What Makes Us Safe?

Overview

In this first lesson of Āhurutanga Online: Safe Connections, students co-construct what a safe, warm, respectful environment feels and looks like. They connect classroom belonging and manaakitanga with safe participation in online spaces, using scenarios and a choice of drawing, speaking, or writing.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify what helps people feel safe and included.
• WALT recognise that people may experience the same situation differently.
• WALT use respectful language to discuss safety, belonging, and inclusion.
• WALT suggest a safe response when something feels unsafe or uncomfortable.

Success criteria

• I can describe a safe, unsafe, or uncomfortable situation.
• I can explain what makes a person feel included and respected.
• I can show my thinking through words, pictures, or role-play.
• I can suggest who to talk to and what to do if I do not feel safe.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences — people participate in groups and communities, including how shared expectations support belonging and participation.
• Health and Physical Education — hauora, relationships, personal safety, and seeking help.
• English — listening, speaking, presenting, and responding to others.
• Learning Languages — using respectful greetings and safety vocabulary.
• Technology — recognising digital technologies as part of everyday life and considering safe participation.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and āhurutanga. Teacher welcomes students with “Tēnā koutou” and introduces āhurutanga as a safe, warm space where everyone’s mana is respected; display the opening question and āhurutanga image and invite students to silently notice how the image makes them feel. Students use an emotion card, gesture, or word to share one feeling connected with being safe.

2. 5–12 min · What helps people belong? Teacher models a think-aloud: “I feel included when people listen, use my name correctly, and invite me to join,” then records ideas under safe, respected, and included; return to the three class discussion prompts. Students think independently, pair-share, and contribute examples from school, home, sport, or online games.

3. 12–20 min · Pūrākau and discussion. Teacher tells a brief, age-appropriate pūrākau or scenario about a new person joining a group, pausing to ask, “What showed manaakitanga?” and “What could have helped more?” Use the decision-making scenario cards to offer groups a further situation and remind students they may pass if a scenario feels personal. Students discuss what the person might see, feel, and need, then share a respectful response.

4. 20–30 min · Classroom and online connections. Teacher explains that online spaces are communities too: people use words, images, messages, avatars, and actions to communicate. Show the classroom-to-online comparison slides and sort examples aloud as safe, unsafe, or uncomfortable, clarifying that uncomfortable feelings matter even when harm was not intended. Students use a thumbs signal, partner talk, or movement to classify examples such as being invited into a game, receiving an unkind message, or seeing a private image shared without permission.

5. 30–39 min · Show what you know. Teacher distributes the safe connections choice worksheet and explains the three response options: draw and label, write short sentences, or prepare a brief role-play. Students choose one classroom or online scenario, identify whether it feels safe, unsafe, or uncomfortable, explain why, and show a safe next step, such as stopping, saving evidence, blocking, leaving, or telling a trusted adult. Circulate, ask “What makes you say that?” and check that students are not required to disclose personal experiences.

6. 39–45 min · Co-construct and close. Teacher gathers examples and creates a short class agreement using students’ language, such as “We listen,” “We include others,” “We ask before sharing,” and “We tell a trusted adult.” Display the class agreement and reflection prompt and invite students to complete: “A safe connection feels…”, “I can help others feel included by…”, or “If I feel unsafe, I can…”. Students share with a partner or teacher and place a quiet thumbs-up/sideways signal to show confidence.

Resources

• the complete safe connections slide deck
• the safe connections choice worksheet
• the decision-making scenario cards
• Visual emotion cards
• Whiteboard and markers
• Pencils, crayons, and colouring materials
• Optional role-play props
• Trusted-adult and help-seeking visual

Assessment

• Listen during think-pair-share and scenario discussions for accurate use of safe, unsafe, uncomfortable, included, and respected.
• Confer during the worksheet task: check whether students can identify a feeling or risk, give a reason, and suggest an appropriate safe response.
• Use the closing response as an exit check; note students who need further teaching about boundaries, help-seeking, or the difference between a mistake and unsafe behaviour.

Differentiation

• Provide picture symbols, emotion cards, sentence starters (“I feel safe when…”, “This is uncomfortable because…”, “I could tell…”), oral scribing, and partner rehearsal. Accept drawing, speaking, writing, or role-play as equivalent ways to show understanding.
• Pre-teach and display āhurutanga, manaakitanga, mana, safe, unsafe, uncomfortable, respect, and trusted adult. Model pronunciation and invite students to use familiar languages alongside English.
• Offer a quieter space, private response option, predictable turn-taking, and the right to pass. Avoid asking students to recount real incidents; follow school safeguarding procedures if a disclosure occurs.
• Extend confident students by explaining how one action can affect another person’s hauora and by proposing an inclusive class or online rule with a reason.