Group agreement

Key messages

• It is essential to establish a group agreement before the start of any RSE program.
• This is a set of agreed-upon 'ground rules' that outline how teachers and students agree to conduct themselves in lessons.
• A group agreement helps to ensure a safe and respectful learning environment.

Why to use a group agreement

The sensitive nature of this subject area requires that students feel safe and comfortable in expressing their ideas, values and knowledge within a supported environment. Students should not have to be concerned about being put down, humiliated, discriminated, rejected or mistreated. A safe environment encourages respect for diverse views, norms and values, and provides encouragement for decisions that support positive sexual health and respect. 

A group agreement works best when students are involved in the creation process to ensure a sense of ownership rather than being given a set of rules they must follow (hence the term 'group agreement' as opposed to 'group rules').

How to establish a group agreement

1. Explain that the purpose of a group agreement is to help everyone feel safe to join in and learn. 
2. Discuss with your class the need to be mindful of their own and their peers' ability to conduct mature discussions on sensitive topics. 
3. Explain that all scenarios will be hypothetical and discussed in a general, not personal way.
4. Ask the students to think of ways they would like the class to behave so that everyone feels safe, supported and respected.
5. Choose a strategy for developing a group agreement with your class:
   1. whole class brainstorm - seek agreement upon ideas, add it to a combined class poster. 
   2. small groups - each groups designs a poster with a few key ideas. Each group displays their poster and provides an explanation of their ideas. Display the posters.
   3. individual - students trace around their hand on a sheet of paper and cut out the shape. They then write one idea on the hand shape to be placed around the room on display. 
6. Dispaly the group agreement and remind the students of it each lesson. 
   1. It is vital that the group agreement is consistently implemented and maintained, along with consequences for not adhering to the agreement. Students need to be able to trust the process and see that the teachers are serious about creating a safe and supportive learning environment for all. 
7. Refer to the group agreement regularly as a behaviour management strategy.
   1. e.g. If someone starts to tell a personal storying with identifying information, use the protective interrupting strategy and draw attention to the group agreement display. Say, "Remember, we agreed to say, 'a person I know' when sharing a story".

What to include in a group agreement

• Respect the opinion of others 
  • You do not have to agree with other's opinions, but you do need to listen and be respectful of differences. 
• Confidentiality
  • No personal questions (i.e. Don't ask the teacher or other students questions about their personal lives. e.g. 'Have you ever....?').
  • Do not tell person stories (i.e. Don't use identifying information. When sharing a story, talk in third person - 'someone i know....'). This allows hypothetical scenarios to be discussed, avoiding public disclosures. See Protective interrupting.
  • Students need to feel safe that their discussions and opinions will not be shared outside of the room. Except in the case of mandatory reporting - students need to be made aware that if anything they say raises a concern that they are at risk of harm, it is a teacher's duty of care to report this concern to help ensure their safety. See Managing disclosures.
• Right to pass
  • This means students are not called upon or forced to answer questions, offer opinions or participate in an activity.
  • This is vital for establishing a safe space. Sensitive topics can be triggering for everyone and allowing students the 'right to pass' allows them to disengage momentarily when needed. 
  • The teaching strategies outlined in GDHR offer a variety of ways that students can contribute without feeling too exposed or vulnerable.
• Everyone has the right to speak
  • everyone has the right to express their beliefs, values and opinions.
• Listen when other people are speaking
  • one person speaks at a time. 
• Suspend judgement 
  • Making judgements is human nature - 'suspend judgement' is preferred over 'no judgement' for this reason. 
  • Encourage students to acknowledge their judgements, listen and find out more information before making a final judgement and to reflect upon why they are making these judgements. 
• No put downs
• Self-care
  • Provide 'content warnings' or 'trigger warnings'. Some content may prompt unhappy memories or be highly emotive. 
  • It is important that students can remove themselves from the discussion or activity if they need to. 
  • Informing the school counsellor or school nurse that you are covering these topics will given them warning that students may need more support at these times. They may wish to offer smaller, group workshops with students who need extra support.
• All questions are good questions 
  • Teachers should accept all questions as genuine. 
  • There are no such things as silly questions. 
  • See Answering curly questions and Question box. 
• Use correct terminology
  • Using the correct terminology for body parts is a vital protective behaviour strategy and an important life skill for explaining any medical concerns. 
  • See 
• Inclusive language
  • Try to encourage and model language that is inclusive of all genders and sexualities and avoids stereotypes. (e.g. 'parents' rather than 'mum and dad', 'partner' rather than 'girlfriend/boyfriend')
• It is ok to have fun and laugh
  • It is common for people to giggle and laugh when they are uncomfortable and/or talking about topics of this nature.
  • Reminds students that there is a difference between laughing 'with someone' and laughing 'at someone'. 

Read next

Protective interrupting

Managing disclosures