About this resource
This page provides the draft Years 0-10 Health and Physical Education Learning Area. This is now available for wider feedback and familiarisation. The current Health and Physical Education curriculum remains in effect until 1 January 2027 and can be found here The New Zealand Curriculum - Health and Physical Education.
He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora Positive feelings in your heart will raise your sense of self-worth. |
Purpose Statement
The Health and Physical Education learning area equips students with the knowledge, practices, and competencies necessary to thrive physically, mentally, and socially. Students are taught essential health and movement concepts that enable them to participate confidently in a wide range of physical activities and manage their own health in an informed way.
Through the study of Health, students learn how to navigate the complexities of modern life as confident individuals, connected members of their communities, and informed citizens. They are taught concepts that support their understanding of relationships, resilience, identity, and decision-making.
Through the study of Physical Education, students learn about specific movement patterns, activities, games, and sports. They are taught knowledge and practices to make informed decisions about their own healthy involvement in sport and physical activity.
As students progress through Health and Physical Education, they deepen their understanding of personal and collective wellbeing and learn how to embrace active and balanced lifestyles and cultivate habits that support long-term health. This provides students with a foundation for living well, thinking critically, and contributing positively to the world around them.
Learning Area Structure
The year-by-year teaching sequence lays out the knowledge and practices to be taught each year. In Health and Physical Education, the teaching sequence for Years 0–10 is organised into two Knowledge Strands:
- Health Education: Focuses on physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. It develops students’ understanding of identity, body, emotions, relationships, safety, and health-related choices across personal, community, and societal contexts.
- Physical Education: Focuses on movement skills and principles. It develops students’ understanding of locomotor, non-locomotor, and object control skills, game structures, tactical thinking, outdoor activity practices, and aquatic safety through repeated practice in selected movement contexts.
The year-by-year teaching sequence, organised through Knowledge Strands and elements, sets out what is to be taught. Its enactment is shaped by teachers, who design learning in response to their learners, adjusting the order and emphasis, and adding appropriate contexts and content.
Introduction
Across Years 0–10, Health and Physical Education takes students on a rich and evolving journey of discovery. It begins with understanding their bodies and emotions and grows into developing the knowledge, skills, and confidence to manage wellbeing and participate fully in life. HPE is not just about movement or healthy practices; it builds a foundation for lifelong wellbeing through purposeful teaching, reflection, and connection. As students progress, they explore increasingly complex ideas about themselves, others, and the world around them. They learn how to care for their bodies, navigate relationships, and make informed decisions. Movement experiences develop coordination, cooperation, increasingly complex movement skills and outdoor education experiences.
In Years 0–3, teaching introduces foundational health and movement concepts that help students begin to understand how their bodies function and what supports wellbeing. Instruction focuses on everyday health practices, such as rest, hydration, hygiene, and movement, and how these contribute to growth and participation. Movement teaching centres on developing movement skills (MS) including balancing, running, and throwing. These are taught as discrete skills, allowing teachers to baseline knowledge and focus on accuracy and efficiency rather than sport-specific outcomes. Teachers also support students to notice and name emotions, linking feelings to behaviours. These years establish HPE as a learning area grounded in explicit knowledge, purposeful practice, and developmental progression.
In Years 4–6, teaching helps students connect everyday health practices with how their bodies function and change. Students learn that nutrition, hydration, rest, and movement contribute to growth and development, and that these needs evolve over time. Teaching introduces puberty, early learning about relationships and emotions, and decision-making that supports emotional wellbeing. Once MS are secure, movement teaching provides sufficient practice through discrete instruction and repetition in activities to enable more complex content. Students begin applying skills in games and sports across varied physical settings. Water safety, fair play, and preparation for outdoor activities are taught as essential knowledge for safe and confident participation.
In Years 7–10, teaching builds deeper knowledge about how bodies change and how health decisions influence physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. Students develop understanding of topics such as nutrition, substance use, sexual health, and media influence, and are supported to evaluate information and consider consequences. Movement instruction becomes more specialised, with students applying skills in different roles, environments, and physical activities, and learning how training and preparation affect performance. Across these years, teaching supports students to connect what they know with how they act, building the confidence and understanding needed to manage wellbeing and participate fully.
The Health and Physical Education learning area prepares students with the knowledge and practices to access related curriculum subjects for Years 11–13, such as Health Education and Physical Education.
