This academic year, staff and young people have been practising Train Safety, a topic which is being introduced as the statutory learning focus for RSHE for the next academic year. In order to prepare the autistic young people we support for the topic, our Keeping Me Safe teacher Kerry has been slowly introducing different elements of the subject to her class.

She has cleverly set up her classroom to look like a makeshift train station, using visual structure and written visuals to make it clear what everything is meant to represent. The cardboard 'train' with a clear gap to represent doors tells the young people that they need to enter the train from a specific place, and the laminated yellow line with clear footprints tell them where they need to stand for their safety. For autistic people, having a clear visual structure is essential when learning new skills or developing existing ones as knowing what is expected as soon as you enter a classroom can help to dramatically reduce anxieties. 

In this environment, the young people follow their schedule to collect a ticket and 'scan' their ticket in by pressing it down on a 'beep' sound button. Staff model this action to the young people. Next, everyone boards the train from the open doors and when everyone is seated, a powerpoint begins which guides the class through a welcome, relevant safety information, a theme song and a virtual video which allows for stops. This allows for other learning elements to be included at different 'train stations' (eg. the sun safety station where sun safety bags are packed, an ice lolly picnic after applying suncream, and a guided nature trail learning how to be safe during community walks.)

Lessons like these also teach autistic young people how to take turns, follow instructions, follow signs and directions, and the correct sequence of steps for using a train safely in a familiar environment before going out into the community.

Kerry has been so impressed with the level of engagement these lessons have been getting from the young people, describing it as 'one of the most incredible moments of my teaching career'. The mixture of the use of technology and physical structure have really been capturing the attention of the young people. 

Kerry also said 'I knew this session would be fun and engaging, that was my goal, but I was elated with the incredible level of prolonged engagement by all young people (and staff).  I am always open to learning more and new ways to capture our young people's attention for learning such important topics in Keeping me Safe, so it's fantastic how many positive elements from this lesson I can adapt and use again to continue making fun and engaging sessions.'