Staying Safe Active

Overview

In this lesson students focus on how to keep safe while being active and how to use reliable health information to make safer choices. Students apply these ideas to a short “safety and participation” plan for a physical activity scenario.

Learning intentions

WALT:

• Students will recognise and demonstrate strategies to promote safety in a range of situations.
• Students will use reliable sources of health information to support safer health and participation decisions.
• Students will plan and use strategies to participate in activities that encourage safety, health and lifelong physical activity.

Success criteria

Students can:

• Identify key risks in a scenario and explain at least 3 safety strategies to reduce harm.
• Choose a reliable source and justify why it is trustworthy.
• Describe 2–3 strategies to participate safely (warm-up, correct equipment, pacing, supervision, hydration).
• Apply strategies to a personal action plan for safe, active participation.

Curriculum links

• PHLS-SHW-02: Students recognise and demonstrate strategies to promote safety in a range of situations.
• PHLS-IPS-01: Students demonstrate ways to access reliable sources of health information or support services.
• PH4-SHP-01: Students plan for and use strategies to participate in activities that encourage safety, health and lifelong physical activity.
• PHLS-SHW-01: Students support safety and wellbeing by using strategies that reduce risk and respond appropriately.
• PHLS-SHP-01: Students use strategies to participate in lifelong physical activity.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (safety quick-start). Teacher displays 3 short “would you do this?” statements (e.g., no warm-up, share mouthguards, run near wet paint) and asks students to vote with fingers (agree/disagree). Students give a quick reason to a partner.

2. 5–15 min · Direct teach: “Risk–Response–Reliable help”. Teacher explains a simple framework: Spot the hazard, predict what could go wrong, choose responses, and find reliable help if unsure. Students complete a 1-minute model using one example from the hook (what’s the hazard and what response is best?).

3. 15–25 min · Strategy stations (safety in action). Teacher sets up four stations around common Year 8 activity contexts (school sport, walking/cycling to sport, gym/fitness, water activity/summer play) and provides prompt cards. Students rotate and record: (a) one risk, (b) one strategy to reduce it, (c) one “safety check” they would do before starting.

4. 25–35 min · Reliable information mini-lesson. Teacher provides 3 sample “information cards” about a safety topic (e.g., dehydration, concussion after a knock, first aid for sprains) where only one is clearly reliable (e.g., recognised health service or school-approved source). Students use a checklist to decide which is reliable and write two trust reasons (authority/accuracy/freshness/no sensational claims/appropriate for health decisions).

5. 35–50 min · Apply: Safe participation planning (PH4-SHP-01 + lifelong). Teacher gives each group one scenario card: “Your team wants to play a fast game in hot weather at lunchtime and you will be training for 2 weeks. One player has a new injury history and someone is unsure about hydration and what to do if symptoms worsen.” Students create a brief plan with headings: Safety strategies, Participation strategies, and Reliable information plan. They must include at least:

• Warm-up and pacing strategy
• Hydration plan
• When to stop and seek help
• One reliable source to check before decisions

6. 50–58 min · Share and refine (formative). Teacher selects 3 groups to share one part of their plan (risk-response, reliable source choice, or participation strategies). Students in the audience add one “improvement suggestion” using sentence starters: “I agree because…” / “I would add…” / “One safety risk you could also consider is…”

7. 58–60 min · Exit ticket. Students answer: “Name one strategy that helps you participate safely and another strategy that helps you stay active for life. Also name one reliable place you could check for health information.”

Resources

• Scenario cards (hot weather sport, new injury history, wet/cold conditions, cycling to activity)
• Station prompt cards and recording sheets
• Reliable vs unreliable information cards (short excerpts, no web links)
• Reliability checklist (authority, accuracy, currency, purpose, suitability for health decisions)
• Coloured pencils/highlighters for risk coding
• Timer and whiteboard for framework steps
• Sentence starters for feedback

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observes station recordings for correct risk recognition and safety responses.
• Formative: reliability checklist choices and justifications (students’ trust reasons).
• Summative-in-mini-form: exit ticket responses showing safe participation + lifelong physical activity strategy and a reliable information source.

Differentiation

• Support for students needing scaffolds:
• Provide a risk-response template with sentence starters (e.g., “The hazard is…”, “A safe response is…”).
• Offer a word bank for strategies (warm-up, pacing, hydration, protective equipment, supervision, stop and report).
• Support for EAL/SEN:
• Allow oral responses to partner/scribe options for station recording.
• Use clear icons on cards (thermometer, shield, question mark for “seek help”, water drop for hydration).
• Extension for advanced learners:
• Add a “what-if” challenge: “If conditions change (e.g., rain, sudden headache, equipment failure), what would you adjust and how would you confirm using reliable information?”
• Require students to include an additional safety strategy linked to their personal context (e.g., managing asthma triggers before activity).
• Choice:
• Let groups choose one station risk to prioritise in their plan if they finish early, ensuring quality over quantity.