THE NSPCC wants to ensure that every child is safe from abuse and neglect. To help achieve that, it's vital that children and young people are able to recognise signs of abuse and have the confidence to speak to a safe adult when something might be wrong.

For the last 13 years, the NSPCC has delivered its Speak out, Stay safe programme in primary schools, giving children the knowledge to seek support when needed. Between April 2022 and March 2023, our Schools Service team delivered the programme to more than 1.2 million children in 5,332 schools nationwide, including 185,223 in 831 schools across the North East and Yorkshire. That's a fantastic number, but we want to make sure this vital safeguarding messaging is shared in every school.

This month we're rolling out a new version of the programme, which includes a promotional video. Some of you reading this might worry that speaking to primary school children about abuse and neglect could be too early or distressing but on average, two children in a primary school class have experienced abuse or neglect so empowering with this knowledge is vital. Speak out, Stay safe uses age-appropriate language to help primary school pupils understand abuse and teach them where to ask for help. Some children experiencing abuse might not know anything is wrong or may be scared about speaking out in fear of repercussions. By helping them to recognise situations or signs of abuse, we can enable them to share their concerns if they're worried something might be wrong.

The updated version of Speak out, Stay safe, available to every primary school, includes resources like virtual assemblies, lesson plans and face-to-face workshops with NSPCC volunteers.The programme is available in English, Welsh and British Sign Language, and there is a version for children with additional needs and disabilities. Ensuring children understand when something is wrong and that it's never their fault is essential to safeguarding children and making sure they know where to turn for help. We encourage all primary schools to sign up for the refreshed programme to ensure every pupil has the knowledge and confidence to recognise when something is not right, and who to speak to. Staff and volunteers from our Schools Service speak to children at primary schools and are seeking new members to share our safeguarding messages. If you can spare a few hours a month register your interest at nspcc.org.uk/support-us

Schools can sign up to at learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/speak-out-stay-safe