Vol.3 Issue: 2 - Westgate Deanery School-Community Drug Forums

During the 2002 school year principals from four Catholic primary schools in the Westgate Deanery came together at Joseph's Corner to hear about the Commonwealth funded School Community Drug Forums and to consider their own involvement in this initiative. One of the stated aims of such forums was to publicise and celebrate school drug education programs and to strengthen the partnerships between teachers, families, students and the wider community.

Representatives from Joseph's Corner, Mary of the Cross Centre, the Catholic Education Office, Police in Schools Program, the Department of Education and Training and the following four schools met to plan drug education activities

• Sacred Heart, Newport
• St Margaret Mary's, Spotswood
• St Augustine's, Yarraville
• St Mary's Williamstown.

In preparation to teach drug education to grade 5 and 6 students Pam Blackman senior drug education project officer in the Western Region and Philippa Lovell from the Catholic Education Office trained teachers from the four schools to deliver lessons based on two excellent resources, Get Real and Get Wise. Children really enjoyed the classroom activities and gained accurate and age appropriate information about tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, caffeine and medicines.

In term four parents of grade 6 children were invited to Talking Tactics Together forums. These forums aimed to promote communication and understanding between parents and their children about drugs. The students introduced and organised a number of the activities they had had so much fun doing themselves in the classroom and engaged in discussions with parents about the harmful effects of drugs. Parents were very appreciative of the opportunities provided by these schools to talk with their children about drug use, particularly as they prepared for transition from primary into secondary school.

The success of the Westgate forums lies in the commitment of personnel from schools and agencies to meet regularly, to undertake professional development, to introduce new programs into their classrooms and to empower students to engage with parents. As with any joint venture it took a while for the seed to germinate (talking round in circles to begin with) but the enthusiasm of both parents and students involved in Talking Tactics Together made it very worthwhile.