CURRICULUM SUPPORTfor primary teachers

PrimaryCurriculum Support Directorate

1998 Vol. 3 No. 3

PROGRAMMING CHILDPROTECTION EDUCATION IN PDHPE

Child protection education should not be taught as anisolated component. It should be integrated within therelated content areas of PDHPE. To ensure that an effectivechild protection education component is taught in eachstage, schools will find it beneficial to develop a whole-school curriculum plan for PDHPE, of which childprotection education is a component.

This article answers some key questions to assist schoolsas they review their existing provisions for child protectioneducation and develop school curriculum plans and classprograms in PDHPE.

What should be in the school’sPDHPE curriculum plan?

A school PDHPE curriculum plan needs to provideteachers with the scope and sequence of learning fromyear to year and from stage to stage.

Examine your school’s current PDHPE curriculumplan to identify:

• child protection concepts or focus areas which arealready addressed in other areas. To do this youneed to have an understanding of the three mainthemes and the content for each theme. (Refer tothe scope and sequence pages in the curriculummaterials.)

• opportunities for students to build on prior learning

• areas that need to be included or strengthened toensure a balance of the three themes in childprotection education from Kindergarten to Year 6.

Departmental primary schools have now received the finaldocument in the series: Child Protection Education:Curriculum materials to support teaching and learning inPersonal Development, Health and Physical Education.These materials will assist teachers to integrate teachingand learning about sexual abuse and other forms ofabuse, including bullying and harassment, into PersonalDevelopment, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE).

Each school should now review its existing provisions forchild protection education to ensure that an effective childprotection education component is taught in each Stagefrom 1999.

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What is balanced child protectioneducation?

Balanced child protection education involvesteaching and learning about three themes:

Theme 1 Recognising abuse

Theme 2 Power in relationships

Theme 3 Protective strategies.

Schools may not need to teach all these themes ineach year or stage. Nor do they need to treat themin any particular order or as separate entities. Howschools approach each theme will depend on whatstudents already know and can do, and how theschool PDHPE program is constructed.

However, when making decisions, schools shouldconsider the following:

• Activities from Theme 1 are considerablydifferent from the previous child protectionmaterials. Theme 1 contains some of the morechallenging material in terms of students’understanding of the forms and dynamics ofabuse.

• Activities from Theme 2 are useful as anintroduction to child protection education, asthey model positive relationships. Teachingmay already be occurring in this area in yourPDHPE program.

• Activities from Theme 3 are important becauseit is this area which builds students’ capacity tokeep themselves safe. Research suggests that, ifchildren can recognise abusive situations anduse protective strategies in their early years, thenthey will have a greater capacity for keepingthemselves safe later on.

When should it be taught and forhow long?

Child protection education must be included ineach stage of your PDHPE program. Whetherschools teach aspects within each year of each stageis a school decision. The number of lessons thatschools program for child protection education inPDHPE is also up to each school.

Schools should consider the following whenmaking these decisions:

• It is important to develop in students as earlyas possible understandings and skills in the areaof child protection. Children are mostvulnerable when young, so it is recommended

that child protection education be taught in atleast two of the three school years in Stage 1.

• Schools which do not incorporate childprotection education into each year’s PDHPEprogram need to consider ways to build on andreinforce prior learning. There should not be agap of more than one year between childprotection education in stage-based PDHPEcurriculum plans.

How can I program for childprotection education? Is there a

preferred way?

There are three main approaches which schools cantake to incorporate child protection education intotheir PDHPE programs:

• Programming child protection education asblocks or units of work.

For example, units of work based on the threechild protection education themes are taught ineach year, or across each stage.

• Integrating child protection conceptsthroughout other PDHPE units.

For example, a PDHPE unit on “Familiesand friends” could be used to developunderstandings about child protectionconcepts, such as relationships, rights andresponsibilities and kinds of touch.

• A combination of the above two approaches.

For example, in a Year 4 PDHPE program thereis an integrated unit called “Hang with the ‘incrowd’ ” which includes such child protectionconcepts as relationships, bullying, abuse ofpower, bribes and threats. Later in the year thereis a whole unit on child protection education tocover the rest of the three child protectionthemes.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.The approach which schools choose to take willdepend on the school.

If your school wants to take the first approach, andyour program includes a unit based on activitiesfrom Theme 1 (Recognising abuse), then ensurethat:

• the unit is not taught in Term 4. This unit usuallyencourages disclosures and teaching it last inthe year prevents adequate follow-up.

• some preparatory teaching has occurred in areasfrom Theme 2.

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What am I going to program?

Teachers may find the “main ideas” and the“Things to look for” for each theme a helpful guidewhen planning teaching programs. Key questionsto focus the process of programming include:

• What is it that the students currently know andcan do?

• What do I want the students to know and beable to do?

• How will I help them to know and do?

• How will I know when they have learnt?(See CURRICULUM SUPPORT Vol. 3. No. 1,page 3.)

The teaching and learning activities in the newcurriculum materials are organised into fieldbuilding, core learning, concluding and extensionactivities. Teachers should select those activities thatbest meet the needs of their students and matchtheir program.

Field-building activities introduce and lay thefoundation for core learning. Participation inappropriate core learning activities is integral to theachievement of learning outcomes for the focusarea. Concluding activities can be implemented ifprevious core learning activities have involveddiscussion of personal or confronting issues. Theextension activities are designed to take the themefurther, if appropriate.

When the school PDHPE curriculum plan has beendeveloped, it will be easier for teachers to deviseclass teaching programs which meet the needs ofstudents and support students in the achievementof PDHPE outcomes.

For further support in developing andimplementing child protection education inPDHPE, contact your district PDHPE consultant.

Thanks to Deborah Atkins, PDHPE CurriculumAdviser, and Wendy Alford, Student WelfareAdviser, for their contributions to this article.

In the 10-14 years age group, passengers andpedestrians still feature highly as making up themajority of serious casualties.

feature article PROVIDING ROAD SAFETYEDUCATION IN THE PRIMARY

SCHOOL

Passengers42%

Pedestrians44%

Pedal cyclists13%

Motorcyclists1%

Why is it important?

Traffic-related accidents are the leading cause ofdeath and serious injury for young children. Inorder to promote the health and well-being ofchildren, school PDHPE programs should includea significant road safety focus.

The NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) hasanalysed the serious casualties for primary schoolchildren. Over a three-year average (1994-1996)most serious casualties in the 5-9 years age groupare either passengers or pedestrians.

Passengers37%

Pedestrians34%

Pedal cyclists22%

Motorcyclists4%

Drivers3%

Why is this the situation?

A number of developmental limitations placeprimary school children at particular risk in thetraffic environment. Consider the followingdiagram.