AET newsletter for teachers and other professionals

Spring Term, March 2020, Ed 46

Welcome to the latest edition of the AET newsletter for teachers and other professionals. We hope you had a relaxing half term break and have survived the endless rain; Spring does seem to be arriving at last! Below you will find new statistics about young people's health drinking smoking and drug taking, plus there's awards news and a reminder that the early bird offer for our 19th June alcohol and drugs education conference ends on the 30th March!

Drug and Alcohol Education Conference 2020 - Early Bird offer ends 30 March!

As you know, we are delighted to be co-hosting the Drug and Alcohol Education Conference 2020 in partnership with the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation and The City of London Corporation which will be held on June 19th. This will be a day for professionals to hear from leading experts on the latest research on alcohol and drugs prevention, attend a choice of workshops on evidence-based programmes, and receive planning and evaluation advice for effective PSHE.

This is our third bi-annual National Conference on Alcohol and Drugs Education and Prevention and its aim is to ensure that all professionals working with young people are equipped with the most up to date facts and figures, an understanding of best practice and the evidence base, and resources and tools to deliver engaging and effective drugs and alcohol education.

For schools, this is a great opportunity to make sure you are fully confident, prepared and resourced to teach effective alcohol and drug education to students from September 2020 when it becomes mandatory.

For all teachers, school and college staff, and for any professionals working with young people, it’s a chance to make sure staff are equipped with the best resources and training to ensure an understanding of the context and scale of issues young people face.

A range of experts, including a presentation from PSHE Head of Ofsted Roary Pownall, will provide a valuable insight into the current issues, developments and ideas in the field. The hands-on workshops will demonstrate how best to support young people in building their knowledge, resilience and life skills that will help them make safer choices.

Delegates will have resources to take away and access to PowerPoints in order to be able to plan, deliver and evaluate their PSHE scheme of work or lead group work for young people in other settings. Although the focus is on alcohol and drugs, the interactive workshops will showcase skills, games and activities that are applicable to all PSHE and Health Education.

The conference is amazing value with a special early bird rate of just £49 for schools and charities including presentations, lunch and attendance of two workshops and £79 for other professionals.
To register your interest, or for further information, email kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org and to book your place, visit https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/daniel-spargo-mabbs-foundation/drug-and-alcohol-education-conference-2020-why-it-matters-and-how-to-do-it-well/2020-06-19/10:00/t-gmjpze

Awards news

The Private Education & Development Awards recognises the efforts of all institutions, organisations and agencies who make the education of our societies their priority. We are delighted to have been selected as Best Children's Alcohol Education Consultancy South West 2019!

Tesco funding for work across Cumbria, Lancashire and East Midlands

We have now started supporting schools across Cumbria, Lancashire and the East Midlands thanks to the wonderful grants we have received from the Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grant scheme.

The funds are being used to support children and young people in schools, special schools, pupil referral units and youth/sports clubs throughout these regions with interactive resources and training that builds resilience and promotes safer life choices around alcohol.

If you work in these regions and would like to take advantage of our support either with resources or training sessions, please contact:

Cumbria and Lancashire:
Kathryn@alcoholeducationtrust.org

East Midlands:
Karen@alcoholeducationtrust.org

We already have a huge amount planned with schools and clubs in these areas, so please do contact us soon to avoid disappointment

Resource update

Activity Boxes
Due to the popularity of our activity boxes, these are now out of stock. You can still order a box via kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org but there is likely to be a short delay in delivery while we reprint.

The boxes contain a range of laminated activity and quiz cards as well as the BAFTA winning DVD 'Just a few Drinks'. The boxes usually cost £45 but if you work with a high proportion of pupils who are looked after or have special needs, please let us know as we are able to offer boxes free of charge to support these groups thanks to grant funding. The boxes are particularly suitable for one-to-one and small group work. 

'Alcohol and You' student guide

We have been working on a new version of our student guide 'Alcohol and You' and this will be ready soon. The guide includes a wealth of handy tips and advice for teenagers on how to stay safe around alcohol. It also contains factual advice on the law, unit guidelines and the effects of alcohol on the body. If you would like to order copies for your school or organisation, please contact kate@alcoholeducationtrust.org .

The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children- Reports for England and Scotland

The survey in England found that overall, 7% of young people reported using alcohol at least 3 times during last 30 days - 8% of boys and 7% of girls. The proportion of young people using alcohol at least 3 times in the last 30 days increased with age. The proportion of boys reported having alcohol at least 3 times during the last 30 days has slightly increased since 2010, however proportions of girls remain the same across all three time points.

Overall 9% of young people reported that they had ever drunk alcohol to excess (been drunk) 2 or more times. The prevalence of drinking to excess increased with age, with more than one quarter of 15 year olds reporting that they had been drunk twice or more during their life. The proportion of 15 year old girls who reported that they had been drunk has considerably decreased since 2014 from 32% to 24%.

In the under 18 group, more girls are admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific reasons than boys. In the most recent 3-year period, the admission rate for girls was 37.5 (per 100,000) compared to 25.9 (per 100,000) for boys.

Read the full report for Scotland via https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_707475_smxx.pdf 

and for England via http://hbscengland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/HBSC-England-National-Report-2020.pdf