Teaching Protective Behaviours to Young Children: Empowering Young Children to Feel Safer

This teaching resource provides staff in education settings with a comprehensive way of supporting children, aged 4-9, to learn that they have a right to feel safe and can talk with someone about anything, even if it feels awful or small.

Fully revised and updated, this second edition provides a practical application of the Protective Behaviours framework, including suggested session plans and accompanying resources. The book explores a range of situations that are faced by children and teaches them to develop a practical understanding of how to reflect on feelings, take safe risks, make responsible choices, and problem solve if they do find themselves in a situation that is uncomfortable or unsafe.

The book:

• Enables children to develop an awareness of what 'safe' feels like both emotionally and physically.
• Empowers children to know and understand that they have the right to consent, even from a young age, and that there are strategies for getting help if needed.
• Gives children the skills to understand their feelings, thoughts and behaviours, and to make informed decisions based on their understanding of protective behaviours.
• Supports children to identify safe adults and to build a safety network.
• Provides guidance for children with varying communication abilities to communicate about their safety in multi-sensory ways.
• Includes ideas to share with parents/carers and questions for adults to think about their own learning and practices.

This new edition helps supporting adults teach sessions within an open time frame, offering ideas that can be embedded beyond the classroom, into the culture of the setting or school, and into everyday practice with children. This resource is an essential tool for staff in early years and primary settings, as well as other professionals supporting young children with safety.

Table of Contents

About the authors

Background research

Introduction

Overall aims of First Steps to Safety

How to use this manual

Session Plans:

• Session 1: Exploring Feelings
• Session 2: Feeling Safe and Feeling Scary
• Session 3: Feeling Scary and Knowing What’s Happening in my Body.
• Session 4: My Body is my Body
• Session 5: Stop, Feel, Think, Do
• Session 6: Choosing People for my Helping Hand

General resources

• Feelings cards
• Character cutouts
• Think, Pair, Share
• Theme poster
• ‘What are we doing today?’ Timetable cards
• Games Pack
• Songs Pack
• Recommended reading list
• Story Hand
• Take a Word for a Walk

References

Signposts to Organisations and Resources