An external contributor who has not had a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check should not be left in sole charge of a children and young person. In all instances, whether or not the external contributor is CRB-checked, it is strongly recommended that a teacher/youth worker is present during each lesson, so that they can maintain responsibility for group discipline and devise follow-up work to reinforce young peoples learning.

When involving external contributors, host organisations should use the Drug Education Visitors Form (link to that page) to ensure that:

• They are clear about the desired learning outcomes before deciding who is best able to help achieve them.

• The external contribution is integrated into the organisation education programme, rather than being an isolated event.

• The external contributors are competent educators and facilitators and do not provide input outside their area of expertise

• Where possible, pupils are involved in the preparatory and follow-up work, e.g. writing invitation and thank you letters

• The content of lessons is negotiated to ensure that it meets the needs of young people and is consistent with the overall aims of the education programme

• The contribution is grounded in a child-centred approach to learning, which may involve assessing educational needs and take into account existing knowledge, beliefs, experiences, understanding, religion and cultural backgrounds.

• All external contributors are fully aware of the host organisation values and approach to health education, the drug and other relevant policies, including those covering confidentiality, disclosure and child protection, to ensure that their approach is consistent with that of the host organisation.

• All external contributors are aware of their roles, responsibilities and boundaries.

• The value of the external contribution is assessed through feedback and evaluation from the young people and host organisation. This information should be shared and used to inform future work.

NOTE: Involving ex-users in drug education should be considered very carefully. Without sensitive handling they may arouse interest or glamorise drug use or describe experiences, which young people may find it hard to relate to. If they are to be involved, this should be because they are skilled in facilitating learning and not simply by virtue of their status as a former user.

DEF key principle:
External contributors should not be used as substitute teachers, nor should they constitute the entirety of a drug education programme. When working directly with young people they should add a dimension to the drug education programme that the teacher/youth worker etc alone cannot deliver.