Latymer Upper-drug issues?

For all the people who say that all schools have "drug related issues" etc., please explain to me why all these other schools are not regularly reported on by the BBC and The Times? Are the BBC and The Times picking on Latymer Upper? Or are they just reporting the facts about the school?

@pkim123 have you been hacked monthly or something happened that caused you to hate the school this much eg kid didn’t get a place. You single this school, renew threads every once in awhile. No one has this much time on their hands. There are so many other schools with drug related issues or named in “Everyone’s Invited”. You don’t name those other schools. Does make one wonder…. Bitterness does strange things to a person!

ZOMBIE THREAD

It’s 4 years ago @pkim123

Yes, over the years you are correct, Latymer Upper has repeatedly had drug abuse issues. You can see stories from The Times and BBC over the years. Please be careful.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/latymer-upper-school-forces-out-seven-over-drugs-c29wgvsnl

www.bbc.co.uk/news/10269901

One of my colleagues is a relatively recent alumni of Latymer Upper, and assures me that this no doubt fine institution is not immune from the pervasive availability of drugs in the area. Students freely communicate about supply and provision of drugs with one another. Few are foolish enough to get caught. Personally I grew and smoked Mary-Jane to my hearts content when I was a student at the Eton of the North shall we say. We had weekly locker inspections, etc. but to a certain extent it's part of the joy of youth to find ways to break the rules. Read "Boy" by Roald Dahl, and put your woes to rest. Then again in my day no-one was smoking skunk. Why not educate your beloved children about the dangers of skunk and spice and all the rest. They can easily get together and grow their own indica weeds, and then there is less to worry about. I don't smoke or take any drugs myself anymore, other than a little tipple of Umeshu, but really, your best bet is to educate the little tykes and help them cultivate other passions. If you want any more gritty details I don't mind asking my esteemed colleague, who comes across as an exceptionally well-adjusted, intelligent and capable young man, despite whatever drugs London has to offer.

Private schools can let in whoever they like
especially if they are rich or famous
and they always have
and they always will

You may snigger, but schools like Universities select on clear (though not necessarily published) criteria. Appeals happen in both state and private school sectors. I am assuming that your school experience predates the 2010 Equalities Act.

school admissions are governed by the Equalities Act, and the market for buying places is not what it was.
Oh, of course, silly me, private selective schools are not allowed to select
snigger

We knew the previous head better than the current one, but certainly in his day I doubt LU would have expelled pupils on the basis of a single incident. We simply don't know whether these pupils had been pushing boundaries for a while, and how many earlier warnings they would have been given. There used to be Headmaster's detention which means sitting in the Headmaster's study on a Saturday morning getting on with something whilst he caught up with his work, with the real advantage that he knew some of the more sparky kids personally and over a longish time period. And none of us will know whether the school have been helping behind the scenes to help some of the group find other schools.

LU, from our observation, is generally good with big characters. Some London girls schools can be very quick to manage out problem pupils, but their friends at LU seemed to survive and thrive. Not because they were allowed to behave as they wanted, but because they had a clear framework of rules and sanctions.

I think TiPs knowledge of academic London school's is out of date. Like Universities, school admissions are governed by the Equalities Act, and the market for buying places is not what it was.

Stateschoolparent, I totally agree re the second chance. They were young and stupid and a second chance would seem appropriate. I suppose unless you know the whole story (I don't) it's difficult to fully understand.

A school friend of mine was expelled from several famous schools for drug use and dealing (her penchant was cocaine)
but because she had a famous and wealthy daddy, other schools were only too happy to take their cash
so she got her A levels and degree

she's a nun now !

orangeplum no one is disputing that its a good school and much in demand -I meant that no one will make a decision to join Latymer based upon whether it adopts a hard or softer attitude to drugs as the same problem exists at all London schools. So why not give the pupils a second chance?

I understand that they are now filling up the places of those asked to leave so can't be that bad PR. It's got a reputation as a great school so people will want their children to go there.

I should have added that the recent reported incident and action taken/guidance issued by Kings College Wimbledon (counselling/drug testing) was in keeping with how I feel a private school should tackle the issue.

I doubt people will choose the school because of its attitude to drugs as all West London private schools -and particularly those which are , or were originally, boys schools- have been rife with drugs since the sixties. Taking such a firm line as reported in this instance seems to me to backfire on a school in terms of PR as it starts to gain a reputation FOR drugs. Indeed the media also reported drug expulsions at Latymer in 2007 and 2010 and after the latest escapade even my state school DCs were saying they were glad they were not at Latymer with all the drugs..I believe that a softer approach benefits both a school and pupils. Does anyone seriously believe that expelling pupils for smoking cannabis is more likely to stop them taking it than keeping them at school and subjecting them to drug testing and counselling? Or that once expelled they will stop hanging out with their former classmates after school?

But your posts suggest that drugs on campus were not taken seriously at your DCs school, and that it was very much down to the student whether they failed their exams as a result.

Right or not, and I don't know the detail, this does not seem to be the attitude at Latymer.

Which is presumably one reason why people might choose the school.

Needmorsleep
The dog is unusual - PSC do it because their campus is big and they have over 4000 late teen kids roaming around

drugs are as prevalent if not more so in private schools than they are in state schools
it has always been that way

TBH when my kids went up to secondary there were lurid tales of "the cocaine problem" - turned out it was a very narrow clique who could easily be avoided.

Same as it was at my selective private London school several decades ago

I suspect that Latymer Upper will have a LOT of parents and students going in with tales of what is happening off campus. Might have bitten off more than they can chew. Education st home and at school and anywhere else we can drill it into them is all needed.

I can only go on personal experience. I have never heard of a drugs dog in a London Private school.

For me this is worth paying to avoid.
Sorry,
you think there is LESS of it at Private schools ??????
ROTFLMAOPMPL

"DCs 6th form gets the drug dog regularly"

For me this is worth paying to avoid. Drug use at University has been shocking. Lots of horse tranquilizer, and others telling DD she is boring because she does not join in. In parallel though, she finds her stoned peers boring.

There is both experimentation with drugs and misuse at London private schools. However the base lines provided by schools are clear, and lots of education into the risks. Neither DC was under any pressure to experiment. And I am pretty sure very few of their immediate friends did. For some it might be cool to take drugs, for others it was cool to be clever and to enjoy education (or sporty, or into drama/music). From what DD has seen at University this might not be the case elsewhere.

Where is the pastoral care. Where is the education about drugs and what drugs do
At school. My DC has been educated about drugs and what drugs do at LU. They've had talks about alcohol and about drugs. My DC also knew about drugs and what drugs do because we had many talks at home before he started secondary school. It never ceases to amaze me that parents expect schools to do the parenting they ought to do themselves.

DCs 6th form gets the drug dog regularly
whoopee doos
kids take selfies with it
stoned kids do worse at exams
their problem

I'm not so sure about the agreement between schools. Kings have sent out a very long end of term letter outlining their drugs policy and it spells out, obviously to re-assure parents, that this wouldn't happen there. The expulsions I mean not the drugs as obviously that happens everywhere. Latymer does seem to like hitting the headlines every few years with a story like this.
I hope these children find places soon, as a parent with DCs at London schools I would be proud if any of their schools found spaces for them.

Shock horror
school filled with rich bright kids has a few who try illegal drugs
wow

cos UK drug laws are so perfectly based on evidence of harm