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Learn to Be Safe with Emmy and Friends

Act for Kids Limited

Learn to Be Safe with Emmy and Friends is a protective behaviour education program delivered in schools to provides an approach to remedy the challenge faced by educators to deliver consent-based personal safety education to children.

  • Online
  • QLD

Pricing: Paid

Origin: Developed in Australia for Australian schooling contexts

Affiliations: Approved elsewhere: AIFS, NSW

Product type: Program; Posters; Online resources (e.g. videos, games, tools, readings); Activity sheets; Student activities; Professional learning; Presentation by an expert or speaker ; Whole school approach or initiative; Learning modules; Class lesson plans

Contact details

Act for Kids Limited
ABN: 98 142 986 767

https://emmyandfriends.com.au/

enquiries@actforkids.com.au

Focus areas

  • Positive relationships

  • Respectful relationships and consent education

Curriculum alignment

  • Health and PE

Prospective users

Audience: Targeted small group early intervention (Tier 2)

Context: School or centre-based

Main beneficiaries: Early learning, Foundation/Prep, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Delivery style: Classroom teacher is trained; Delivered by program staff

Aims & approach

Learn to Be Safe with Emmy and Friends is a consent-based personal safety program for children aged 0-10 years and their adults.

The overarching aim of the program is to prevent potential harm to children by a) Understanding concepts of personal body safety; and b) Building skills and confidence to seek help from adults when necessary.

The program comprises a well-defined curriculum with developmentally suitable activities that promote knowledge and skill acquisition across four focus areas of personal safety: Feeling Safe; Safe Choices; Body Safety; and People and Safety. Lessons include opportunities for rehearsal and repetition to allow students to consolidate their knowledge and skills over several weeks.

The Learn to Be Safe train-the-trainer program is available for Early Years and Primary Years educators. On completion, participants will be able to deliver the Learn to Be Safe program in their learning environment. Outcomes include:

  • Defining protective behaviours and outlining why it is necessary to teach protective beahviours to children.
  • Understanding and applying the Learn to Be Safe protective behaviours framework and program.
  • Using the Learn to Be Safe Learning Guide and resources.
  • Knowing how to respond to a child's disclosure of abuse.
  • Applying protective strategies.
  • Promoting a child-safe environment.

Implementation support

  • Access to professional facilitator, instructor or mentor
  • Implementation training webinars or modules

Evidence

The Learn to Be Safe program has undergone multisite evaluation. Using a randomised controlled trial, Learn to Be Safe was evaluated to determine effectiveness for promoting young children's knowledge and skills. In a separate, larger multisite evaluation funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant, analyses showed that participating in the Learn to Be Safe program was effective in improving interpersonal safety knowledge (child- and parent-rated) and interpersonal safety skills (parent-rated) post-program. References include:

  • Dale et al. (2016). Empowering and protecting children by enhancing knowledge, skills and well-being: A randomized controlled trial of Learn to Be Safe with Emmy. Child Abuse and Neglect
  • White et al. (2016). Cluster randomised-control trial for an Australian child protection education program: Study protocol for Learn to Be Safey with Emmy and friends. BMC Public Health
  • White et al. (2018). Promoting young children's interpersonal safety knowledge, intentions, confidence, and protective behaviour skills: Outcomes of a randomised controlled trial. Child Abuse and Neglect