Latymer Upper-drug issues?

[princessllama]

hi,
does anyone have any helpful info on what the drug situation is at Latymer Upper. i have been hearing from 2 different sources that it is a bit of an issue. we are trying to decide whether to send our dc in September. I love everything i have heard about LU so far-great teaching and pastoral care etc, but the drugs issue has me worried.
i would be grateful for any info

[Latymer2018]

stateschoolparent I do not see the possession of cannabis amongst 13/14 year olds as a minor offence or a trivial matter. It worries me a great deal. You are, of course entitled to your own opinion. However, my professional experience has taught me that cannabis is far from the soft drug many think it is. The Latymer pupils are very clever and very confident, and probably need to be reminded that rules are there for a purpose, and you break them at your peril. Certainly that's a clear unambiguous message to both children and parents and hard to argue with.

[Brutneyspies]

Neither of you know the details of what happened and nor do most Latymer parents. I am not going to "enlighten" you on what actually happened, I don't think it's remotely helpful to anyone involved to publish such things online.

[Latymer2018]

It might be worth remembering that this thread is about actual children and families and that speculation is neither kind nor helpful. I am guessing none of us really know the full facts.

[londonista1]

If they threw out every pupil who had smoked weed out of school at London independent or state schools then there'd be a lot of schools with about 20 kids on their rolls come A level time, and I'd say any parent who thinks differently has their head in the sand.

While 13/14 is young even for London, there must be more to this particular story for it to be an instant expulsion.

[AnotherNewt]

I agree with londinista

All, and I mean all, London secondaries have problems with pupils and drugs from time to time. The thing that matters is the school's response

So the sorts of questions you need to be asking are about the school's drugs policy (have you read and compared them for all your candidate schools?) and to perhaps when you visit ask someone with pastoral responsibilities some questions about drug issues in the school: how many cases the school has dealt with in the last few years, his many led to expulsion and how many to other action. How many drugs tests have been carried out on how many pupils? How many who were given a second chance were later asked to leave because of a further drug-related issue? When do they involve the police, and how often has this happened? If there are drugs-related expulsions, what do they tell other pupils when a classmate has to leave?

What do they teach the pupils about drugs, and when? Do they provide information on drugs and teens to parents?

[extinctspecies]

It's not just London schools which have issues with drugs.

At my DS' very rural school (day/boarding/independent) some kids were expelled for drug taking in the 4th form.

I'd say it's a feature of almost every school, everywhere.

It's how the schools deal with it that matters.

[AnotherNewt]

Very true extinctspecies so I ought to explain that I answered in a London context because OP is actively considering a London day school. So I did rather assume that's the metropolis in which she dwells.

[Nickmom]

This thread has really stuck with me. The Latymer situation aside, is anyone else bothered by a head calling the police? About something that happened off campus?

I agree with londonista. Kids are trying pot. I don't approve but I've got two in uni and one in secondary and I hear about it all the time. I think she nailed it. All school have drugs and that is the problem.

Brut- I'm not talking the specific situation. I agree we probably don't know the details because surely the school would be looking to punish/catch whoever sold the drugs to a 13 year old.

[stateschoolparent]

Ignoring the specific situation as no-one seems to know the details, many private schools now seem to come down very hard on teenagers taking soft drugs/cannabis which I personally think is the wrong approach. Those let off with a final warning (including a certain former PM allegedly) often go on to great academic success.The farce of private schools expelling pupils was best exemplified a few years ago when it was reported that the headmaster of one of the country's top private schools who had expelled pupils for smoking cannabis had himself smoked cannabis as a pupil at the school decades earlier. Ironically as a state school parent I feel much more confident that my DCs would be given a second chance if they smoked cannabis or at least that I could successfully appeal a first strike policy. Indeed Department of Education guidance states "Exclusion should not be the automatic response to a drug incident and permanent exclusion should only be used in serious cases." Private school pupils whose parents have shelled out a small fortune on their education shouldn't have it ruined by a teenage mistake. After all they could be the next PM or even headmaster!

[Nickmom]

SSP, I think its even worse. They call the police. On their own students. For something that happened outside school. (again, I hear this from numerous independent school parents not referring only to this one.)

[sevenstars]

As an LU parent, the no tolerance drugs policy is made very explicit to all pupils. They would definitely all be aware of this and that it includes drugs being used / handled outside of school premises, including cannabis. I would not say the school has a drugs problem and I do feel sorry for the children involved. Possibly it was just one child handing it out to the others and they've all gone down together. The details as to what exactly happened have not been made public within the school, however, it must have been a clear breach of school policy for them to have been expelled.

[Nickmom]

Seven, I was referring to the idea that a school would call the police on its on students for things happening outside school. Its happens at several of the London Day Schools now and somehow feels wrong to me. I was not commenting on the LU situation.

LU is a great school. Everyone I know there is VERY happy. I have my own opinions on expelling kids for smoking cannabis outside school but its not for me to say as I don't know the details or the history which are clearly V. important..

[sevenstars]

As I understand it, the expulsion is not one that will go in their school record, though it will be fairly obvious in the short-term, I guess, as they are looking for alternative school places.

My DC are not in that year group, but I do know that, within the last year, a guest speaker came in who was a mum who had lost her 15 year-old son to ecstasy. It was the first and only time he has taken it. The students were very traumatised by the talk. The boy was an extremely high-achiever, who just made one tragic mistake. The direct message from this mother had a real impact. I'm not sure if she had spoken to every year group though.

[Needmoresleep]

Both my London raised DC have had peers who died before the age of 20 because of drugs. They also know others who have had bad experiences. I did not mind paying for a school who were upfront about a no tolerance policy. FWIW I think the difference between LU and similar schools is that they have tended to be more open when problems occur. The same problems happen elsewhere and kids leave, but nothing is said.

I think there will be far far more than 20 at LU who have not been involved in drugs, and partly due to school policy, have felt under no pressure to join in. Dd has been saddened to see peers at University from more sheltered backgrounds getting sucked into quite dangerous drug use. Perhaps a London upbringing forces kids into making decisions early but also prepares them to be independent and stand up to peer pressure.

[sevenstars]

Yes I would agree that LU is not a sheltering school - it can't afford to be due to its location. My DC say they can smell the weed on some people as they walk down King St! It's a volatile environment really and the school can't be too careful in that respect.

[Ladyoftherings]

I'm another LU parent, from higher up the school. From what I understand which may or may not be true the incident was inside school not outside, and the pupils concerned were asked to leave rather than being expelled. One has already turned up at another equally academic and sought after Indy in the area, where I have a child in the same year. Someone suggested to me that the schools have an agreement to take each other's "leavers" in these sorts of circumstances, and no doubt they are taken on with strict conditions attached.

[coffeecup16]

The experimenting took place out of the school. The issue is a disgrace. These children have literally been dumped , only one has a place. The other 5 are yet to be accepted anywhere. They experimented at a party. Where is the pastoral care. Where is the education about drugs and what drugs do. The school have literally ruined these children lives- forever damaged by the experience and yes I do know 2 of the children

[TalkinPeece]

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

[cakeisalwaystheanswer]

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.

[TalkinPeece]

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

[choselatymer]

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.

[Needmoresleep]

"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.

[TalkinPeece]

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

[Needmoresleep]

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

[SPINNINGMOM]

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.