Child Protection Curriculum

Information for Parents and Caregivers

The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS:CPC) is a child safety program for children and young people from age 3 to year 12. It teaches children to:

  • recognise abuse and tell a trusted adult about it
  • understand what is appropriate and inappropriate touching
  • understand ways of keeping themselves safe.

The KS:CPC is mandated in all public preschools and schools and is taught every year by teachers who have completed a full day KS:CPC training course. It is a world-class, evidence-based child safety program that is used by a range of Australian and international schools.

Why we teach children about keeping safe

The Department for Education (the department) has a legal responsibility to protect children and young people from abuse in its own settings and in the wider community. All children and young people have a right to:

  • be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
  • be asked  for their opinions about things that affect their lives and to be listened to
  • feel and be safe in their interactions with adults and other children and young people
  • understand as early as possible what is meant by ‘feeling and being safe’.

Curriculum

Themes

The curriculum follows 2 main themes:

  1. we all have the right to be safe
  2. we can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.

Focus areas

The 2 themes are explored through 4 focus areas:

  1. the right to be safe
  2. relationships
  3. recognising and reporting abuse
  4. protective strategies.

The focus areas are targeted to the age of the learners.

Curriculum summaries

These summaries tell you more about what is taught in each age group: