On the 20th June, The AET and Mentor hosted a conference at Liverpool John Moores University for all those working with young people, showcasing teaching methods, psychologies and evidence-based approaches that reduce children’s negative risk taking. Read the conference report with links to presentations... read more
The National Alcohol and Drugs Conference 2018 was held on 21st June 2018 at Liverpool John Moores University The welcome address was delivered by The Public Health Institute Director Mr Jim McVeigh. Keynote addresses by Rt Hon Nick Gibbs, Minister of State at DfE and Victoria Atkins, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State. PCC Amy Fletcher, Youth Officer for Cheshire Police Safer Schools partnership, spoke on school based projects targeting more vulnerable populations across Cheshire and on dealing with some of the problems faced regarding drugs and alcohol in schools. Dr John McAlaney, a principal academic in the Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University delivered a talk entitled ‘Are you Normal? (Mis) perceptions of alcohol and drug use in adolescents’ Dr David Regis, Research Manager for the Schools Health Education Unit in Exeter presented on trends in drug and alcohol use in young people and some connections. For all presentations and video clips of the keynote addresses, please visit http://alcoholeducationtrust.org/conference-presentations/ ... read more
Thanks to the support of the Herts Community Foundation, we are delighted to be able to offer our full Talk about Alcohol resource packs and training free of charge to schools across Hertfordshire. The award-winning resource packs include lesson plans, implementation advice, a DVD and pictorial rich sheets for less able students all indexed by subject and year group. Attendees will receive a full pack of resources worth £90 to take home (one per school). In partnership with Herts4Learning, we will be offering teacher training sessions and parent talks to schools in the county. The first Talk about Alcohol teacher training session will be held on Wednesday 6th June from 9.30 to 12.30 at Aspley Campus, Brindley Way, Hemel Hempstead HP3 9BF. This session will demonstrate best practice use of the resources and provide a range of activities for effective and enjoyable alcohol education. If you would like to book a place on this training or are a school in Hertfordshire and would like to see how we can support you, please contact... read more
We are pleased to have supported a number of independent schools and are recommended as a speaker by The Girls’ Schools Association. AET’s CEO Helena was pleased to write a feature for The Independent Schools Magazine recently in which she outlines planning and delivery of manageable, enjoyable and easily implemented alcohol education. You can read the article on here Please do get in touch if you work in the independent sector for further information about how we can support your... read more
The 11 principles of effective preventative health education have been mapped by The PSHE Association following a review of school programmes designed to reduce students’ risk taking. These principles are relevant to all PSHE topics but each one is carefully built into the Alcohol Education Trust’s Talk about Alcohol programme. This link explores each principle one by... read more
We have recently produced a leaflet to give background information on the Alcohol Education and the work we carry out. The leaflet gives information on who we are, what we do and why we are needed as well as illustrating our approach to reducing alcohol-related harm, the impact and reach of our work and our goals going... read more
A day for professionals to hear from leading experts on the latest research on alcohol and drugs prevention, attend a choice of workshops on evidence-based programmes and receive planning and evaluation advice for effective PSHE. On 21st June 2018 two charities, The Alcohol Education Trust and Mentor, are bringing together a group of experts to showcase evidence-based and effective good practice that can be used in education and youth settings across the UK for alcohol and drugs education and prevention. About the conference With the likelihood of PSHE becoming a statutory teaching requirement for schools, this conference and selection of workshops will offer teachers, PSHE leads, local authorities and anyone working in the field of alcohol and drugs with young people the opportunity to learn about the most highly trialled and rigorously tested school/youth programmes together with ‘hands on ‘how to’ workshops hosted by PSHE professionals. Free for PSHE leads and teacher £90 for other delegates to include lunch.... read more
We are delighted to have been selected by the Aviva Community Fund for potential funding. The Aviva Community Fund aims to make a positive difference in local communities and members of the public are invited to vote for projects that will make a difference in their community The charities receiving the most votes are entered into the finals and become eligible for funding to support a project. We would be so grateful if you could support our project by registering and voting for us via https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/17-1430 the site is expected to be very busy, so please don’t give up if it says try later as we do need your votes please! The voting is open between 24 October and 21st November and, once you have registered, you will be given 10 votes to spread around or use to support one project.... read more
Empowering youth through prevention and education Save the date: 21st June 2018 More details coming soon – watch this space About the conference Alcohol and drugs are taught at a basic level through the science curriculum in schools, but the life and resilience skills that young people need to prevent drug use and enable them to make healthy choices about drugs and alcohol as they get older can be better developed through Personal Social Health and Economic (PSHE) education or other teaching opportunities. Schools, local authorities and educators in non-formal education settings can benefit from guidance regarding effective, evidence-based alcohol and drugs prevention programmes, as well as support to improve training, content and delivery. The Alcohol Education Trust The Alcohol Education Trust (AET) is a national charity providing evidence-based resources on alcohol for 11-18 year olds across the UK, training for teachers and youth leaders and good parenting workshops. Visit www.alcoholeducationtrust.org and www.talkaboutalcohol.com to learn more. Mentor Mentor is a national charity working to prevent the misuse of alcohol and drugs among children and young people. Their work is rooted in building young people’s resilience, helping them develop the life skills they need in order to negotiate challenging situations. Mentor provides children and young people with the appropriate knowledge, skills and positive health values to help them develop the self-confidence to make their own decisions. Visit www.mentoruk.org.uk to learn... read more
Press release: Embargoed until 4 September Why do parents and teenagers consistently overestimate the percentage of young people who drink alcohol and the prevalence of drunkenness? Parents and carers think they are justified in supplying alcohol to teens because they perceive it’s the norm and assume that someone else will supply it if they don’t 78% of parents overestimated the number of teenagers who drink alcohol– just 38% of 11-15 year olds have tried alcohol and only 4% drink weekly Only 3% of parents correctly identified that 20% of 16-24 year olds get drunk regularly – most thought at least half did. 49% of parents and carers believed friends and peers were the prime suppliers of alcohol to their children and whereas it is actually themselves. The Alcohol Education Trust, which supports over 1,400 schools to prevent alcohol related harm has, in the past twelve months, interviewed parents and carers and secondary school children about their attitudes and behaviours around alcohol. At a series of events throughout England, 650 11-15 year olds took part in face-to-face interviews. In addition, more that 300 parents and carers were questioned before and after an information session delivered by AET specialist staff on how to keep children safe around alcohol. The results may surprise you – 49% of adults didn’t realise that parents are the prime supplier of alcohol, believing it to be friends and peers – and 65% of children believed this too. Commonly, parents and carers thought that giving their children alcohol would stop them getting it from somewhere else and at least that way they’d know what they were... read more
