Schools - responding to substance use: guidance

Ministerial Foreword

Every child and young person in Scotland deserves to learn in an environment where they feel safe, supported and able to flourish. Positive relationships, clear expectations and a strong sense of belonging are fundamental to wellbeing and to engagement with learning.

Most children and young people do not use substances. However, evidence from our Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023 highlighted emerging concerns, particularly in relation to vaping, alongside increased reporting of alcohol and other substance use in school. Where substance use does occur, it can cause harm, undermine wellbeing and learning, and affect the wider school community.

Substance use among children and young people is shaped by a wide range of social, family and community factors, and cannot be understood or addressed in isolation. It is therefore important to recognise substance use as a wider public health issue, requiring coordinated action across education, health, families, communities and services.

Schools play an important role within this broader public health approach. Where concerns do arise, schools and their partners are often well placed to identify issues early and to respond sensitively and effectively, while maintaining safe, consistent and inclusive learning environments for all children and young people.

This guidance builds on Scotland’s long-standing commitment to children’s rights, wellbeing and inclusion. It is firmly grounded in the UNCRC and Getting it right for every child GIRFEC). It recognises that behaviour is communication, and that substance use may signal wider distress, unmet need or vulnerability in a child or young person’s life.

The purpose of this guidance is to support education authorities and schools to develop clear, fair and proportionate local policies for preventing and responding to substance use. It emphasises a whole-school, trauma-informed and non-stigmatising approach that prioritises young people’s wellbeing and safety, while setting clear expectations that substances are not appropriate in school environments. It also recognises the importance of partnership – with children and young people, parents and carers, health services, and community partners – as part of a shared, preventative approach to supporting healthy choices and long-term wellbeing.

Education authorities have a key role in providing leadership, consistency and support to schools, while allowing the flexibility needed to respond to local needs and circumstances. Schools, in turn, are best placed to apply this guidance in ways that reflect their values, communities and existing relationships and behaviour frameworks.

Taken together, this guidance complements the wider suite of national relationships and behaviour policy and guidance, supporting inclusive environments that promote safety, respect and wellbeing, and helping to shape positive outcomes for all of Scotland’s children and young people.

Jenny Gilruth MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills