Categories:
Secondary Headteachers, Pastoral, School Health Nurses, PHSE co-ordinators, form tutors

How to keep Oxfordshire students smokefree

Oxfordshire County Council funds local Public Health work to help pupils stay smoke free. INTENT is a key part of our plan to support the Government’s Smoke Free Generation 2030 ambition. It uses an evidence based, behaviour change approach to prevent young people from starting to smoke or vape.

INTENT is delivered through the PSHE curriculum for Years 7–10, supporting what you already teach — without adding extra workload.

Currently in 2026, there are 20 school staff trained to use INTENT at 17 of the 49 secondary schools in Oxon. We want all secondary schools to receive training and start delivering the programme in 2026.

At least one member of staff; PSHE, Pastoral, Welfare or Safeguarding Lead, needs to have training. The training is live and online via Teams.

To book a place through Educational Services 

Please contact Charlotte Iddon at smokefreeoxon@oxfordshire.gov.uk if you have any questions, or need help to book a training place.

We hope this programme will benefit students and schools alike in the prevention and positive approach to reducing smoking and vaping.

Brief outline of INTENT programme

  • 73% of teachers rated the programme as ‘high quality’.
  • 25.6% of students who received INTENT were less likely to report ever having smoked.
  • Evidence based programme from 20 years of research.
  • Sessions are designed for Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 to be delivered in PSHE lessons.
  • Training for teachers takes less than an hour and will be delivered live online in scheduled sessions that staff can sign up to in summer terms, or self-led online.
  • High quality lesson plans which build incrementally, and a Curriculum Guide will be provided.
  • Sessions are cross-referenced to the PSHE Association objectives, so instead of giving teachers extra work, we are providing resources to meet their existing objectives (see appendix for further details).
  • The majority of activities are based around the interactive whiteboard.
  • Each year group receives one or two 45–60 minute tobacco sessions a minimum of 3 months apart.
  • Vaping sessions can be delivered to any of the 4 year groups and may be repeated. Each session follows the same information and behaviour change methodology and also lasts 45–60 minutes.
  • Support is available for teachers via the INTENT website and telephone Helpline.
  • Dedicated Resources area for teachers on the website.

Find out more here: https://intent.evidencetoimpact.com/