Safeguarding in schools is more than simply keeping pupils safe in school. We leave them vulnerable if we do not do everything we can to equip them to keep themselves safe in school, outside school and in the future. PSHE education lessons provide the best context for this learning, as part of a whole school approach and can contribute to safeguarding by:

• Teaching pupils about healthy relationships and helping them recognise unhealthy relationships
• Helping pupils recognise inappropriate behaviour towards them or others and to access help
• Raising pupils’ awareness of abuse, gender-related and gang violence
• Addressing gender stereotypes and challenging the negative attitudes which lead to violence and abuse
• Teaching the language, skills and strategies that enable pupils to tackle and mitigate risks to their (or others’) physical or emotional safety, including bullying, unhealthy relationships, sexual exploitation, gangs, radicalisation, drug and alcohol use and other risky behaviours
• Teaching the knowledge, understanding and skills pupils need to keep safe online
• Broadening pupils’ understanding of concepts such as consent, equality, discrimination, power and exploitation as part of a broader curriculum
• Helping pupils to support and seek help for friends who are in unsafe situations
• Helping pupils to see how their own behaviour can at times put others at risk.
• Supporting the development of personal attributes such as self-esteem, resilience and self-confidence and skills such as managing risk, decision making and emergency aid.