Whole school approach to vaping in schools

Click on the links to access information, guidance and resources that can be applied to a whole-school approach, including an audit tool and an action plan.

Try these 'quick wins' available on Smokefree Sheffield's 'Vaping: The Facts' web page before thinking about anything else to get you started and see the difference you could make. There are several resources to download at the bottom of their web page

1. Share their short animation 'Vaping: The Facts' with staff during a morning briefing or staff meeting.
2. Deliver an awareness raising session with children and young people (CYP) using the resources for primary and for secondary.
3. Share their 'Vaping fact sheets' with your families on your school website!

Audit tool

Use the whole-school approach audit tool (Word doc) [35KB] to identify areas of good practice and identify areas for improvement.

The whole-school action plan (Word doc) [939KB] will provide you with guidance and resources for every area to ensure you achieve a measurable impact.

If you need any bespoke support and guidance, or have a child or young person (CYP) that is vaping, we are happy to help and can be contacted at inclusionandsend@norfolk.gov.uk or on 01603 307736.

NICE guidelines recommends a coordinated whole-school approach to smoking and vaping.

As part of the statutory duty to promote child and young person (CYP) physical, mental health and emotional wellbeing, schools have a clear role to play in managing use of vapes as part of their pastoral responsibilities.

Vaping prevention can be incorporated into your whole school's approach to health and wellbeing, which includes personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and the wider curriculum, school policies, ethos and environment, and partnerships with parents and the local community. This might involve:

• Supporting all staff to feel confident in their knowledge of vaping, its risks (and benefits for adult smokers), and the law, through resources and training
• Exploring how vaping prevention can be linked to the school's ethos, culture and values, for example around sustainability and the environment, or a positive sense of health and well-being
• Teaching about vaping as part of your curriculum
• Sharing information, resources & signposting with CYP and families
• Ensuring all staff, CYP and families are aware of relevant support services that may be available, such as Local Stop Smoking Support Services, Just One Norfolk, etc
• Mapping out your environment to check if any areas promote vaping more than others and taking action around this

Consider how your approach to vaping is communicated to staff, CYP and families and ensure that it forms part of your induction for new staff.

With incidents of vaping in school increasing, it is timely for leaders and governors to ensure their policy and practice is working effectively to reduce the chance of children and young people (CYP) using vapes. The senior leadership team (SLT) and governors should lead on fulfilling the statutory duty to promote CYP positive mental health and wellbeing, to do this they should be:

• Up to date with guidance and legislation around vaping including NICE guidelines and NHS advice, and the new government paper which sets out proposed actions they will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping - Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation
• Up-to-date with key facts and figures around CYP vaping including current prevalence, main reasons behind CYP choosing to vape and how education settings can play a key role in preventing CYP from vaping. The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) resources provide a helpful overview
• Well informed on the specific and current vaping issues that affect their school or setting
• Involved in policy development and curriculum planning

Your school or setting may choose to develop a separate vaping policy or incorporate guidance into an existing drugs/alcohol policy (or the wider behaviour policy). When developing school policy on vapes, consider the following points:

• Treating vapes in the same way as other age restricted products , such as alcohol and tobacco, by prohibiting them onsite as a first step, and then confiscating and disposing of them
• Vapes are not explicitly listed as prohibited items within the Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance for which staff have statutory power to search for. Schools who wish to search for vapes should ensure they are listed as items for which a search can be made in the school rules
• Outline the safeguarding and supporting procedures you may take linked to any vaping incidents
• Ensure other relevant policies including safeguarding and behaviour are reviewed and updated if necessary
• Ensure policy makes reference to contextual safeguarding and that staff have an awareness of key indicators of child criminal exploitation (CCE)
• Take account of children's and young people's (CYP) cultural, special educational or physical needs (for example, by providing material in alternative formats such as visuals, large print, Braille, audio and video)

See guidance on how to develop a vaping policy from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

You can also find some more general guidance around drugs policies in the DfE and ACPO drug advice for schools.

Draw upon advice in the DfE Searching, Screening and Confiscation guidance as well as the DfE Behaviour in Schools guidance.

This guidance from Public Health England outlines some key principles to guide policy development on page 7.

You will also find a model letter that you can use to communicate any changes to policy to families (Word doc) [13KB].

The child and young person (CYP) voice should be at the heart of everything we do and inform any decisions we make about curriculum and provision which aims to prevent CYP from using vapes.

Surveys and other activities should be regularly carried out to find out CYP's thoughts and feelings around vaping, this information can then be used to inform preventative work across your school/setting as well as more bespoke levels of intervention.

Analysis of CYP voice can help to identify areas for development and evidence strengths.

