Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning

Physical Education/Health Education

Manitoba PE/HE Curriculum Overview

(Printer Friendly) Manitoba PE/HE Curriculum Overview ( 32 KB)

Introduction

The combined Physical Education/Health Education (PE/HE) curriculum was designed to address the 5 major health risks for children and youth.  They are:

• inadequate physical activity
• unhealthy dietary behaviours
• drug use, including alcohol and tobacco
• sexual behaviours that result in STIs and unintended pregnancies
• behaviours that result in intentional and unintentional injuries

The aim of the curriculum is to provide students with planned and balanced programming to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for physically active and healthy lifestyles. The vision is physically active and healthy lifestyles for all students.

Curriculum content is organized within the following five general learning outcomes (GLO):

1. Movement
2. Fitness Management
3. Safety
4. Personal and Social Management
5. Healthy Lifestyles Practices

Furthermore, there are specific learning outcomes identified for each GLO and for each grade to help students learn about active healthy lifestyles. For more detail for each grade, visit each grade level for lists of student learning outcomes or My Child in School.

For balanced programming in physical education, students should receive instruction in the following five physical activity categories:

• Individual/Dual Sports/Games
• Team/Group Sports/Games
• Alternative Pursuits
• Rhythmic/Gymnastic Activities
• Fitness Activities

For balanced programming in health education, healthy decision-making is emphasized related to the following strands or topics:

• Safety of Self and Others
• Personal Development
• Social Development
• Mental-Emotional Development
• Personal Health Practices
• Active Living
• Nutrition
• Substance Use and Abuse Prevention
• Human Sexuality

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Time Allotments

Physical Education/Health Education (PE/HE) is compulsory for Kindergarten to Grade 10. The following are mandated time allotments. See Note.

Time Allotments

Grade	%	PE/HE min/day allocation	PE min/day 75% allocation	HE min/day 25% allocation	PE/HE min/6-day cycle allocation	PE min/6-day cycle 75% allocation	HE min/6-day cycle 25% allocation
K (½ day)	11%	16	12	4	99	75	24
1-6	11%	33	25	8	198	150	48
7-8	9%	30	23	7	178	134	44
9-10	2 credits, with 1 credit (110 hours) 50% PE, 50% HE for each grade
11-12	2 credits - Grade 11 (30F) and Grade 12 (40F). Each credit requires a Physical Activity Practicum which consists of a minimum of 50% of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

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Safety and Liability

Teachers are expected to provide “professional” standard of care rather than “the careful and prudent parent” standard of care especially in high risk types of physical activities. Educators must be knowledgeable of the four criteria established by the Supreme Court of Canada to determine the necessary and appropriate standard of care within the context of physical education:

• Is the activity suitable to the age, mental, and physical condition of participating students?
• Have the students been progressively taught and coached to perform the activity(ies) properly and to avoid the dangers inherent in the activity(ies)?
• Is the equipment adequate and suitably arranged?
• Is the activity being supervised properly in light of the inherent danger involved?

Current recommended resources related to physical activity safety are:

• Safety Guidelines for Physical Activity in Manitoba Schools (1997)
• YouthSafe Outdoors Manitoba(2004) (available from each Manitoba school division office)
• OUT-of-Class Safety Handbook (2008)

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Treatment of Potentially Sensitive Content

Student learning outcomes in two strands, Substance Use and Abuse Prevention and Human Sexuality (in GLO 5—Healthy Lifestyles Practices) as well as in the personal safety (prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse) sub-strand (in GLO 3—Safety) may be potentially sensitive to some students and their parents/families and/or communities. This sensitivity may be based on family, religious, and/or cultural values.
Potentially sensitive content must be treated in ways that are appropriate for the local school and community context. Greater cooperation and coordination among the home, school, and public health systems will contribute to the health and well-being of students. Schools are required to:

• determine local policy related to potentially sensitive content using school/division/district planning process
• seek parental involvement as part of the planning process
• provide a parental option prior to implementation
• make decisions relative to the following areas as outlined in the chart below

Potential Decision Areas for School Division Planning

A. Potentially Sensitive Content	The Framework identifies the following content areas as potentially sensitive: Human Sexuality Substance Use and Abuse Prevention Personal Safety These areas require school divisions to use a planning process (that includes parental involvement) to determine programming details.
B. Breadth/Depth Treatment of Content	Decisions related to the depth and breadth of coverage of potentially sensitive content include the choice of appropriate content, instructional strategies, assessment/reporting strategies, and learning resources. Decisions regarding the depth/breadth treatment of specific learning outcomes in the strands/sub-strands identified as potentially sensitive in the Framework can include: more—use with greater depth/breadth than what appears in the Framework at—use with the same depth/breadth less—use with less depth/breadth none—no use
C. Parental Option	There must be an inclusion of a parental option related to the potentially sensitive content. A parental option means that parents may choose one of the following options for delivery of potentially sensitive content: school-based delivery alternative delivery Parents have the right to opt for alternative delivery (e.g., home, professional counselling) for their child where the content is in conflict with family, religious, and/or cultural values.
D. Scheduling of Instruction	Decisions related to scheduling of potentially sensitive content may include the following options: within physical education/health education integrated in various subject areas (e.g., science, language arts) in separate units and/or blocks of time (e.g., theme weeks) a combination of within, integrated, and/or separate
E. Parental Communication	Ways to inform parents of school-based programming and to determine the parents’ choice (i.e., school-based and/or alternative delivery) need to be established. Means of communication may include letters meetings permission forms websites brochures newsletters Parents may use departmental resources when choosing alternative delivery.
F. Teacher Training Requirements	Decisions for identifying requirements for training (e.g., number of days and types of training) related to potentially sensitive content for school staff and others such as parents, community volunteers, and peer educators need to be made.
G. Staff Assignments	Staff assignments could include use of staff, parents, peer educators, and community volunteers to enhance programming related to potentially sensitive content.

For more background information, lesson plans, instructional and assessment strategies, refer to the following support documents:

• K-8 Human Sexuality: A Resource for Physical Education/Health Education
• S1-S2 Human Sexuality: A Resource for Physical Education/Health Education

 

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