Safety in Relationships

Overview

In this final lesson of the unit, students explore what “safety” looks like in relationships, including identifying unsafe behaviours and deciding how to seek help. Students practise respectful communication for telling a trusted adult, using clear and safe help-seeking strategies.

Learning intentions

• Students will describe how safety can look and feel in friendships and other relationships.
• Students will identify examples of unsafe behaviours and explain why they are not okay.
• Students will practise help-seeking steps and respectful ways to communicate with a trusted adult.
• Students will reflect on personal feelings and use them to make safer relationship choices.

Success criteria

• I can give examples of safe and unsafe relationship behaviours.
• I can explain how I would respond if I felt unsafe.
• I can name at least two trusted people to ask for help.
• I can use a respectful message starter when telling someone I need help.

Curriculum links

• EN2-OLC-01: Students communicate with familiar audiences for social and learning purposes, including interacting, understanding and presenting ideas about safety and help-seeking.
• EN2-CWT-02/EN2-CWT-03: Students plan, create and revise short informative/persuasive text for a target audience (e.g., a personal help-seeking note/card).
• CA2-VIS-01: Students make and describe an artwork that represents safety and safe choices to share their ideas with an audience.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and recall. Teacher revises key unit ideas using a quick class discussion: “What does respect look like?” and “What can we do when something doesn’t feel right?” Students share one previous learning memory with a partner.

2. 5–12 min · Direct teaching: safety vs unsafe. Teacher uses a simple prompt chart with categories: safe (kind, fair, consent), unsafe (hurtful, threatening, pressuring, teasing that targets), and “different feelings” (scared, uncomfortable, confused). Students sort 6 teacher-read scenarios into safe/unsafe using hand signals, then justify one choice aloud.

3. 12–20 min · Guided practice: feelings and warning signs. Teacher displays four “I feel…” cards (e.g., “uneasy”, “nervous”, “safe”, “ignored”) and links them to relationship situations. Students complete a quick think-write: “When I feel ___, I should ___.” Teacher circulates for checks and gathers 2–3 examples.

4. 20–30 min · Scenario discussion circles (help-seeking). Teacher groups students into small circles and provides two scenario cards:

• A friend asks for something that makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Someone keeps breaking boundaries even after a “stop” is said. Students discuss using a three-question routine: “Is this safe?”, “How do we know?”, “What help would we seek and from whom?” One student per group prepares a 20-second “presenting” statement for the class.

5. 30–39 min · Create: personal help-seeking card. Teacher models a short, supportive message card template with sentence starters:

• “I need help because…”
• “I felt…”
• “A trusted person I can talk to is…”
• “I can ask for help by…” Students write and complete their own card. For Health purpose, include “seek help straight away” and “if there is an immediate danger, contact emergency services” (teacher states this simply and appropriately). Students may also draw a small symbol for “safety” on the card.

6. 39–43 min · Share and affirm. Teacher invites volunteers to read only their chosen parts (no personal disclosure required). Students listen for respectful language and effective help-seeking steps, then give one “glow and grow” comment to a partner.

7. 43–45 min · Exit ticket reflection. Teacher asks: “Name one unsafe behaviour you would recognise and one trusted adult/person you could ask for help.” Students write one sentence and hand in.

Resources

• Scenario cards (safe/unsafe situations appropriate for Year 4)
• “I feel…” cards and feelings/warning sign prompt chart
• Help-seeking card template (sentence starters)
• Writing tools and paper
• Sticky notes for hand-signal sorting
• Timer for scenario discussion and sharing
• Optional: simple “safety” symbol sheet (draw-only, no sharing required)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation during safe/unsafe sorting and scenario reasoning (checking that students can explain “why”).
• Formative: listen for respectful, clear help-seeking statements in group presentations.
• Summative (quick check): exit ticket that identifies one unsafe behaviour and one trusted person/adult to ask for help.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for help-seeking and a word bank (safe, unsafe, stop, trusted adult, help). Allow students to point to choices rather than explain fully if needed.
• Support: offer a partially completed card template for students who need more structure.
• Extension: ask students to add a second help option (e.g., another trusted person) and explain what they would do if the first person wasn’t available.
• EAL/SEN considerations: use visual prompts, keep scenarios short, pre-teach key terms (unsafe, boundary, trusted) and allow extra processing time before speaking.
• Safety and wellbeing: remind students they do not need to share personal experiences; use hypothetical scenarios and private writing when appropriate.