St Andrew's College
|
|
|
St Andrew's College maintains a learning environment free of alcohol, 
drugs, and other harmful substances to provide a physically and emotionally safe place for students, staff, and the school community (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015; Education and Training Act 2020). We comply with all relevant New Zealand legislation and take a whole-school wellbeing approach to alcohol, drugs, and other harmful substances.
If a student or staff member is potentially impaired by alcohol, drugs, or other harmful substances while at school, work, or attending a school-related event, the school has an obligation to manage the risk to ensure the safety of everyone.
Staff are made aware of this policy as part of their staff induction and as required. This policy also applies to anyone supervising students in any activity organised by, or on behalf of, the school (e.g. EOTC events).
Smoking and vaping are managed separately due to the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990. For legislation and school policy around smoking and vaping, see Smokefree and Vapefree.
Wellbeing approach to alcohol and drugs
In keeping with our whole-school approach to student and staff wellbeing, St Andrew's College takes reasonable actions to protect our school community from the effects of alcohol, drugs, and other harmful substances. We are guided by a harm minimisation approach (as recommended by the New Zealand National Drugs Policy 2015–2020 and international evidence), which is strengths-based and focuses on prevention, early intervention, health promotion, and education.
We offer proactive support by:
We follow our Privacy Policy at all times.
All staff should be aware of signs of impairment in order to encourage a positive, safe, and healthy school environment that focuses on the prevention of alcohol and substance misuse.
Our Behaviour Management policy also outlines our intention to promote positive student behaviour and de-escalate challenging behaviour.
Policy requirements
At St Andrew's College, no-one should:
There may be exceptions for alcohol where it has been approved at a school or social event outside school hours.
We also ensure that we manage the risk of impairment from the influence of drugs and/or alcohol for bus drivers through contracted testing requirements that may include pre-employment, random, post-incident, and probable cause testing.
We do not offer alcohol as a prize for fundraising activities, such as raffles, as this is prohibited under the Gambling (Prohibited Property) Regulations 2005. See Prohibited property for gambling 
Students
Students must follow the policy requirements while on school grounds or taking part in school activities, and while wearing school uniform.
We have a separate policy to ensure student medication (prescription and non-prescription) is kept securely and taken appropriately. See Medicines.
Students are encouraged to ask for help if they think they may have a problem with alcohol, drugs, or other harmful substances. Students approaching the school at their own initiative and asking for help is not treated as a breach of the policy and will be dealt with under our Responding to Student Wellbeing Concerns policy.
Staff
Staff must follow the policy requirements and maintain proper standards of integrity and conduct while on school grounds, carrying out their role, taking part in school-related activities, or while representing the school.
Staff must only use prescription and over-the-counter medication as directed and must:
Any disclosures about risks of impairment in relation to medicine use are managed according to our Personal Information and Privacy Policy.
If a staff member thinks they may have an alcohol and/or drug problem that may affect their work, they are encouraged to ask for help as soon as possible. If a disclosure is made at the initiative of a staff member, this is generally treated differently from a breach of the policy requirements, but the board of governors must still ensure that staff are fit to perform their role. Staff are made aware of the Voluntary Impairment Assessment available from the Teaching Council. We follow relevant legislation (Education and Training Act 2020 and Teaching Council Amendment Rules 2023) and our privacy guidelines at all times.
Breaches
If a student or staff member breaches this policy, we follow the relevant procedures:
A breach of this policy by any other person involved with the school (e.g. volunteers or members of the school community) is considered on a case-by-case basis by the board of governors. Possible and known breaches are processed through the concerns and complaints process, and we are guided in our responses by the student and staff breaches policies and our community conduct expectations policy. See Concerns and Complaints Policy and School Community Conduct Expectations.
Hei mihi | Acknowledgement SchoolDocs appreciates the input of Rebecca Laney, associate at Anderson Lloyd Dunedin, in the legal review of this policy. |
Release history: Term 4 2023, Term 3 2023, Term 2 2019
