The term safety is often associated with equipment inspections, supervision plans, and facility checks in elementary and secondary Health and Physical Education programs. While these physical safety elements are essential, emotional safety is an equally critical component for creating and maintaining a safe learning environment for all students.
The Ontario Health & Physical Education (H&PE) curriculum clearly states that “physical and emotional safety are preconditions for effective learning”. When teachers intentionally plan for both physical and emotional safety, they create learning environments where students can feel physically protected and emotionally supported, develop positive feelings about themselves and their capabilities, and experience a sense of belonging. These conditions increase students’ willingness to participate, regardless of skill level, ability, confidence, identity, or previous experiences with physical activity.
Physical and Emotional Safety in Physical Education — Interconnected and Essential
Physical and emotional safety share a common purpose, ensuring students can participate safely without fear of harm. The Ontario H&PE curriculum reinforces that “it is important to ensure that students feel comfortable physically, socially, and emotionally.” As a result, emotional safety should be considered alongside physical safety and not instead of physical safety.
A primary focus of physical safety in H&PE programs is the prevention of injury, often informed by school board policies and procedures, and the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education (OPASSE). This includes appropriate supervision, controlled access to equipment and facilities, and ensuring appropriate levels of supervision and monitoring.
Similarly, the focus of emotional safety is the prevention of harm to students’ well-being through the development of inclusive, respectful, and predictable learning environments where students feel valued, supported, and able to participate confidently and without fear or worry.
Based on the type and nature of the activities, the environments students participate in, and students’ feelings related to participation, a strong interconnection between physical and emotional safety is essential in H&PE programs.
Benefits of Focusing on Emotional Safety in Physical Education
When emotional safety is prioritized alongside physical safety, students are more likely to engage fully in H&PE programs, form positive relationships, and take healthy risks. These conditions also help students increase enjoyment, remain engaged, and build confidence in movement and physical activity.
Benefits for Students
In emotionally safe H&PE environments, students are more likely to:
- Feel included and represented: when learning environments intentionally remove barriers and activities reflect diverse cultures, interests, movement abilities, and ways of participating.
- Feel assured: knowing HPE safety practices support both emotional and physical safety and enable participation to the best of their ability.
- Feel empowered: when teachers seek student input about comfort levels, readiness, preferences, and personal goals.
- Feel respected: when meaningful participation is supported through adapted equipment, modified rules, flexible groupings, or varied roles—and when students are not pressured or coerced into participating in activities for which they express reluctance.
Benefits for Teachers
For teachers, focusing on emotional safety can:
- Increase student participation and reduce hesitancy
- Decrease behaviour concerns linked to discomfort, fear of failure, or peer pressure
- Strengthen trust and relationships with students and families
- Support inclusive, equitable programming for all learners
- Reinforce safe practice by ensuring activities are taught with appropriate confidence, preparation, and support
Supporting Practice through Ophea’s Emotional Safety Considerations Tool
To support teachers in strengthening emotionally safe learning environments, the OPASSE website includes an Emotional Safety Considerations tool designed to encourage intentional, ongoing reflection to strengthen daily practice (e.g., instruction, assessment, evaluation, and relationship building).
The tool supports teachers by:
- Identifying the benefits of emotional safety in HPE environments
- Highlighting key focus areas that contribute to inclusive, emotionally safe programs
- Providing examples of instructional strategies teachers can reflect on and implement
The tool encourages reflection at multiple points during the school year and is intended to support professional growth and continuous improvement, not evaluation. It complements other Ophea resources, including Ophea's Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy in Health and Physical Education resource.
Supporting Emotional Safety
The Emotional Safety Considerations tool highlights eight strategies, with examples under each. The strategies include:
- Learn about students’ identities, backgrounds, abilities, and interests
- Co-create a supportive learning environment
- Foster positive relationships built on trust and open communication
- Foster positive relationships with parents/guardians
- Provide opportunities for cooperative learning, collaboration, and leadership
- Provide opportunities for students to make connections and transfer learning
- Intervene when discrimination is observed or recognized
- Plan activities with a variety of entry points that suit students’ comfort levels, abilities, and preferences
Consult the Emotional Safety Considerations tool for complete outline of the strategies and examples.
Moving Forward
Ophea’s safety resources continually look for opportunities to reinforce the connections between physical and emotional safety and highlight that the interconnection is a precondition for establishing safe and inclusive learning environments. In Physical Education, where students are visible, active, and sometimes vulnerable, this connection is especially important.
By intentionally planning for emotional safety—and ensuring appropriate supervision, teacher readiness, and student choice—teachers can create H&PE environments where every student feels safe, included, and able to participate with confidence.