Health Consultation

Under Section 60B of the Education Act 1989 (as amended in 2001), boards of trustees are required to produce a written statement about how the school will implement health education, inform the school community about the content of the health education components of the curriculum, and consult with members of the school community regarding the way in which the school should implement health education.

The process of this consultation requires information on the proposed health education programme being presented to the school community, providing an opportunity for the school community to comment, then comments being considered before confirming the health education programme. This process is to occur every 2 years.

Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum

Health and physical education is one of the eight essential learning areas of The New Zealand Curriculum. Furthermore, it is a compulsory subject until the end of year ten.

Although there are seven key areas of learning in the Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum, the four areas specifically covered in Health education are:

• mental health
• food and nutrition
• body care and physical safety
• sexuality education

For more detailed information on Health and Physical Education in the New Zealand Curriculum please visit:
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Learning-areas/Health-and-physical-education

Sexuality education in Years 6,8,9 and 10
Sexuality education at Tauraroa Area School is to provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to develop positive attitudes to sexuality and to take care of their sexual health needs, both now and in the future.

We do believe that the family should be the primary educator in matters to do with sexuality but not all parents/caregivers/discuss sexuality issues with their children.  Sexuality education in schools may also enhance communication at home.

Due to sexuality education being a key learning area to be covered in the health curriculum, and yet of a controversial nature, provision has been made for individual parents of students enrolled in any state school to write to the principal to request that their child/children be excluded from specified parts of the health programme related to sexuality education.

The principal is required to ensure that the student is excluded from the relevant tuition and that the student is supervised during that time. This requirement does not extend to exclusion at any other time when a teacher deals with a question raised by another student that relates to sexuality education.

To provide parents with the information needed to make informed decisions, supplied in detail below are the unit overviews of each unit including sexuality education.

Health overview and sexuality education unit details

Documents can be found below detailing the units taught in Health at Tauraroa Area School form years 1-10, and the sexuality education unit outlines for years 6, 8, 9 and 10.

Community feedback
An integral part of the consultation process is the opportunity for parents/caregivers to comment on the proposed Health programme and provide feedback, concerns, or issues in writing to the school. Any such comments will be treated as confidential to the Health team and be considered when making final amendments to the Health programme. Please feel free to provide this information by emailing us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or a written letter, addressed to the health department at school. This information must be submitted by 8th June 2012 to be considered in the 2012/13 consultation and amendment process.

Attachments:

Year 10 Sexuality unit.pdf	[ ]	97 Kb
Year 9 Sexuality unit.pdf	[ ]	95 Kb
Year 8 Next Step.pdf	[ ]	95 Kb
Year 6 Puberty Unit.pdf	[ ]	93 Kb
Tas Consultation Overview.pdf	[ ]	156 Kb