A HEAD teacher’s no-nonsense approach to tackling potentially lethal drug misuse has won praise and support from parents and education chiefs.

Roger Allen has excluded a number of girls from Glenmoor School in Bournemouth after discovering they were taking the so-called legal high mephedrone, which has already claimed a number of lives elsewhere in the country.

Now he has embarked on a campaign to ensure students at the all-girls school in Winton are fully aware of the risks of taking the drug.

Special assemblies have been held and advice given after worried father Mark McCall spoke out about his fears for his own 13-year-old daughter.

Information has also been put on the school website for parents and Mr Allen said: “They have been very supportive and realise my priority is to keep the girls safe.”

Police have revealed they are working with several schools in the area and that Glenmoor, which caters for girls aged 11-16, is not the only one affected.

“I don’t want people to think this is a problem at Glenmoor and not at other schools,” said Mr Allen. “We know that the girls affected here are involved with people from other schools and that the drugs are taken during the evenings and at weekends, not at school.

“I want parents of our girls to know that this is a small problem in our school but it is big for those involved and we will do all we can to support the girls and their parents.”

He said the girls involved have been attending school suffering from the effects of mephedrone, also known as meow meow, and believed to be behind the deaths of two teenagers in Scunthorpe last week.

“They might go very quiet or become very agitated – some have been feeling unwell and they have not been their normal selves,” he added.

Mr Allen said he will back a campaign to make mephedrone illegal.

Di Mitchell, Service Director for Children’s Learning and Engagement at Bournemouth council, said there is a clear, zero tolerance policy on drugs in Bournemouth schools.

She added: “We fully support Glenmoor School’s decision to work proactively with Dorset Police and others in order to educate pupils on the dangers of using these substances.”

She said the council will work with Glenmoor and with other schools to support them in managing the issue and added: “We are confident that schools in Bournemouth will work with the appropriate services and take the necessary action to deal with this situation quickly and effectively.”