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Objectives of Stay Safe
How is the programme taught?
What will children learn?
How are parents/guardians involved in
the programme?
The Stay Safe Programme is a personal
safety skills programme for primary
schools - both mainstream and special.
Its overall objective is to prevent
child abuse, bullying and other forms of
victimisation.
The programme develops children's
ability to recognise, resist and report
risk situations or abusive encounters by
teaching children...
To identify for themselves unsafe or
upsetting situations
Simple rules to help them avoid
abuse
To respect and value the rights of
others
The language and skills they require
to seek help.
The programme also informs parents and
teachers about preventing bullying and
child abuse, whilst seeking to create a
greater public awareness about the
problems children can and do experience.
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Ideally, children are taught the content
of the Stay Safe lessons in the
classroom by their usual class teacher,
and then discuss the lessons at home
with their parents. Teachers and parents
work together to ensure that children
learn the skills they need to keep safe.
The programme consists of four sets of
lessons, as outlined here:
Class |
No. of Lessons |
Lesson Duration |
Senior Infants |
9 |
20 minutes |
1st/2nd |
9 |
30 minutes |
3rd/4th |
9 |
30 minutes |
5th/6th |
5 |
30 minutes |
It's recommended that lessons are
taught at the rate of one per week.
Additional/supplementary lessons are
available for children with special
needs. This programme, entitled
'Personal Safety Skills for Children
with Learning Difficulties', was
published in 1996 and is designed for
use with children who have visual
impairment, cognitive learning
difficulties, hearing impairment,
physical disability or emotional and
behavioural difficulties.
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The lessons teach children about what to
do if they're frightened or upset. One
of the central messages children learn
is that if they ever have a problem,
they should tell an adult they know and
trust.
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As the most important
people in a child's life it is essential
that parents/guardians are involved in
the programme. It's been shown that
programmes like Stay Safe are most
effective when parents/guardians are
actively involved in the process.
Before the programme is introduced into
your child's school, you may be invited
to a parent meeting where the programme
will be explained and where you'll have
an opportunity to ask questions.
Worksheets to accompany the lessons may
be given as homework to your child or
may be brought home for you to sign.
(The illustrations throughout this
booklet are taken from the children's
worksheets.) It's important that you use
these to discuss the content of the
lesson with your child. Doing so will
give you an insight into what your child
is learning, and present an opportunity
to discuss the issues involved in a way
more personal than is possible in the
classroom situation. It also gives you
an opportunity to discuss personal
safety issues with your child and to
explain the safety rules that exist in
your family. Children have sometimes
used the worksheets to tell their
parents/guardians about problems.
Before the programme starts:
Make sure you're familiar with the
lesson topics as outlined in the
following section
Talk to your child about the
programme. Explain that the
programme will teach them how to
keep safe
Decide on a time to set aside for
discussion of the worksheets.
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