Health Curriculum Statement (as of 2024)

Purpose

1. Section 60B of the Education Act 1989, as amended by the Education Standards Act 2001, requires the Board of Trustees to produce a written statement, following consultation with the school’s community, about how the school will implement health education once every two years.

2. To consult with parents, caregivers and staff about the health learning needs of Lyttelton Primary School students and to provide programmes that will make a difference to their well-being.
   

Health and Physical Education at Lyttelton Primary School

Our beliefs for health education are underpinned by the mission, vision, values of Te kura Tuatahi o Ōhinehou and reflect the importance of Te Wheke and its ability to adapt confidently to an ever changing environment. ‘Thriving today, ready for tomorrow.’

To ensure Lyttelton Primary School provides for health education which improves the learning of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values for a healthy lifestyle,  a number of school beliefs about teaching and learning underpin the work of the school.  These are discussed and shared in the ‘Our Learning’ menu of the school website.

To support health education Lyttelton Primary School works to ensure:

• all members of our school community are valued as teachers and learners

• learning programmes offer opportunities for learners to become self-managing learners

• we develop experiential learning programmes.

• we develop learner centred learning opportunities.

• learning is not limited to age and stage

• real life contexts are encouraged which strengthens  relevance for students

• children benefit from a range of learning situations and experiences.

• The principles of Ka Hikitia ‘Accelerating Success’ guide the actions which work towards realising the vision of Māori students enjoying and achieving education success as Māori.

• Staff consider how and when the resources, support and expertise in the local and wider community could best be used to support teaching and learning and achieve the goals of the school.

• Our students have the power, combined with choices, to take meaningful action and see the results of those decisions.

• Community Partnerships and Relationships are used to support and enhance well resourced and engaging learning programmes for our children.
  

Health Programme Implementation

Four underlying and interdependent concepts are at the heart of this learning area:

• Hauora – a Māori philosophy of well-being that includes the dimensions taha wairua (spiritual health), taha hinengaro (mental health), taha tinana (physical health), and taha whānau (family health). Each one influencing and supporting the others based on Te Whare Tapa Wha.
  

• Attitudes and values – a positive, responsible attitude on the part of students to their own well-being; respect, care, and concern for other people and the environment; and a sense of social justice.
  

• The socio-ecological perspective – a way of viewing and understanding the interrelationships that exist between the individual, others, and society.
  

• Health promotion – a process that helps to develop and maintain supportive physical and emotional environments and that involves students in personal and collective action.

The learning activities in health and physical education arise from the integration of the four concepts above, the following four strands and their achievement objectives, and seven key areas of learning.

The four strands are:

• Personal health and physical development, in which students develop the knowledge, understandings, skills, and attitudes that they need in order to maintain and enhance their personal well-being and physical development

• Movement concepts and motor skills, in which students develop motor skills, knowledge and understandings about movement, and positive attitudes towards physical activity

• Relationships with other people, in which students develop understandings, skills, and attitudes that enhance their interactions and relationships with others

• Healthy communities and environments, in which students contribute to healthy communities and environments by taking responsible and critical action.

The seven key areas of learning are:

• mental health

• sexuality education

• food and nutrition

• body care and physical safety

• physical activity

• sport studies

• outdoor education

Below are the topics we currently cover at Lyttelton Primary School as part of our Health Curriculum;

In addition, we also manage our health curriculum through:

• School Policies and Practices such as Sunhats - Term 1 & 4 & Play, Eat, Learn

• Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) & a focus on our school values

• Enviroschools (Healthy Communities & Environments) 

• Restorative Practice

• Social Skills Groups

• Mana Ake social skills support of individuals and small groups
  

Sexuality Education

Of these four health areas Sexuality Education is the strand, which has a degree of confusion around it. It is important to realise that Sexuality Education is very different to Sex Education. At Primary School under the umbrella of Sexuaity Education children are likely to learn about friendships, different kinds of families, respect for each other, pubertal change, body development and body image. At Lyttelton Primary School we use a programme written by Family Planning called ‘Navigating the Journey: Sexuality Education’. 

Click here to learn more about this programme.

Parental consent 

Once we have adopted a health curriculum statement, the school is not required to seek permission for students to participate in the health education programme. Parents/Guardians can however request that their child is released from specific parts of the health education programme relating to sexuality education. Parents/Guardians are required to send a request to the principal in writing.

The principal must ensure that any student excluded from specific parts of health education is appropriately supervised. The school is not required to ensure that students who are excluded from sexuality education are also excluded if related questions are raised by other students in different areas of the curriculum.

How do we deliver these programmes? 

These topics are taught in classroom contexts and are often interwoven throughout the day alongside our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) lessons, focus weeks and in a home-school partnership, e.g., Keeping Ourselves Safe. 

There is a daily emphasis on health and wellbeing via check-in’s for Zones of Regulation, an emphasis on Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) and opportunities for daily fitness and weekly physical education. Positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) supports the delivery of the health curriculum, and all curriculum, by creating a safe and supportive environment to enhance learning by building positive and respectful relationships. 

We also have a yearly timetable wherein specific programmes are covered on a two yearly rotation with consideration to school and community needs. Some programmes may have either a junior or senior emphasis.

We tailor what we do to meet the needs of each learning space and to meet the curriculum achievement objectives. We also teach when needs arise; our teachers are responsive to the social needs of students and will take the opportunity to deliver needs driven lessons for individual, small group or the whole class as the needs arise.

See our Health Long Term Plan attached for specific programme coverage.