Assembly resources

Vaping: The Facts You Need to Hear

A complete vaping assembly for Heads of Year, with factual script notes, support routes, student reflection and downloadable PowerPoint slides.

Year group: All years (KS3/KS4 adaptation notes below) Best delivered: PSHE week, start of year, or after a vaping incident in school Duration: 10-15 minutes Tone: Factual, direct, non-preachy.

This is not a lecture.

It is information students deserve to have so they can make informed choices.

Script notes Opening (Slides 1 and 2 — 2 minutes) Do not start by saying "today we're going to talk about why vaping is bad." Students will shut down immediately.

Start with genuine curiosity. "I want to ask you something and I genuinely want you to think about it.

If someone handed you a drink and said 'this has got nicotine in it, some formaldehyde, some heavy metals, and some chemicals we haven't fully tested yet,' would you drink it?" Pause. "Most of you would say no.

But that is essentially what is inside a vape.

And the reason most people don't know that is because the companies that make them have spent millions making sure you don't think about what you're inhaling.

They want you to think about the flavour instead." "Today is not a lecture.

I'm not here to tell you what to do.

I am here to make sure you have the facts, because you deserve to know what the science actually says before you make decisions about your own body." The numbers (Slide 3 — 1.5 minutes) Use UK data.

Be specific.

These numbers come from the NHS Digital Survey 2023 and the ASH Smokefree GB Youth Survey 2025. "Let me give you some numbers.

Not to scare you.

Just so you know." "1 in 10 secondary school students in the UK currently vapes.

That's around 400,000 young people aged 11 to 17." "1 in 5 have tried it at least once.

That is 1.1 million young people." "Of those who vape regularly, 40% are doing it daily.

That means roughly 160,000 young people in this country are vaping every single day." "44% of regular young vapers describe their urges to vape as 'strong, very strong, or extremely strong.' Those levels are comparable to the urges experienced by adult cigarette smokers." "These are not small numbers.