Identifying Unsafe Situations

Overview

Lesson 5 of 10 in Managing Stress and Seeking Help. Students learn to notice body clues, feelings and environmental warning signs that may indicate an uncomfortable or unsafe situation. Through predictable routines, sorting and brief role-play, they practise using a coping strategy and seeking help from a trusted adult. Students are never required to share personal experiences or act out frightening situations.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify signs that a situation may feel uncomfortable or unsafe
• distinguish between safe, uncomfortable and unsafe situations
• practise a calm breathing strategy and a clear help-seeking sentence
• identify trusted adults and appropriate ways to seek help

Curriculum links

• Recognising and describing emotional responses and how they can influence interactions and wellbeing.
• Practising strategies to manage emotions, including calming and help-seeking strategies.
• Exploring how relationships and situations can influence health, safety and wellbeing.
• Developing Personal and Social Capability through self-awareness, self-management and respectful interactions.

Success criteria

• I can identify body clues, feelings or changes around me that may signal a problem.
• I can explain whether a situation is safe, uncomfortable or unsafe.
• I can use slow breathing or move to a safer place.
• I can say who I could ask for help and what I could say.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Predictable welcome and safety reminder Display the routine on the lesson welcome and routine slides: welcome, learn, sort, practise, reflect. Explain: “We will talk about made-up situations. You may pass, pause or choose a different role. We do not share private stories.” Establish the signal for a break and identify the classroom’s trusted adults.

2. 5–12 minutes – Explicit teaching: noticing warning signs Use the warning-sign teaching slides to introduce three types of clues: body clues (tight tummy, fast heartbeat, feeling frozen), feeling clues (worried, confused, pressured) and situation clues (someone says “keep it secret”, a place feels isolated, or a person does not respect “stop”). Clarify that an uncomfortable feeling is important information, not the student’s fault, and that unsafe situations should be reported even if someone asks for secrecy.

3. 12–20 minutes – Three-way sorting activity Place the headings safe, uncomfortable and unsafe on the table. With three students, read one scenario at a time from the Coping Strategies Scenario Cards and ask each student to place it under a heading, or point instead of speaking. Discuss: “What clue helped you decide?” and “Could the answer change if more information was known?” Reinforce that students can move away, use a strong voice and tell a trusted adult when something feels unsafe.

4. 20–30 minutes – Supported role-play stations Open the role-play station instruction slides and model one neutral example first. Students rotate through three short, structured stations:

• Notice: identify a body, feeling or situation clue.
• Move and calm: practise moving to a safe space and completing three slow breaths.
• Tell: practise saying, “I feel ___ because ___. I need help.” Use scenario cards such as being pressured to break a rule, being excluded from a game, or finding an unsafe object. Students may observe, use puppets or read from a script. Do not use physical contact, threats or realistic distressing scenarios.

5. 30–39 minutes – Individual application worksheet Distribute the unsafe situations and help-seeking worksheet. Students complete three short scenarios by circling safe, uncomfortable or unsafe, identifying one clue, and choosing a response: breathe, move away, say “stop”, tell a trusted adult or call for emergency help when directed by an adult. Support students to draw, dictate or select from picture choices. Confer privately and check understanding rather than personal disclosure.

6. 39–45 minutes – Review and exit routine Return to the review and exit slides. Each student completes one sentence orally, by pointing or on the worksheet: “A warning sign can be ___”; “I can calm my body by ___”; or “I can ask ___ for help.” Rehearse the help-seeking sequence: notice, move to safety, tell a trusted adult, keep telling until someone helps. Close with the class break signal and a predictable transition.

Resources

• the 10-slide lesson deck
• the unsafe situations and help-seeking worksheet
• the Coping Strategies Scenario Cards
• the Coping Strategies Reference Poster
• Three heading cards: safe, uncomfortable, unsafe
• Pencils, highlighters and optional sensory tools
• Visual routine and break card
• List or photographs of trusted adults in the school

Assessment

• Observe whether students identify at least one relevant body, feeling or situation clue during sorting and role-play.
• Check the worksheet for accurate classification and a safe response, allowing verbal, drawn or selected answers.
• Listen for each student naming a trusted adult and using an appropriate help-seeking sentence.

Differentiation

• Use the same repeated language, visual routine, first–then instructions and one-step directions; preview every scenario before students respond.
• Offer choices to point, draw, read, observe or participate with a puppet. Provide a quiet space, movement break and reduced sensory load for students with ADHD or Autism.
• For EAL learners, pair icons with simple words and model sentence frames: “I notice ___”; “I feel ___”; “I need help from ___.”
• Extend students by asking them to explain why a response is safe, identify more than one trusted adult, or adapt a coping strategy for a new scenario.