Student Activities
Once student presentations have been delivered it is vital that there is some sort of follow-up activity conducted by the school. Research shows that a ‘stand alone’ information session is not best practice and DARTA strongly encourages teachers to take some time to discuss the content of the presentation. This does not have to be a formal lesson, with a simple classroom discussion likely to assist students in working through the messages delivered during the session.
To assist schools, a series of downloadable sheets outlining simple classroom activities have been provided. Teachers do not need any drug knowledge to conduct these activities and they have been designed to stimulate discussion on some of the themes raised in the presentations. They all focus on alcohol and can be used with any year group.
Activity Sheet 1
Three simple activities are provided, each encouraging students to think about and discuss some of the key messages delivered in the presentation. These activities are ideal for use in Pastoral Care, Wellbeing or Home Room sessions.
Activity Sheet 2
Students are provided a scenario involving young people and alcohol and asked to identify some of the risks that were taken. Based on information discussed in the session they need to develop strategies to minimise or prevent those risks.
Activity Sheet 3
Suitable for upper secondary students, this activity provides a list of ‘safer drinking’ strategies and asks them to identify and then discuss with others which they believe are potentially most useful to them and why.
Activity Sheet 4
This involves a little preparation, with ‘cards’ provided on the sheet needing to be printed off prior to the lesson. the activity encourages students to consider and discuss the range of factors that can make the difference between a ‘good time’ and a ‘ dangerous time’ when drinking alcohol.
Activity Sheet 5
This activity enables teachers to assess what messages students took away from a DARTA presentation. Working individually, with partners and in small groups, students identify key elements of health promotion posters and then develop a poster of their own based on a key message they took away from the session.
Activity Sheet 6
Students complete a series of activities that enable them to identify a range of potential risks around holding a teenage party or gathering (i.e., conduct a ‘risk assessment’). Once they have been identified they must develop a set of rules to help minimise and/or prevent these risks.