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Results and learning from a cluster randomised trial on the impact of Keeping Safe in Northern Ireland, an education programme that teaches children about abuse

Publication date September 2021
Front cover: Keeping Safe - an effective whole-school programme that teaches children to recognise abusive behaviours and tell - full report of Cluster Randomised Trial evaluation results in primary schools in Northern Ireland

The NSPCC’s Keeping Safe programme for primary schools, developed in Northern Ireland, supports school staff and parents to deliver keeping safe messages to children about recognising abusive behaviours.

This report presents results and learning from a cluster randomised trial evaluation on the impact of Keeping Safe. This is the first cluster randomised trial evaluation in Europe of a comprehensive whole-school programme for children aged 4-11 years that covers all types of abusive behaviours and bullying.

The trial was conducted in 64 primary schools in Northern Ireland, collecting data from 3,551 children, 6,385 parents and 485 teachers between June 2016 and 2018.

Authors: Aisling McElearney, Gary Adamson, Christina Murphy, Suzanne Rogers and Debra Radcliffe
Published: August 2021

Keeping Safe: an effective whole-school programme that teaches children to recognise abusive behaviours and tell: full report of cluster randomised trial evaluation results in primary schools in Northern Ireland
Download the full report (PDF)
Summary report
Download the summary report (PDF)

Key finding

Keeping Safe is an effective whole-school programme with positive outcomes for children, parents and teachers.

The trial found that children taught the programme for two academic years had significantly higher levels of knowledge and understanding of abuse concepts than those in schools where Keeping Safe was not taught. Parents and carers whose children were taught the programme were found to have significantly improved knowledge of keeping safe messages and improved confidence to talk to their children about these messages, and teachers were found to have significantly improved confidence in teaching sensitive programme concepts.

Other findings

Young children can be taught sexual abuse concepts without causing anxiety.

After two academic years, children aged 6-9 years when the trial started showed significantly higher knowledge and understanding of appropriate and inappropriate touch and no difference in self-reported anxiety, compared to children not taught the Keeping Safe programme.

It takes time and repeated exposure for children to learn and understand sensitive concepts about abuse, and for teachers and parents to become knowledgeable and confident.

While children’s knowledge and understanding of some concepts improved after one year of teaching, for other more sensitive concepts, such as appropriate and inappropriate touch, significant change only became evident after two years of teaching. Similarly, parents’ and carers’, and teachers’ knowledge and confidence continued to improve in the second year.

School and individual child, parent and carer, and teacher characteristics impact programme effectiveness and outcomes.

Programme outcomes are impacted by characteristics such as age, gender and school management type, as well as the level of deprivation in the community and the level of diversity within the pupil population.

Related resources

> Read the Keeping Safe process evaluation

> Learn about our findings from implementing the Keeping Safe programme in special schools

Citation

Please cite as: McElearney, A., Adamson, G., Murphy, C., Rogers, S., Radcliffe, D. (2021) Keeping Safe: an effective whole-school programme that teaches children to recognise abusive behaviours and tell: cluster randomised trial evaluation results in primary schools in Northern Ireland. London: NSPCC

Keeping Safe: an effective whole-school programme that teaches children to recognise abusive behaviours and tell: full report of cluster randomised trial evaluation results in primary schools in Northern Ireland
Download the full report (PDF)
Summary report
Download the summary report (PDF)

Related resources

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Teaching children and young people in special schools to recognise abusive behaviours

Read how the NSPCC’s Keeping Safe programme has been implemented in schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Northern Ireland.

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Keeping Safe: Views and experiences of children, parents and schools

A process evaluation of our primary school programme about recognising abusive behaviours, exploring the views of children, parents and school staff taking part in the programme.

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Library and Information service

The NSPCC Library and Information Service helps professionals access the latest child protection research, policy and practice resources and can answers your safeguarding questions and enquiries.

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