22 August 2008

CONSULTATION ON HEALTH PROGRAMME

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Section 60B of the Education Act 1989, as amended by the Education Standards Act 2001, outlines the legal requirement for state schools regarding the delivery of the health education components of the relevant national curriculum statements.

At least once every two years, boards of trustees are required to produce a written statement about how the school will implement health education.

The legislation requires schools to:

- 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; and
- Describe, in broad terms, the health education needs of the school’s students.

It’s time, again, to consult with our community on the health programme we offer at Pukeatua School.

Following is an overview of the health programme we provide. It is in odd and even years to ensure a context or topic is not repeated.

“AO” means Achievement Objective (what it is that the students will learn to know or to do).

The “contexts” are the topics that will be studied to achieve the “AO”.

Each strand has a “skill focus” which teachers build into the lessons and activities undertaken.

We cover Levels 1 to 4 of the curriculum at primary school. In general terms children in Years 1 to 3, will be working at Level 1 and 2 while Year 4 to 8 will be working at Level 2 to 4.

In terms of sexuality education we cover pubertal change at Level 4 (Years 7 and 8).

There is provision under section 25AA, as amended by the Education Standards Act 2001, 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.

The 1990 repeal of section 3 of the Contraception, Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977 removed any legal impediment to young people of any age having access to advice on the use of contraception or to the supply of contraceptive devices. However, decisions to include contraceptive education as part of the sexuality education component of the school health programme must be considered within the requirements of the Education Act 1989 (as amended in 2001). We don’t cover contraception within our pubertal change unit at Pukeatua.

Please have a look at and / or download the programme here.

If you have any comments, feedback, suggestions or queries we would be pleased to hear them by sending a brief note to school marked “Attn : The Principal”. Alternatively have a chat to your child’s teacher and they will pass your comments on.

Comments need to be in by 30 August 2006.

Thanks
Jenny Langley
PRINCIPAL