Tobacco-free Schools - Helping You Achieve It
Executive Summary
Why should you develop a Tobacco-free policy for your school?
Every day in Scotland, a classroom full of young people take up smoking – that’s
13,000 young Scots each year. Two-thirds of smokers start before they are 18 and
most smokers say that they regret starting.
Whilst there are many different factors which lead young people to smoke, the
extent to which tobacco is prominent, normal or accepted around them plays a
crucial part. Creating a Tobacco-free School policy for your school is an
important piece in the jigsaw of support which enables young people to make
positive and healthy choices about tobacco.
The Tobacco-free School policy guide provides step-by-step guidance and
support for schools to extend their tobacco policies beyond simply stating where
people can and cannot smoke. It has been designed to help schools develop,
implement and manage policies that actively promote healthy choices and create
a Tobacco-free School environment.
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Action on Smoking & Health (Scotland) (ASH Scotland) is a registered Scottish charity (SC010412)
and a company limited by guarantee (Scottish company no 141711)
Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)
make it clear that schools, teachers and staff have a vital role to play in
supporting and nurturing young people to make healthy life decisions as they
make the transition into adulthood, employment, training and further education.
Quite simply, protecting and promoting the health and wellbeing of young people
is fundamental to the role of all schools.
Tobacco-free School policies – Challenges and Opportunities
We know that schools are busy places and we know that the level of expectation
of what schools and teachers can achieve is already high.
Whilst developing and implementing a Tobacco-Free School policy might seem
complicated and time consuming, the Tobacco-free School policy guide identifies
common challenges and highlights ways in which these challenges can be
overcome effectively.
Developing a Tobacco-free School policy
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Whilst we should always recognise
the key differences between
individual schools, it is equally
important to bear in mind that
effective tobacco policy development
and implementation is generally
supported by a handful of key
elements:
A positive approach to framing the policy.
content or actions, it is important to
free School Policy in upbeat terms and to
positive outcomes that the policy aims to
Irrespective of specific
frame your Tobaccoemphasise the
deliver.
Realistic and appropriate timescales: Schools looking to develop
an effective Tobacco-free School Policy should generally allow 46 months for developing, consulting and communicating their
policy before it is fully implemented.
Consultation: It’s vital to ensure that pupil, teachers, support
staff, parents and community partners are fully consulted and
have their views considered during the policy development.
Awareness Raising: For any policy to be developed
successfully, pupils, teachers, support staff and
parents need to be kept fully informed of what is
expected of them and what the terms of their
Tobacco-free School Policy will be.
Policy launch: Organising a formal launch event helps set a clear
date for implementation and provides an opportunity to involve
and inform community partners and local media.
Implementing a Tobacco-free School Policy
Implementing an effective Tobacco-free Policy is simply a formal representation
of a school’s overall attitude and approach to supporting pupils, teachers and
support staff to make healthy behaviour choices.
Tobacco education
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An effective and proactive Tobacco-free Policy should incorporate clearly
defined tobacco education activities that:



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Integrate tobacco education across curriculum areas and subjects.
Refresh and update tobacco education messages as part of PSE.
Involve and support pupils in peer led interventions.
Encourage partnership working to provide teacher support and enhance
session/lesson delivery.
Stop Smoking support
An effective Tobacco-free Schools Policy not
only creates an environment to encourages
pupils to remain smoke-free, it creates a
supportive environment for those wishing to
quit and offers stop smoking support that is
responsive to the needs and preferences of
pupils and staff.
E-cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigs or
vapourisers) are the subject of much public
debate, concern and confusion. An affective
Tobacco-free policy should set out and
communicate how the school aims to approach
the use of e-cigarettes.
Policy enforcement
An effective Tobacco-Free School policy should go beyond
simply focusing on non-compliance. The policy should
clearly set out who the policy applies to, who is responsible
for policy enforcement, the powers that they have and the
procedures that will be used to ensure that pupils, staff
and visitors respect the Tobacco-free policy.
Monitoring and evaluating your Tobacco-free
School Policy
It is important to monitor and evaluate any new Tobaccofree School Policy in order to measure effectiveness and
keep it up to date. An evaluation of a Tobacco-free School
policy, carried out 12 months after implementation,
provides schools with an opportunity to measure the
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results of the policy and make improvements in order to sustain the
effectiveness of the policy.
Policy wording templates
Sometimes, just having the time to make a start, or pull
together appropriate content and structures for a
tobacco-free policy document can seem like a pretty
daunting challenge! The Tobacco-free Policy Guide
provides clear structures that will help to ensure that
you get the tone, structure and content of your policy
document just right.
Tobacco-free School resources
In addition to the Tobacco-free School Policy Guide, ASH Scotland has developed
a range of specific resources designed to support every stage of Tobacco-free
School policy development and implementation. The Tobacco-free School
resources can be found on the ASH Scotland website.
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