In a school PSHE lesson, youth work session or one-to-one support meeting, this pack can help adults follow up Barnardo’s Be Smart, Be Safe e-learning with structured discussion about child sexual exploitation, grooming, healthy relationships and staying safe. It is aimed at work with young people aged 11-17 and is particularly relevant for teachers, youth workers, support workers and residential staff.
Child sexual exploitation awareness is the central theme, with guidance for professionals who are helping teenagers understand grooming, risk, consent, pressure and safer choices. The pack explains how the e-learning scenario of a young teenage girl and an older man can be used to open careful conversations about what is really happening and why it is abuse.
The material is organised into sections covering preparation, delivery and background knowledge. Visible contents include advice on using the e-learning and resource pack together, setting a learning agreement, managing disclosures, parental consent, appropriate challenge, warming down after sensitive sessions, and links with PSHE, safeguarding, health and social care contexts.
Practical session planning is described for topics such as healthy relationships, power and control, self-esteem, internet and technology safety, risky behaviour, protective behaviours, safe nights out, safety planning and recognising early warning signs. These themes make it useful for secondary school staff, college tutors, youth offending teams, leaving care workers and targeted youth practitioners.
The pack also pays attention to diversity, language and myth-busting around CSE, including challenging victim-blaming terms and gendered double standards about sexual activity. It encourages a balanced approach: taking risks seriously without frightening young people, and making sure safeguarding concerns are handled properly. John Collett, Kevin Robson and Julie Dugdale are credited with overall design work for the programme and pack.
