The D.I.C.E. Program

(Drug Informed Choice Education)

Annual Report

2005/06

By Jeffrey Webb

Program Manager

              Index

                               Page

1) Introduction………………………………………………3

2) The Program…………………………………………….4

3) Achievements Gwynedd……………………………….5

                          Ynys Mon……………………………….7

                           West Sussex…………………………..9

                            Somerset………………………………11

4) Comparison Chart, North Wales, England…………. 13

5) DICE Web Site………………………………………….14

6) Publicity………………………………………………….15

7) Pupil Feedback………………………………………….18

8) Teacher Feedback……………………………………...21

10) Teacher Evaluations…………………………………..25

11) The Future……………………………………………...26

12) Dice Policies……………………………………………27

Introduction

1.         The Need

Each pupil should receive a broad and balanced curriculum which: promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of the society and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. (Section 351, Education Act, 1996)

Drug education is part of this curriculum. There is a statutory requirement for drug education in the National Curriculum Science Order, 2000 (see www.nc.uk.net)

Pupils say they want: (Section 2.2 Drugs: Guidance for schools)

1.    Drug education to be interesting, involving drama, true-life stories and external contributors.

2.    To be taught by people who know what they are talking about.

3.    As much information as possible, they do not want to be told just say no

4.    To know the range of effects of drugs, including real dangers, and how to cope with an emergency.

5.    To engage in discussion and debate

The D.I.C.E. Program recognises the need for the real life impact within drug education.

Real life stories of young people whose lives have been destroyed by drugs should play a part in teaching and learning approaches (section 2.10 Drugs: Guidance for schools)

2.         The Program

The program was piloted at year 9/10 pupils in 2004 at schools in Anglesey and Gwynedd. It was a huge success and as a result funding has been secured by local Substance Misuse Action Teams to deliver this program into all schools in Anglesey and Gwynedd in 2005/06.

The D.I.C.E. Program (Drug Informed Choice Education) is delivered by recovered addicts giving a sense of realism to the education. They share there past experiences of substance misuse with young people to dissuade them away from a self-destructive lifestyle. A Varity of programs can be delivered, aimed at educating young people, adults and professionals. All presenters are CRB checked and vetted by the DICE steering group.

The programme is aimed at giving all involved more informed choices. Not by telling people what to do, but by presenting the hard facts. This is done by incorporating role-plays into the presentations, re-enacting horrendous scenes from drug and alcohol addiction. Invariably some people may find some of the role-plays quite shocking. But ‘young people tell us they take real-life accounts of the impact of drugs very seriously’, (Parent & Schools Magazine), www.dfes.gov.uk/parents. However after the role-plays people are then shown the positive sides of lives now, making them aware that the lives now, are much better than the past lives of drug and alcohol addiction.

3.  Achievements for 2005/06

We have done work in 2 counties in North Wales and 2 in England

Gwynedd

During this year we attended (See breakdown below) and delivered 71 sessions in total and seen over 1500 young people in Gwynedd

1.    13 secondary schools in Gwynedd and seen all year 9 pupils Drug Awareness

2.    2 secondary schools in Gwynedd and seen all year 10 pupils Drug Awareness

3.    3 pupil referral units

4.    3 youth clubs

5.    1 collage

6.    Trip trap

7.    Bangor University

8.    Health fair day

All learners were given a pre-presentation Questioners and post presentation Questioners. This was to see if there were any positive changes in attitude regarding Substance Misuse (Please see results below) these figures are calculated from completed questioners returned during presentations. So the overall figure seen is much higher.