The Day for Daniel is in honour of Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe who was abducted and murdered at age 13 in 2003.

Teacher Katey Hughes said what happened to Daniel hit home for a lot of people.

She said they hoped to use this situation to highlight the importance of safety education.

“Every parent knows about Daniel Morcombe,” she said.

“It creates more awareness if you can give it more of a focus.”

Ms Hughes said children had been approached on their way home from the school in recent years, which further exemplified the need for awareness.

The issue is a current one in the area, a 13-year-old girl was approached by two men at Morpeth just this week.

Central Hunter police officer Senior Constable Michael Steele spoke to the students from years three to six and parents about cyber safety on Wednesday.

Some of the week’s lessons were catered towards prevention of stranger danger, utilising resources from the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

The students watched videos with role play, learned about code words and completed work sheets on the topic.

The week will culminate with the national Day for Daniel on Friday, where the theme will be red.

Students have been invited to wear red, there will be red hair spraying, red lolly bags and there will be lasagne for sale at lunch time, which was Daniel’s favourite food.

Any funds that are raised on the day will go to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, however Ms Hughes said the focus was more on awareness than money.

Ms Hughes said it was important for the school to be proactive about the students’ safety rather than teach the kids about what to do if they are approached.

“It’s about keeping our kids safe and educating parents on keeping kids safe,” she said.

“We don’t want to scare anyone.”