At Sacred Heart School we are committed to implementing the Substance Abuse Program. This program was developed by CEAC-K in consultation with the CEO. It is a K-12 program that addresses the problems many of the children in our schools face as a result of the abuse and misuse of addictive substances.
Program Principles:
* Substance abuse is a family and a community problem.
* There is a need to have the whole community aware of, involved in and supportive of any school based program.
* Teachers need a variety of strategies and materials from which to select appropriately.
* Substance abuse needs to be addressed across the curriculum, across the school and at each year level.
* It is never too early to start.
* Local community resources, especially the local people, are a better place to begin than resources brought in from outside or produced elsewhere.
History
The Substance Abuse Program was introduced into schools in 2001. Each class chose a minimum of one topic to incorporate into their Health Program per term. Substance Abuse was timetabled separately to ensure continuity and to highlight its priority.
Programming
With the introduction of the Family Life Education Program in 2002, the Substance Abuse Program has been used differently. The objectives and activities of the Substance Abuse program have been identified and linked closely to each of the five topics in the FLE Program. The Substance Abuse Program and activities will be used as a major resource during Term 3 when the Health Awareness component of the FLE program is being taught.
A joint delivery of the content of the program between the Teacher and Aboriginal Teaching Assistant is encouraged.