From Ms Allum

Most of you would know that we work with Paul Dillon from the Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) organisation to deliver programs for senior students and all parents around these important topics. Paul speaks to girls from Years 10 – 12 and to parents of all year groups K-12. I hope you have heard some of his varied talks on the use of drugs and alcohol in young people, and also his talks about parenting of children and young people too. Together with all the information, blogs, podcasts and books provided by DARTA on their website, Paul is a great resource for us all!

In 2017, we worked with Paul and DARTA to conduct an anonymous survey of all girls in Years 7-12 about their use and understanding of smoking, drugs and alcohol. This survey was invaluable in helping us refine our wellbeing and PDHPE programs for students, and for our parent information talks too. Many of you would have received a parent information sheet, too, about the results of the survey for the age group that your daughters are in.

We have decided to conduct the survey again, to keep our data relevant and up-to-date, to identify any significant changes post-lockdowns and also to include additional questions on vapes and vaping. We want to understand more about our students use vapes, tobacco, alcohol and other drugs, and their attitudes to and understanding of them. We will keep you informed about the results when we have them.

The survey will be administered next Monday, 16 May, during Form Time. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss this or if you have any questions.

Best wishes
Jenny Allum