Introduction
The health curriculum is a now a compulsory, education requirement as health is identified as one of the eight strands of learning. The WDSG health curriculum is designed to meet legal and curriculum requirements and to provide comprehensive knowledge and skills about the issues studied and to prepare young people for life.
Ministry of Education Information
Well-being & Hauora
The concept of well-being encompasses the physical, mental and emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of health. This concept is recognised by the World Health Organisation. Hauora is a Maori philosophy of health unique to New Zealand. It comprises taha tinana, taha hinengaro, taha whanau, and taha wairua.
Taha tinana - Physical well-being
the physical body, its growth, development, and ability to move, and ways of caring for it
Taha hinengaro - Mental and emotional well-being
coherent thinking processes, acknowledging and expressing thoughts and feelings and responding constructively
Taha whanau - Social well-being
family relationships, friendships, and other interpersonal relationships; feelings of belonging, compassion, and caring; and social support
Taha wairua - Spiritual well-being
the values and beliefs that determine the way people live, the search for meaning and purpose in life, and personal identity and self-awareness (For some individuals and communities, spiritual well- being is linked to a particular religion; for others, it is not.)
Each of these four dimensions of hauora influences and supports the others.
Key areas of learning
The key areas of learning reflect and address the current health and physical education needs of New Zealand students. The spiral nature of learning in health education and physical education means that key areas of learning will need to be revisited at different levels and in different learning contexts. These key areas of learning are required to be incorporated in programmes for all students at both primary and secondary levels to the end of year 10.
The key areas of learning covered within the Health Department are:
