Keeping Safe — Rules and Staying Safe — Year 1 Lesson Plan
National Curriculum: PSHE/RSE — Safety and the changing body: how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe or feeling bad about any adult; that each person's body belongs to them (KS1 statutory guidance).
Overview
Pupils explore why rules exist and how they help keep everyone safe. They identify safe and unsafe situations in familiar settings, and develop confidence in recognising when something does not feel right. A key focus is on knowing which trusted adults they can turn to and practising what they would say.
Learning Objectives
- Understand why rules exist and explain how a specific rule keeps people safe.
- Identify situations that feel safe and situations that feel unsafe.
- Name at least three trusted adults they could go to for help.
- Know what to do if they feel unsafe: notice, think and tell a trusted adult.
Key Vocabulary
Suggested Lesson Structure
Play a quick game of 'rule or no rule?' — read out class rules and silly made-up rules. Pupils put thumbs up for real rules and thumbs down for silly ones. Ask: how do we know if a rule is a good one? Establish that good rules protect people and make things fair.
Introduce the idea that rules exist in lots of places: school, home, on the road, in sport. Show pictures of different settings and ask pupils to identify one safety rule for each. Model thinking aloud: why does this rule exist? Who does it protect? Introduce the phrase trusted adult and ask pupils to explain what it means in their own words.
Show a series of images or read scenario cards: a child running across a road; an adult they know waving to them; someone they do not know asking them to come with them; a fire; a friend crying. Pupils hold up green or red cards (safe / unsafe) and discuss in pairs before sharing with the class. Draw out that unsafe feelings are important signals.
Pupils complete a 'my safety network' sheet, drawing and labelling at least three trusted adults at home, at school and in the wider community. They practise saying the sentence: if I feel unsafe, I will tell [name] because they will listen and help me.
Teach pupils the three-step personal safety reminder: Notice — something does not feel right. Think — what should I do? Tell — go to a trusted adult. Practise it together as a class chant. Close by affirming that asking for help is always the right thing to do and that trusted adults will not be cross with them.
Common Misconceptions
- Pupils sometimes worry that telling an adult about an unsafe situation will get them into trouble. It is important to reassure them explicitly that they will not be in trouble for reporting something that worried them.
- Some pupils believe that if a person seems friendly, they cannot be unsafe. Emphasise that we cannot always tell from appearance whether a situation is safe, and that uncomfortable feelings in the body are an important signal.
Prior Knowledge
Pupils should already be able to:
- Familiarity with school rules and an understanding that rules are there for a reason.
- Awareness of the concept of trusted adults from early years and Reception.
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