Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help teach young people in schools on the dangers of using nitrous oxide.

The statutory curriculum for health education requires all pupils in state-maintained schools to be taught about legal and illegal harmful substances and the associated risks to physical and mental wellbeing, including smoking, alcohol use and drug-taking. This is supplemented by the national curriculum for science, which includes content on substances. Schools can teach about the dangers of using nitrous oxide in these lessons.

The department has published resources for schools, including a teacher training module on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, as part of a wider suite of teacher training materials. These resources can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-drugs-alcohol-and-tobacco. These are designed to provide teachers with further clarity and practical advice on how to teach the curriculum.

Public Health England, now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, also worked with the PSHE Association to develop lesson plans on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which include specific references to the dangers of nitrous oxide. These are now available on the PSHE Association’s website, and can be accessed here: https://www.pshe-association.org.uk/curriculum-and-resources/resources/drug-and-alcohol-education-%E2%80%94-lesson-plans.