ALL Saints' School, in York, has been in the headlines several times recently, and for reasons no one would want.

A month ago, we reported how head teacher Bill Scriven had taken the difficult decision to expel two teenage girls caught taking ecstasy. One was subsequently allowed back to school. But today we report three more drugs-related suspensions at All Saints', this time after a 13-year-old boy was said to have been caught taking cannabis.

All three students involved have been suspended for 15 days pending further investigations. They have been warned, in no uncertain terms, that they could face permanent expulsion.

We are not about to condemn either Mr Scriven or his school over what has happened. Far from it. Sometimes, taking decisive action to address a problem can serve in the short term to highlight that problem.

We believe that is what has happened at All Saints'. The school could have turned a blind eye and hoped the drugs problem would go away.

Instead, by taking such a hard and consistent line, it is sending out exactly the right message to parents and pupils alike.

Such action is the only way to stamp out a pernicious culture which can so easily blight the lives and hopes of our young. It demonstrates that the school is taking seriously its commitment to ensuring pupils can grow up free from the menace of drugs.

There should now be a proper investigation of this latest incident. And, difficult though it may be, if the three students involved are found to have been taking drugs, we hope Mr Scriven will once again find the courage to exclude them.

That would be in the best interests of the school and, in the long term, by teaching them a lesson, of the students as well.