Access guidance on collecting CYP views in this padlet (within the 'CYP voice' section) and information about CYP voice and peer support programmes on the Norfolk Schools and Learning Providers website.

NICE Guidance for Smoking Prevention in Schools found that approaches led by CYP, nominated by the CYP themselves can be most effective at reducing smoking prevalence. See more guidance from Hampshire County Council's Smoke Free Me: Peer Education.

If a child or young person (CYP) shares with you that they are vaping, use these guidelines to support your conversation:

• Try to keep one-to-one conversations non-judgmental, supporting the CYP in understanding that they have agency and choice.
• Thank them for being open and honest.
• Explore their understanding of addiction and whether they think they, or a family or friend is experiencing addiction (definition of addiction: they cannot control their use of it and are dependent on it).
• Explore possible options for support with the CYP (family, friends, pastoral staff in school, local services) and help empower them to decide what the best next steps may be. The FRANK support service search tool can be helpful. Search 'services for young people' and your school postcode to find a list of local services that you may be able to signpost students to if they are struggling with addiction.
• Addiction can often correspond with mental health issues, so it might be worth checking in with the CYP about how their mental health is and then referring to the appropriate local services such as Just One Norfolk, etc.
• Be aware of any safeguarding disclosures or risks and ensure you follow your school's safeguarding policy.

Please see further signposting links for CYP:

• FRANK provides simple and clear information about vaping.
• Smokefree Teen provides information for CYP about vaping and guidance on how to quit including advice around how to manage social triggers, cravings and anxiety / depression.
• Drugs | Childline includes information about the risks of drugs, how a CYP can spot if they have a problem and where to go to get support.
• Guidance from FRANK on how to deal with peer pressure.

Guidance around how to respond to a specific incident of vaping is available in this padlet.

Families may need support to talk to their children about vaping, especially if they have found out their child or young person (CYP) is vaping and are finding this upsetting or challenging. You may find it helpful to share these 'Top Tips on talking to your child about tricky topics' (PDF) [135KB]. We recommend you upload our guidance sheet to your school website, and/or link to this in any newsletters or communications to parents as relevant.

• Smokefree Sheffield have put together this fact sheet that you can share with your families: Vaping: The Facts | Smokefree Sheffield
• Just One Norfolk can also provide bespoke guidance and support to your families: Smoking, E-Cigs & Vaping (justonenorfolk.nhs.uk)

You can use the  model letter to communicate to parents / carers about a vaping incident (Word doc) [15KB].

Schools have a statutory duty to deliver health education on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. This forms part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education.

Primary school

By the end of primary school, students should know:

• How to recognise who to trust and who not to trust, how to judge when a friendship is making them feel unhappy or uncomfortable, managing conflict, how to manage these situations and how to seek help or advice from others, if needed (relationships education).
• The facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking (health education).

High quality resources - Primary

Smokefree Sheffield (with support from ASH) have developed a number of resources designed to support families and educators, including PSHE and safeguarding leads, to have evidence-based conversations and enable CYP to make informed decisions about smoking and vaping. Resources include:

• A classroom presentation including notes and a teacher's toolkit
• An animation which can be used in PSHE lessons, form times and assemblies, to start discussions
• Two posters including facts about vaping
• A guide for families

Secondary school

By the end of secondary school, students should know:

• The characteristics of positive and healthy friendships, in all contexts including online, such as: trust, respect, honesty, kindness, generosity, boundaries, privacy, consent and the management of conflict (relationships and sex education).
• Health education:
  • The facts about legal and illegal drugs and their associated risks, including the link between drug use and the associated risks, including the link to serious mental health issues.
  • The physical and psychological consequences of addiction, including alcohol dependency.

High quality resources - Secondary

• Better Health have developed a new resource pack for schools on vaping, intended for KS3 CYP. It includes 3 flexible bite-size sessions where CYP learn about social pressures around vaping, its impact, and the effects of nicotine on the adolescent brain. It also includes a "Guidance for teaching about vaping" document to support one-to-one conversations with young people and accompanying videos.
• Smokefree Sheffield (with support from ASH) have developed a number of resources designed to support families and educators, including PSHE and safeguarding leads, to have evidence-based conversations and enable CYP to make informed decisions about smoking and vaping. Resources include:
  • A classroom presentation including notes and a teacher's toolkit
  • An animation which can be used in PSHE lessons, form times and assemblies, to start discussions
  • Two posters including facts about vaping
  • A guide for families
• The Rise Above resources for KS3 and KS4 can be accessed (at the bottom of the webpage) at Smoking and Vaping - Local Offer - Healthy Schools along with other guidance.
• BBC Bitesize offer a range of free KS3 biology resources which cover the effects of smoking, passive smoking and electronic cigarettes
• The PSHE association have developed a year 9 lesson exploring the consequences of vaping and challenging the influences that might encourage CYP to vape
• Oak National Academy provides more general lessons on drugs and alcohol for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

