Safeguarding in the Curriculum
Life Matters (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education) plays a vital role in safeguarding secondary school students because it gives young people the knowledge, skills and confidence to recognise risks, protect themselves, and seek help when needed.
Here is how we teach safeguarding at Consett Academy.
How LIFE MATTERS Supports Safeguarding
1. Helps Students Recognise Abuse and Harm
Life Matters teaches students about different forms of abuse, including:
- Physical abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Neglect
- Sexual abuse and exploitation
- Domestic abuse
- Grooming and coercion
By understanding the warning signs, students are better able to identify when something is wrong for themselves or others.
2. Develops Online Safety Awareness
Many safeguarding concerns now occur online. Life Matters lessons help students learn about:
- Cyberbullying
- Online grooming
- Sharing images and personal information
- Fake profiles and scams
- Healthy use of social media
- Digital footprints
This enables students to make safer choices when using technology and social media.
3. Promotes Healthy Relationships
Through Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), Life Matters teaches students about:
- Respect and consent
- Boundaries
- Healthy and unhealthy relationships
- Peer pressure
- Recognising controlling or abusive behaviour
These lessons help young people develop positive relationships and understand when behaviour is unacceptable.
4. Supports Mental Health and Wellbeing
Life Matters provides opportunities for students to explore:
- Emotional wellbeing
- Stress and anxiety management
- Resilience
- Self-esteem
- Where and how to access support
Students who understand their emotions are often more willing to seek help when they need it.
5. Encourages Students to seek support and signposts places they can go
A key safeguarding message within Life Matters is that students should:
- Know who trusted adults are
- Understand how to report concerns
- Feel confident asking for help
- Recognise that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility
Creating a safe environment for discussion can encourage students to disclose concerns that might otherwise remain hidden.
6. Builds Risk Management Skills
Life Matters helps students assess and manage risks relating to:
- Substance misuse
- Criminal exploitation
- County lines
- Knife crime
- Radicalisation and extremism
- Financial exploitation
Students learn strategies for making informed and safe decisions.
Impact on Safeguarding in Schools
Effective Life Matters contributes to a safeguarding culture by:
- Increasing students' awareness of risks.
- Equipping them with practical self-protection skills.
- Encouraging early reporting of concerns.
- Strengthening resilience and confidence.
- Supporting pupils' physical, emotional and social wellbeing.
The Life Matters curriculum supports safeguarding by equipping students with the knowledge, skills and confidence to recognise risks, make safe and informed decisions, develop healthy relationships, protect themselves online, and access support when needed. Through age-appropriate learning, students become better able to identify concerns, understand their rights, and seek help from trusted adults, contributing to a strong culture of safeguarding across the school. The curriculum is monitored and adapted when needed to provide contextual education based on the needs of our community and events which may happened locally. The curriculum is planned to be proactive with local concerns at the forefront and is flexible to be reactive when incidents which also occur.