This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Public Health Team, for the attention of all schools.
An Invitation for Slough Schools to Shape the Future of Youth Vaping Prevention
Youth vaping is a concern for schools across Slough. From behaviour and attendance issues to worries about long-term health and wellbeing. While services now exist to support young people to quit or avoid vaping, one crucial question remains:
Are these services actually working for schools and students?
That’s where you come in.
Why this evaluation matters
Slough Borough Council has commissioned an independent research team, PHIRST Connect (funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research), to evaluate the local youth vaping cessation and prevention service. The aim is simple but powerful:
To understand what works, what doesn’t, and how the service can be improved so it genuinely supports schools, staff and young people.
This is not a tick-box exercise. Schools’ voices will directly influence how the service develops in the future, helping ensure it is practical, realistic, and effective in real school environments.
What’s in it for schools?
Taking part in the evaluation offers tangible and meaningful benefits:
- Shape the service – Feedback from your staff and students will help redesign the service so it better fits school policies, timetables and safeguarding realities.
- Support student wellbeing – By improving prevention and cessation efforts, participation contributes to reduced vaping within your school community.
- Opportunities for students – Young people may receive vouchers or appropriate thank-you gifts for taking part, and Sixth Form students can be involved as co-researchers, building valuable skills.
- Career inspiration – The research team can offer career talks from psychologists, academics and public health researchers.
- Positive visibility – Schools can receive ready-made content for newsletters, showcasing their commitment to student health and evidence-based practice.
- Flexible and school-led – Data collection will be shaped around your school’s needs, policies and safeguarding frameworks.
What would participation look like?
Participation is designed to be light-touch and flexible. Depending on your preferences, this could include:
- Acting as a point of contact for the research team
- Allowing researchers to speak with students who are already engaged in the vaping service
- Offering staff the chance to share views through interviews or short surveys (online options available)
- Providing space on site for data collection, if preferred
- Supporting consent processes in line with your school’s policies
The research team will work with you, not around you, to ensure minimal disruption.
Not currently hosting the service?
Schools and colleges not currently delivering the vaping service are also invited to take part as comparison (or “control”) schools. This involves a much lighter level of engagement, such as:
- Online interviews with staff
- A small focus group or survey with students
Your perspective is just as important in understanding the wider picture of youth vaping in Slough. At this stage, the research team is simply asking schools to consider an informal, no-obligation conversation about what participation could look like and which policies would need to be navigated.
Whether you decide to take part or not, sharing a small amount of contextual information will help researchers better understand the realities facing Slough schools.
Register your interest or ask questions here: https://forms.office.com/e/7JbPWC7Jc6