Oasis Domestic Abuse Service is calling on schools in Thanet to turn the government’s new violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy into concrete action in classrooms and assemblies.
The charity is urging local schools to use the renewed national focus on long-term prevention and education for children and young people as an opportunity to strengthen how they teach about healthy relationships, consent and domestic abuse.
The UK Government’s new VAWG strategy sets out plans to tackle misogyny and abuse by investing in early education and programmes for children and young people. Schools are highlighted as key partners in challenging harmful attitudes, promoting respect and ensuring pupils know how to seek help if something is wrong.
Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, which supports families and individuals of all ages across Kent and Medway, delivers a tailored package of assemblies, workshops and staff training for primary and secondary schools. The programme is designed to raise awareness, build resilience and empower both students and staff to recognise and respond to domestic abuse.
Materials for schools
Oasis offers ready-to-use materials for a 20-minute whole-school assembly suitable for KS2, KS3 and KS4, introducing domestic abuse in an age-appropriate way. The assembly explains what domestic abuse is (including different types), how to recognise the signs, where to get help, and how Oasis can support pupils and families.
For older students, the “Is My Relationship Healthy?” workshop is aimed at Years 10, 11 and Sixth Form. The interactive session explores healthy vs toxic relationships, respect, boundaries and consent, and helps young people identify red flags and know how to seek support.
For primary schools, the “Just So You Know” workshop introduces consent and personal boundaries in a safe, age-appropriate way. Children learn about respecting themselves and others, understanding their emotions and speaking up if something does not feel right.
Training for staff
Alongside pupil sessions, Oasis provides comprehensive training for teachers and school staff, aligned with the OFSTED framework. The training helps staff recognise signs that a child may be living with domestic abuse, respond sensitively and appropriately, and understand how to support children and signpost families to specialist help.
Danielle Georgiou, from Oasis said: “When children learn what healthy love looks like, and that abuse is never their fault, they carry that knowledge into their friendships, their first relationships and, eventually, their own families.
When staff feel confident naming domestic abuse and knowing what to do, children are more likely to be believed, heard and protected when they speak up. Every teacher who understands the signs, every pupil who knows how to ask for help, becomes part of a network of safety that can interrupt abuse early and sometimes stop it before it starts.
Over time, this creates a ripple effect… young people grow into adults who expect respect, set boundaries and refuse to excuse controlling or violent behaviour. Homes become safer, harmful attitudes are challenged, and whole communities begin to shift away from silence and blame towards compassion, accountability and support.
The new VAWG strategy underlines the vital role schools can play in preventing abuse before it starts and ensuring children know they are not alone if it is happening at home, and working with a specialist local service like Oasis gives schools practical tools to meet national expectations around prevention and safeguarding while directly supporting families in their community.”
Schools in Thanet and the wider Kent and Medway area who are interested in assemblies, workshops or staff training can contact Oasis at [email protected].
Having gender neutral toilets is a direct risk to women and girls, the recent study showing the amount of sexual offences in a snap shot of leisure centres across the UK is shocking. Meanwhile the Labour Party are trying to undermine the Supreme Court ruling. On one hand they are declaring an emergency with regards to VAWG while on the other hand puttimg millioms of women and girls at risk.
When equality is such a big thing now, it’s definitely a step backwards that their anti-violence strategy is not gender neutral.
In what way is the Labour Party putting millions of women and girls at risk?
Absolutely right Suzanne. There is no excuse on undermining the recent Supreme Court ruling if you claim to have any interest in democracy or the safety of females. Similarly, the government’s chaos over the grooming gang inquiry is very telling. It seems those in government are the biggest misogynists in many cases, and would have no intellectual capacity to promote this teaching with any sensitivity to young boys without alienating them. Look how they jumped on the dubious and over promoted ‘Adolescence’ programme to avoid dealing with real truths. There are other large elephants in the room with some cultures who don’t respect woman, and you can look at recent court cases for illustrations on that.
Some survivors of violence against women and girls are just not the right type according to our current Government.
Most abuse of women and girls happens in the home. The hysteria around trans people distracts from the real problem.