What do we do?
Student workshops and other provision
Making safer choices: drug and alcohol education for young people
Our team of drug educators deliver workshops for students in schools and colleges, and in community youth settings. Our provision is mapped to the evidence base of what is most effective and to standards of best practice, and content is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis to ensure it is current, relevant and addresses the needs of young people.
A range of topics are covered according to the audience and time available, but broadly the starting point is to cover Dan’s story, general risks of illegal drugs, risks of specific drugs (starting with alcohol and vaping), choices and decision making (with a focus on peer pressure), general staying safe advice and signposting. For older students, workshops usually also feature information on cannabis, adolescent brain development, specific staying safe advice including harm reduction, and first aid. Older students are usually surveyed before a workshop to tailor the workshop to their context and requirements, and our bespoke approach means we are open to discussing with settings any specific topics they want included, for example a workshop solely on vaping, or a session for older students on staying safe at parties and festivals.
We will deliver workshops in person, within reasonable reach of our base in South London, though we can go further afield depending on capacity. We also offer live-streamed sessions; basically, we try and be as flexible as possible in order to plan something that is effective for each individual group of young people, wherever they might be.
See our current offerings booklet here.
For further information, please email us at bookings@dsmfoundation.org.uk
Students said:
“Dan’s story really resonated with all of us students, it could have easily been us just as it was him… that was very powerful.”
Teachers said:
“The whole presentation and content was very powerful. The students were totally engaged throughout, with just the right balance of serious and humour. This session was extremely popular and rated very highly by the students in our own feedback.”
“Really well pitched for students and staff have commented that they were discussing the usefulness of the session afterwards.”
PSHE/PSE drug education resources for teachers
Our programme of PSHE/PSE resource packs is available free-of-charge to all schools and colleges, and can be downloaded from our webshop. Each pack provides everything busy teachers need to deliver effective, interactive and engaging drug and alcohol education as part of PSHE/PSE, either in lessons or in shorter, bite-sized form time sessions, and are differentiated by year group.
Sessions combine age-appropriate information about:
- the effects and risks of drugs and alcohol
- legal risks and consequences
- practical strategies for staying safe
- harm reduction advice (for older students)
- where to find more information and support.
Sessions also include discussion around issues such as:
- motivation
- the teenage brain
- peer influence
- resilience
These resources are all adapted for the curriculum, year groups and context for both England and Wales, and for Scotland.
We also have some mini resource packs – currently on vaping and cannabis edibles – which comprise a pre-recorded short film for students (approx. 10 minutes), a follow-up lesson plan and slides for teachers to use, and a pre-recorded staff briefing (approx. 15 minutes) explaining the issues and risks to students, and what schools can do to support them to make safer choices.
Students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
SEND students can be especially vulnerable to taking risks with drugs and alcohol, and a different approach to drug education is needed. Our bespoke offering means we can tailor our provision, in discussion with settings, to ensure students’ needs are met.
We also have developed some specialist resources with SEND teacher and author Mark Harrington:
‘What Could Go Wrong’ is a simple graphic novel, based on Dan’s story, and written for students with lower abilities. The novel is beautifully illustrated by Eve Yarnton, and can be purchased through Amazon.
‘What’s The Worst That Could Happen?’ is a short play, based on Dan’s story, from the perspective of his friend Jack, who worked closely with Mark and his students to develop the script. This is also available from Amazon.
‘Drugs, Decisions and Difference: Neurodiversity and Drug Use in Young People’ (Sheldon Press 2022), is the one of three sets of materials written by DSMF Director Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, to supplement her award-winning book for parents, ‘I Wish I’d Known – Young People, Drug and Decisions: A Guide for Parents and Carers’ (Sheldon Press 2021)
This short e-book includes information and practical advice for parents, teachers and professionals working with neurodiverse young people, especially those with autism or ADHD, or both:
- the context for neurodiverse teenagers
- differences in the risks and effects of drugs and alcohol
- ways in which neurodiversity can affect decision-making and managing risk
- vulnerabilities relating to grooming and exploitation
- differing approaches to conversations about drugs
- differing support needs and challenges
- delivering effective SEN drug education
Transition to secondary or senior school 
Our Mission Transition programme is available free of charge as a resource pack for delivery by class teachers.
The programme focuses on resilience, choice and risk, contextualised to drugs and alcohol, in preparation for secondary or senior school. Pupils are given opportunities to explore and identify their core values, which in turn will help strengthen their resilience. There is also an activity that introduces them to the risks of some of the most commonly used drugs – alcohol and tobacco, for example - in an age-appropriate way, so they are able to explore their own and each other’s beliefs and gain sensible insights, as well as understand peer pressure and decision making. Through these activities, they start to develop a toolkit of ideas and techniques to make good choices and be a positive role model for others.
A trauma-informed approach
We are very mindful that while the content of workshops and lessons is evidence-based and relatable due to the recounting of Dan’s story, it might be difficult and potentially triggering for some students and staff. As a trauma-informed education provider, we support schools and colleges through our booking process to help them identify vulnerable individuals and make appropriate arrangements, for example, ensuring they know that pastoral support is available. It is beneficial all round to know whether there are any issues we need to be sensitive to when speaking to students, as well as any additional needs within the cohort, and we are always happy to talk through any specific issues before visiting a setting.
Intervention workshops
We sometimes get approached to run sessions for students who are regarded as needing some extra attention, perhaps because of concerns about them using drugs or being at increased risk of doing so. We are always happy to consider the needs of any group of young people in any setting, and are skilled at differentiating our content to suit the age and stage of students (as our SEND and ESOL work is testament to).
However, our experience and expertise lies in universal drugs education, and some of the requests for intervention workshops may be better served by drug misuse services run for young people at a local level (such as Change Grow Live and We Are With You, though this differs according to area). Sometimes community organisations such as those run by big name sporting clubs also deliver specialist provision within schools for young people who are more vulnerable in a number of ways. These arrangements enable relationships and trust to be built in a way that is usually more constructive and long lasting, so we would encourage anyone looking for intervention workshops to approach their local organisation. Details of these may be held by settings, should be available from local authorities, or can be found by using the postcode search facilities at https://www.talktofrank.com/get-help/find-support-near-you or via the NHS website.
If a setting is struggling to find a local provider, or has any questions, we are of course happy to help. Please email admin@dsmfoundation.org.uk.