The PSHE Association provides programmes of study to support the delivery of broader PSHE Education and advises these learning opportunities are planned:

Key Stage 2:

• H46 - about the risks and effects of legal drugs common to everyday life (e.g. cigarettes, e-cigarettes/vaping, alcohol and medicines) and their impact on health; recognise that drug use can become a habit which can be difficult to break
• H47 - to recognise that there are laws surrounding the use of legal drugs and that some drugs are illegal to own, use and give to others
• H48 - about why people choose to use or not use drugs (including nicotine, alcohol and medicines)
• H49 - about the mixed messages in the media about drugs, including alcohol and smoking/vaping
• H50 - about the organisations that can support people concerning alcohol, tobacco and nicotine or other drug use; people they can talk to if they have concerns

Key Stage 3:

• H23 - the positive and negative uses of drugs in society including the safe use of prescribed and over the counter medicines; responsible use of antibiotics
• H24 - to evaluate misconceptions, social norms and cultural values relating to drug, alcohol and tobacco use
• H25 - strategies to manage a range of influences on drug, alcohol and tobacco use, including peers
• H26 - information about alcohol, nicotine and other legal and illegal substances, including the short-term and long-term health risks associated with their use
• H27 - the personal and social risks and consequences of substance use and misuse including occasional use
• H28 - the law relating to the supply, use and misuse of legal and illegal substances
• H29 - about the concepts of dependence and addiction including awareness of help to overcome addictions

Key Stage 4:

• H19 - the consequences of substance use and misuse for the mental and physical health and wellbeing of individuals and their families, and the wider consequences for communities
• H20 - wider risks of illegal substance use for individuals, including for personal safety, career, relationships and future lifestyle
• H21 - to identify, manage and seek help for unhealthy behaviours, habits and addictions including smoking cessation

The PSHE Association also provides a planning framework for SEND CYP - see page 23 (Primary - 'Keeping well') and pages 41-42 (Secondary - 'Medicinal drugs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco') for guidance relevant to vaping.

It is important that no CYP feel judged or shamed around vaping, but it is important for them to know the facts so they can make an informed choice. See the PSHE Association's Handling complex issues safely in the PSHE education classroom for more details on teaching possibly sensitive PSHE topics.

NOTE: The PSHE Association is not published by the Department for Education (DfE) but is signposted to by the DfE as a recommended resource.

To be able to support children and young people (CYP) effectively, we as staff must feel confident in our knowledge and skills. Please see links to training and CPD below:

• This animation and Teachers Toolkit from ASH and Smokefree Sheffield supports teachers and safeguarding leads to develop their knowledge on vaping and CYP.
• All staff should have an awareness of local services and wider resources. To find out about local services for vaping, please contact Just One Norfolk who can refer onto other relevant services including Smoke Free Norfolk (service for people aged 18 and over however, under 18s will be considered on a case by case basis).
• You can also check the Healthy Schools website for further links to teacher guidance!
• GOV.UK also offers a training module to support teachers and/or subject leads with understanding and delivering the drugs, alcohol and tobacco section of the statutory relationships, sex and health education curriculum
• The Guardian podcast 'What should we do about the rise in children vaping?' discusses the rise in vaping among under-18s and what can be done to discourage more CYP from taking up the habit. It also considers the impact of vaping on young people.

Incidents of vaping should be recorded using your school's electronic system, eg CPOMs:

• Review provision and resources following analysis of incidents:
• Plan regular points throughout the year to review incidents and analyse any patterns or trends which emerge.
• Consider having 'Substance misuse incidents' as a standing item on your governor's agenda.
• If the vaping incident is related to specific safeguarding concerns, follow your school's policy.
• Recognise, report on, and bring in relevant external support if there are concerns re Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) with possible dealing of vapes, and consider a link to children and young people's (CYP) drug & alcohol services if there is wider substance or alcohol misuse.
• If you become aware of a retailer selling either nicotine vapes or tobacco products to under-18s, you can report this to Local Authority Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Portal: Reporting to Trading Standards - Citizens Advice. If you need further advice around this please contact the Citizens Advice helpline on 0808 223 1133 or email them via their website: Citizens Advice.
• Adverse reactions associated with vaping of both nicotine and non-nicotine containing e-cigarettes can be reported to the MHRA via the yellow card scheme.