie L6^th - ‘The situations that were discussed in the talk, such as festivals or parties, are new to us, in difficult situations it is very easy to feel alone and without help. The talk enlightened me and my peers to the support available to us that we will undoubtedly need in these potentially dangerous situations we may be facing in such an environment as a wild festival.’
• Rachel U6^th  - ‘It was educational but not in the normal way as it branched out to new topics which are relevant and important to us like drink spiking, drug dangers in other countries and consent. The follow up session during Tutor time was really good and everyone took part.’
• Miss Russell - ‘ The 3^rd & 4^th Form talk was  excellent. The speaker was approachable and created an ethos of openness and understanding. My 3^rd Form tutees took away a huge amount from it, and it has made them think carefully about how they should approach any negative influences in the future.’
• Rev'd Beverly - ‘The 5^th & L6^th Form talk hit all the right notes: it was interactive, evidence based, fast paced and deeply realistic in terms of what it expected teenager experiences at house parties and festivals to be like. I was truly impressed.’
• Dr Larsen - ‘I thought the U6^th Form talk was very good. Very informative and a good delivery style. Feedback from my U6^th pupils and tutees has been all positive.’                                                                                    

Emily Simper - Head of PSHEE