Core themes: Health & Wellbeing and Relationships
Personal safety

Make sure your PSHE education helps children and young people to stay safe – online and offline.

Need help teaching this topic?
Explore CPD options
Young woman touching future technology social network button
Identifying risk and managing personal safety are fundamental to PSHE education. Our lesson plans will develop knowledge, understanding and skills to help keep pupils safe.
KS
Subject Specialist

Teaching about personal safety and managing risk

PSHE education helps to keep children and young people safe and manage risk. Our guidance and lesson plans will help you to teach PSHE effectively, while meeting statutory RSHE and inspection requirements. 

The Association really helped me to introduce preventative drugs education to my PSHE curriculum. I see a real difference in my pupils’ understanding of the risks and harms.

PSHE Association member

This is a broad area that crosses all strands of PSHE – from relationships to financial risk. Our Programme of Study (key stages 1-5) and Programme Builders show you how to plan personal safety throughout your PSHE education curriculum. This includes teaching pupils how to identify risk and manage personal safety in face to face and online social settings. Children and young people must also know where to get advice and report concerns about their own or others’ personal safety.

We also have many lesson plans to help you. These cover everything from staying safe online to our drugs and alcohol materials and water safety lesson plans.

Browse lesson plans

Training and events

  • KS1-2

    Online CPD: Community Cohesion: Exploring belonging and online influence (primary)

    27 Nov
    £195 per person
    Children are increasingly exposed to divisive, but persuasive, influences and influencers online, and as a result harmful narratives can spill into the school playground and threaten community cohesion. This new CPD course will support you to identify such narratives and challenge them though PSHE/RSHE, with resources, guidance and practical advice that can immediately benefit your pupils and school culture.
See all live CPD
KS 2-5

Online Financial Harms

45 mins Free members

Learn about the rise in online financial harms affecting children and young people, and how we can protect them through high quality PSHE education.

See all on-demand training

Guidance

KS1-5
Ensure external visitors or speakers make a safe and effective contribution to your school's PSHE programme.
KS1-5
15 top tips to help you choose PSHE education resources to use in the classroom.
KS1-4
Gauge what's been learned, demonstrate impact and increase motivation.
KS1-5
Guidance and top tips on setting ground rules and distancing learning in PSHE education.
KS1-4
Everything you need to develop an effective whole school policy.
See all guidance

Evidence and research

Published: October 4, 2021
KS1-5
An evidence review of good practice in prevention education, produced by the PSHE Association on behalf of CEOP.
Published: October 4, 2021
KS1-5
This theory and evidence paper from Dr Elly Hanson takes a 'wide-lens' approach to the issue of gambling and gambling education.