Keeping Safe — Year 6 Lesson Plan
National Curriculum: PSHE — Keeping Safe: personal safety, recognising pressure, consent, where to get help; Relationships Education statutory requirements
Overview
Pupils develop strategies for recognising and responding to unsafe situations. They explore consent, the NSPCC PANTS rules, recognising pressure from peers, and how to seek help confidently when they feel unsafe.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the concept of personal boundaries and that their body belongs to them.
- Know the PANTS rules and understand why they are important.
- Recognise situations where they may feel pressured and identify strategies to resist pressure.
- Identify trusted adults and services they can contact if they feel unsafe.
Key Vocabulary
Suggested Lesson Structure
Revisit the PANTS rules briefly (Privates are private; Always remember your body belongs to you; No means no; Talk about secrets that upset you; Speak up — tell a trusted adult). Ask pupils what they already know. Explain that today's lesson builds on these principles for older children navigating more complex situations.
Cover three key areas. Personal boundaries: everyone has the right to say no to any touch or interaction that makes them uncomfortable — this includes hugs from relatives; respecting others' 'no' is equally important. Peer pressure: discuss the spectrum from gentle influence to serious pressure; explore why people give in to pressure (fear of missing out, fear of exclusion); introduce the 'broken record' technique (calmly repeat your decision without justifying it). Unsafe situations: identifying warning signs — secrecy, pressure, gut feeling; the difference between surprises (temporary secrets that will be shared) and unsafe secrets; who to tell. Services: Childline (0800 1111, free, confidential, 24/7), trusted adults in school and at home.
Scenario-based activity: pupils read four situations and discuss in groups — is there a risk? How could the person respond? Who should they tell? Groups share back, teacher reinforcing key messages.
Pupils create a personal 'Safety Network' — a visual showing five trusted adults they could talk to if they felt unsafe, and the Childline number. They annotate why each person is trustworthy.
Emphasise: it is never a child's fault if someone makes them feel unsafe. Telling someone is always the right thing to do. If one trusted adult doesn't help, try another — keep trying until someone does. End with a moment of reflection: what is one thing from today that feels important to remember?
Common Misconceptions
- Saying no to physical contact is rude — reinforce that everyone has the right to set their own boundaries, including with family members.
- If something happens once it is not serious enough to tell someone — any feeling of unsafety warrants speaking to a trusted adult.
Prior Knowledge
Pupils should already be able to:
- PANTS rules from KS1.
- Year 5 PSHE: growing and changing, trusted adults.
- Year 3 PSHE: recognising bullying and asking for help.
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