Review the list of adults that the children meet outside school created in the previous lesson (see ‘RSE, Year 1, Safety and the changing body, Lesson 1: Adults in school’). Ask the children if there are any more that they want to add.

Focus on the places and times that the children meet adults, for example, clubs, shops, when playing outside, places of worship, family gatherings. 

People that they meet online can be included here but this will depend on the children in your class and their experiences. If they have mentioned online in their list, it will need to be covered. If they do not mention it, you do not need to include this at this stage.

Ask the children how they talk to these adults. Ask whether how they talk to these adults is different depending on the situation that they are in, or how well they know the adult. For example, we might be on our best behaviour and very polite with people in shops or places of worship but less so with our families or close friends.

Explain that how well we know someone and how close we feel to them will depend on who the person is. For example, you will know well a family friend whom you have known for years, but you may not know as well your parent’s friend from their work. 

People we trust

Ask the children to stand in a large circle with you in the middle (ideally in the hall or playground). Say the names different people and ask children to show how well they know that person through the distance they move: they will come closer to the centre of the circle and to you if they feel they know that person well.

Some examples you might use are: parent, brother/sister, best friend, grandparents, cousins, the headteacher, caretaker, school crossing patrol, swimming teacher etc.

Following the activity, discuss that there will be lots of different people in our lives and some we will know well and some we will not know as well.

Explain that usually the people we know best are those we can trust. 

Discuss with the children what we mean by trust.  For example, the person we trust will look after us, will do what is best for us and will be there for us when we need them.

Discuss that different children will trust different people and this is fine. You might want to ask children for examples of people they trust. Mention that if any adult makes them feel unhappy they should talk to another adult that they do trust.

People we do not know

Ask the children what they think a stranger is.

Make sure that the children understand that a stranger is anyone they do not know. Strangers are not always bad people, but we need to get to know them to be sure and there may be times when we need an adult whom we trust to help us.  

Display the Presentation: Adults that we meet – scenarios.

Explain that the children are going to look at some scenarios and decide what they think they should do. The choices are on slides 3 and 4:

Slide 3: Option A: Carry on talking to this person.

Slide 4: Option B: Be polite, end the conversation and go and talk to an adult you know well and trust.

Using slide 5, read out loud the scenario and ask the children what they think the child should do. The children could discuss this first in pairs and feedback or respond on individual whiteboards.  

Take feedback and make sure that the points in the answer on slide 6 are covered.

Repeat for the scenarios on slides 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, covering the points in the answers on slides 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16.

Share the children’s ideas as well as the discussion points that are given with the answers. The children may have very particular fears. The key is not to scare the children but at the same time to make sure that they are aware that not everyone is safe. Stress that it is very unlikely that strangers will want to hurt them but it is important they learn about what to do if they are ever worried.

The children will have the opportunity in the Wrapping up to practice ways to end a conversation with an adult if they do not feel safe or comfortable.

Make sure that all the children know who they can talk to if they are worried (for example, parents, neighbours, people working in a shop and police) and where to go if they do find themselves in a tricky situation (home, a neighbour’s house or a shop).

The children are going to role-play a scenario to practise ending a conversation with someone whom they don’t know, and going to find a grown-up.

Select one or two of the scenarios with the Option B answer (see slides 9, 13 and 15) and give the scenarios to the children who work in pairs or small groups. The children can be given some sentences to use, such as:

“I need to go back to my mum now.”

“Thank you for talking to me, I am going to find my dad now”.

Invite some children to act their conversations out to the rest of the class.

Remind the children that if an adult, even if someone they know well, ever makes them feel unhappy or hurts them they should always talk to another adult they trust either in school or at home.