Connect is a CEOP Education resource for children and young people aged 9 to 12. The resource is a set of four lesson plans and five short situational films involving fictional characters. The resource aims to empower and protect children and young people from on and offline abuse, including sexual abuse, through understanding the principles of healthy relationships and recognising when and how to seek help.
Connect is designed to be delivered through structured sessions in education settings. In schools, the lesson plans should be embedded into the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum.
The first two lesson plans are designed for use with children and young people in English and Welsh year groups 5 and 6, or equivalent, and up. The latter two lesson plans are designed for use with children and young people in English and Welsh year groups 6 and 7, or equivalent, and up. Lessons are designed to be used flexibly and could be taught in other year groups, depending on teachers' judgement of learners' needs. The lessons can be delivered in consecutive weeks, or separately to fit within a wider scheme of work on healthy, respectful relationships.
Connect has been awarded the PSHE Association Quality Mark, demonstrating that it supports safe and effective teaching practice and meets the PSHE Association’s ‘Key principles of effective prevention education’.
Watch the Connect resource trailer.
The four lessons cover the following topics:
- Healthy, respectful relationships
- Safer socialising online
- Healthy and respectful online relationship behaviours
- Responding to harmful online behaviour, including grooming, and when and how to seek help
The lesson activities help children and young people to:
- Describe the features of healthy friendships, including online
- Identify how someone’s personal values can influence the way they treat others
- Explain what respect and consent look like in a range of contexts, including online and why it is important
- Identify the benefits, risks and impact of socialising online and how to protect personal privacy and identify and respond to pressure
- Identify appropriate, inappropriate, and non-consensual behaviour online
- Explain the impact of teasing and bullying online
- Identify manipulative behaviour, including the use of false identities, online
- Describe ways to respond to requests for information or images online
- Describe what it means to be a positive bystander including online
- Assess when and how to ask for help for things that they or others have experienced online
The lessons contain:
- Comprehensive guidance for delivering the lesson safely and effectively in education settings.
- Diverse scenarios and films with characters in a range of relationship types
- Adaptable and inclusive materials such as PowerPoints, worksheets and handouts including alternative and extension activities to support children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or other requirements. This helps professionals to choose the best approach based on the needs of their cohort.
- Links to relevant UK curricula.
