NSPCC 'Speak Out Stay Safe' talk for 5 and 6 year olds

[nicnac29]

Hi, wonder if anyone has any experience they can share. My DS is in Year One so they are all 5 and 6 years old. We've had a letter home saying the NSPCC are coming in to give an assembly highlighting different forms of abuse and how to recognise them and seek help. It says it will be age appropriate, however the little ones are still so little and I worry it may put fears and confusion into his head.

I completely get that it's important that children know what's right and what's wrong, and totally believe in the whole NSPCC Pants rules etc, I think that's great and age appropriate. We have had these conversations at home at appropriate times in what I consider an age appropriate and most importantly a my-child appropriate way. He's a sensitive soul and I do worry that it's very early for him to be exposed to the kind of information and thoughts/worries highlighted in the letter as being included in this assembly in such a formal and broad way. For example it talks about them learning that their private parts being touched is wrong - of course it is wrong and they need to know that, and we've had little chats at appropriate times about how it's okay for mummy and daddy to sometimes if we need to check that everything's okay, or for a doctor to when mummy or daddy's there etc, but if other people ask to see then it's right to say no and to talk to mummy and daddy. But I wonder if it's a lot to ask a 5/6 year old not to get confused over this if they're being told in an official assembly, in different words, that it's wrong.

I've tried to find more info about it online but the NSPCC's own site is very vague about content. I really want to know the content before I decide whether I want my son to be included, or indeed to at least be aware of what he'll be listening to so I can be prepared to answer any questions he might bring up etc.

I will speak to the school but wonder has anyone else had any experience of the 'Speak Out Stay Safe' program with their little ones at school? Can anyone reassure me? Share any content / context? I'd be so grateful.

Thank you.

I don't have experience, but it sounds good, they are obviously experienced with dealing with sensitive nature of this topic.

5/6 year olds are young, and that's a main reason they need to know what to do/ who to talk to.

Most of kids are safe, but those who are abused and need help may never know how to speak up otherwise.

I think it's very important lesson, and for some, it could be a great help.

The whole school has a very short age appropriate assembly. The detail and the issues are developed with the Year 5 -6 children in a later workshop. All the messages they give in the assembly are very generic and do not include things that need further discussion and explanation. An assembly would not be the place for discussion on the pants rule. There is nothing to worry about.

What I wanted to say is, that if even one child really benefit truly from the talk, I would be happy to deal with my dc's confusion at home, because I can. And for some child, this could be only one thing that may help them from horrible life.

They did two separate presentations one for KS1 and another for KS2. I wasn't impressed with the KS1 presentation

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/working-with-schools/speak-out-stay-safe-service/

I thought "Buddy" was a giant pea when they visited

Mrz - are you able to explain why you weren't impressed?

Well apart from the giant green pea thing which was all most of the children remembered about the presentation I felt many of the questions about the videos weren't particularly well thought out and they were looking for answers that didn't really fit the scenarios depicted.