What Does Safe Mean?

Overview

In this first lesson of the Safe and Strong unit, students explore what safety feels and looks like in different situations. They sort familiar scenarios, notice body and environmental clues, identify trusted adults, and rehearse a simple help-seeking statement. The lesson establishes that students should tell a safe adult whenever something feels unsafe or worrying.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify safe, unsafe, and worrying situations.
• WALT notice body and environmental clues that may signal a concern.
• WALT name trusted adults who can help.
• WALT practise using assertive words to ask for help.

Success criteria

• I can describe what safety means.
• I can identify at least three trusted adults.
• I can explain what to do when I feel unsafe.
• I can say, “I need help,” clearly and confidently.

Curriculum links

• Relationships — Boundaries and staying safe: applying protective behaviours, saying no, and asking for help when experiencing hurtful behaviour.
• Relationships — Boundaries and staying safe: recognising exclusion or unkind behaviour, responding with kindness and confidence, and taking safe action to support others.
• Relationships — Boundaries and staying safe: using kind words, sharing, taking turns, and listening to build positive relationships.
• Bodies | Minds — Self-care: developing self-awareness and recognising emotional changes that affect wellbeing.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Welcome and safety agreement. Open with the hook and learning intention slides and ask, “What does safe feel like?” Explain that students will discuss made-up situations only; they do not need to share personal experiences. Establish three agreements: listen respectfully, pass if needed, and tell the teacher or another safe adult if the discussion raises a concern. Students share one word, gesture, or drawing that represents feeling safe.

2. 7–17 min · Teach safe, unsafe, and worrying. Use the safe, unsafe, and worrying examples to introduce the terms. Explain that safe situations help our bodies and minds feel protected; unsafe situations may cause harm; worrying situations may leave us feeling unsure, uncomfortable, or “something is not right”. Emphasise that body clues can include a tight tummy, shaky hands, hot cheeks, a racing heart, or wanting to move away, while environmental clues may include danger, secrecy, being alone, or someone not respecting “stop”. Students practise showing a thumbs-up, sideways thumb, or thumbs-down response to teacher-read examples, without needing to explain personal experiences.

3. 17–30 min · Scenario sorting. Arrange students in five groups of four and distribute the scenario sorting and trusted-adult worksheet. Read each short, age-appropriate scenario aloud, such as walking with a familiar adult, being repeatedly left out of a game, seeing an unsafe object, or someone continuing after a clear “stop”. Groups decide whether each situation is safe, unsafe, or worrying and give one reason using a body or environmental clue. Circulate and ask, “What could the person do next?” Groups may draw, point, or explain orally rather than write.

4. 30–41 min · Trusted-adult hand. Model a hand shape on the trusted-adult hand example. Students trace one hand on the worksheet and write or draw one trusted adult on each finger. Prompt them to consider adults at home, school, and in the wider community, such as a parent or caregiver, teacher, school office staff member, whānau member, or another adult who listens and helps. Reinforce that students can keep telling safe adults until someone helps; it is never their fault if the first person is unavailable or does not listen. Invite students to share only the types of adults they chose, not names or private information.

5. 41–53 min · Practise asking for help. Show the protective-action steps and role-play prompts. Teach the sequence: move away if possible, use a strong voice to say “Stop” or “No”, go towards a safe adult, and say, “I need help.” In pairs, students role-play low-risk, fictional situations using a speaker and helper role, then swap. Examples include someone taking a personal item after being told to stop, being excluded repeatedly from a game, or noticing a hazard. Students do not touch one another or act out frightening behaviour. The helper responds, “Thank you for telling me. I will help you.” Pause and coach posture, clear words, and moving to safety.

6. 53–60 min · Review and exit response. Return to the review and exit-ticket slide. Students complete the final part of the worksheet by drawing or writing: one clue that a situation may be worrying, one trusted adult, and what they could say or do. Invite several volunteers to rehearse “I need help” once more. Remind students that if something feels unsafe or worrying, they should move away when they can and tell a trusted adult straight away. Check privately with any student who appears unsettled.

Resources

• the Safe and Strong lesson deck
• the scenario sorting and trusted-adult worksheet
• Pencils, crayons, and erasers
• A large paper hand or teacher model
• Board or chart paper
• Five group tables or floor spaces
• Calm space or quiet seating option
• Pre-prepared fictional scenario prompts

Assessment

• Listen during sorting for accurate use of safe, unsafe, and worrying, and for reasons based on body or environmental clues.
• Observe role-plays for moving towards safety, using a clear voice, and asking a trusted adult for help.
• Review the exit response for one safety clue, three possible trusted adults, and an appropriate next step. Follow up sensitively rather than asking students to disclose details publicly.

Differentiation

• Provide picture-supported scenarios, gestures, repeated modelling, and sentence frames: “I notice…”, “This might be worrying because…”, and “I need help because…”.
• Pre-teach and display key words: safe, unsafe, worrying, clue, trusted, stop, and help. Pair students thoughtfully and offer adult-supported grouping.
• Accept drawing, pointing, oral responses, home-language discussion, or scribing for students with literacy, communication, EAL, or learning needs.
• Offer a quiet opt-out space and avoid requiring eye contact, physical role-play, or personal sharing. Keep scenarios fictional and follow school safeguarding procedures if a student discloses a concern.

Extension

• Students create a three-step safety plan for a new fictional scenario: identify the clue, choose a safe action, and name an adult they could tell.
• Students explain how they could support a classmate kindly and confidently without putting themselves in danger.