KELLY PRAISES RANDOM DRUGS TESTING IN SCHOOLS

The Education Secretary today praised random drugs testing schools,
calling it a hugely effective way of tackling substance abuse.

In a keynote speech to a teachers' conference, Ruth Kelly said that
she had had been impressed after looking at evidence from a scheme
running at the Abbey School in Faversham, Kent. She said she was
keeping an open mind on whether random tests should be encouraged more
widely.

She told delegates at the NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham that
new challenges to school discipline were emerging all the time.

"Cyber-bullying, for example, has been in the news recently," she
said. "Schools need help dealing with those sort of problems as well,
which is why we are putting out new guidance to help schools deal with
cyber-bullying.

"Drugs is another issue which is not going away in schools. I was
looking at the evidence from the Abbey School in Kent the other day,
where they have tried random drug testing and (have) found that a
hugely effective way of creating peer pressure against taking drugs in
school.

"These are all issues that I think in future we should have an open
mind on. I will work with the NASUWT and others in developing
appropriate solutions."

The Abbey School saw GCSE exam results rise significantly after
introducing the random testing scheme last year. Each week 20 pupils
were selected at random by a computer to take the tests, during which
they are swabbed by specially trained staff.

The samples are then sent off to a laboratory to be checked for traces
of drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and Ecstasy.

Ms Kelly was speaking after delegates at the conference demanded
action to tackle violent and disruptive pupils. They passed a motion
calling on local authorities to provide specialist units to teach the
most disruptive children who ruin lessons for other pupils.

Ms Kelly was met with laughter when she argued that behaviour was
generally improving. But the audience applauded when she continued:
"It only takes a few pupils who are engaged in low level disruption to
make life a misery for pupils and teachers. That means we have to do
something about it."

The union welcomed the Government's plans to give teachers a clear
legal right to discipline pupils and to confiscate inappropriate items
such as mobile phones.

Earlier in the debate, Joy Higgins, a delegate from Chelmsford in
Essex, warned that even when unruly pupils were thrown out of school,
they could be reinstated on appeal.

She said she was not opposing the right to appeal but attacked the
independent appeals panels which she said often overturned sensible
decisions.

"There is little regard for the impact that this is having on teachers
and pupils," Ms Higgins said.

She described how one member of staff was "struck on the back of the
head by a rugby ball". The pupil was permanently excluded but allowed
back on appeal.

"This sent a message to the pupils at the school that they had a
charter for violence," she said, and three days later there was "a
copy cat attack" on another member of staff.

Meanwhile, a survey of 800 members of the Association of Teachers and
Lecturers found 71 per cent had considered leaving the profession
because of the poor discipline.