Word or phrase |
Description |
Health |
|
Body image |
A person’s perception, thoughts, and feelings about their physical appearance, which can be influenced by personal experiences, social feedback, and media representations. |
Bullying |
Intentional, repeated behaviour that harms, excludes, or intimidates someone, often involving a power imbalance. |
Consent |
A voluntary, informed, and enthusiastic agreement to participate in an activity or interaction which can be withdrawn at any time. |
Digital literacy |
The ability to critically understand, evaluate, and engage with digital content and platforms in ways that support safety, wellbeing, and informed decision-making. |
Digital wellbeing |
The balance between using digital technology and maintaining physical, mental, and social health, ensuring that technology supports rather than harms wellbeing. |
Emotional regulation |
The ability to manage emotions in healthy ways, using strategies like calming techniques, reflection, and self-awareness to support wellbeing. |
Emotional wellbeing |
The ability to understand, manage, and express emotions in healthy ways, contributing to overall mental health, resilience, and positive relationships. |
Food group |
A category into which different foods are sorted based on their similarities of production or nutrition. The four main food groups commonly used in Aotearoa New Zealand: Vegetables and Fruit, Grain Foods, Milk and Milk Products, Protein-Rich Foods. |
Harassment |
Unwanted behaviour that offends, threatens, or humiliates someone, affecting their safety and wellbeing. |
Period poverty |
The lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, education, and support, often due to financial constraints, which can negatively impact health, wellbeing, and participation in daily activities. |
Protective behaviours |
Actions that help individuals stay safe and maintain wellbeing, such as saying no, seeking help, and setting boundaries. |
Resilience |
The ability to adapt to challenges, recover from setbacks, and maintain wellbeing through emotional regulation, problem-solving, and support networks. |
Self-awareness |
The ability to understand your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, and recognising their impact on yourself and others. |
Self-care |
Practices that individuals use to maintain physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing, including hygiene, rest, nutrition, and stress management. |
Social norms |
Unwritten rules and expectations that guide how people behave within a group or society, shaping what is considered acceptable, appropriate, or typical in social interactions. |
Trusted adult |
An adult, such as a parent, teacher, or caregiver, who provides safety and support, and can be approached for help. |
PE |
|
Agility |
The ability to move quickly and easily, often involving changes in direction and speed. |
Cardiovascular fitness/endurance |
The ability of the heart, lungs, and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to working muscles during sustained physical activity. |
Changeover box |
The designated area in a relay race where the baton must be exchanged between runners. |
Circuit training |
A series of exercises, targeting different muscle groups or fitness components, performed in sequence with minimal rest. |
Coordination |
The ability to use different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently. |
Dummy pass |
A deceptive move where a player pretends to pass the ball with the aim of misleading opponents. |
Dynamic stretching |
A type of stretching that involves movement through a full range of motion to warm up muscles and joints. |
Dynamic warm-up |
A series of movements that prepare the body for physical activity by increasing heart rate, activating muscles, and improving range of motion. |
Egg roll |
A curled-up roll where the body is in a tight tuck shape with knees to chest and arms wrapped around legs. |
Fartlek training |
A form of interval training that blends continuous running with varied intensity and speed, often used to improve endurance. |
Front crawl |
A swimming stroke where the swimmer moves forward using alternating overarm strokes and a flutter kick, while breathing to the side. It is often colloquially referred to as freestyle in Aotearoa New Zealand. |
Fundamental motor skills |
Basic movement patterns that form the foundation for physical activity and sport. |
Game conventions |
Established practices and rules that guide how a sport or game is played. |
Game structure |
The rules, roles, and objectives that shape how a game is played and how players interact. |
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) |
A training method that alternates short bursts of intense activity with periods of rest or low-intensity exercise. |
Interval training |
A workout technique involving alternating periods of high and low intensity to improve fitness and performance. |
Invasion games |
Team sports where players aim to invade the opponent’s territory to score points, such as football or basketball. |
Locomotor skills |
Movement skills that involve travelling from one place to another, such as walking, running, hopping, and skipping. |
Marking (man-to-man, zone) |
Defensive strategies where players either guard a specific opponent (man-to-man) or cover a designated area (zone). |
Modified games |
Adapted versions of full games designed to suit different skill levels, age groups, or learning objectives. |
Motif |
A short movement or gesture that is repeated and developed throughout a dance piece. |
Movement sequence |
A connected series of physical actions performed in a set order to show control, fluency, and expression. |
Muscular endurance |
The ability of muscles to perform repeated contractions over time without fatigue. |
Net and wall games |
Sports where players send an object over a net or against a wall, aiming to make it difficult for the opponent to return, such as tennis or volleyball. |
Non-locomotor skills |
Movement skills performed without travelling, including bending, twisting, balancing, and stretching. |
Object manipulation skills |
Skills that involve controlling objects with the hands, feet, or body, such as throwing, catching, kicking, and striking. |
Officiating |
The act of enforcing rules and ensuring fair play during a game or competition. |
Pencil roll |
A straight body roll along the floor with arms extended overhead and legs together. |
Personal exercise plan (PEP) |
A structured plan designed to meet individual fitness goals through tailored activities and progression. |
Plyometric training |
A form of exercise that involves explosive movements, such as jumping and bounding, to improve power and speed. |
Pulse raiser |
An activity that increases heart rate and body temperature to prepare the body for exercise. |
Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) |
A way to describe how hard an activity feels during exercise. |
Reaction time |
The time it takes to respond to a stimulus, important in many physical activities. |
Relay tactics |
Strategies used in relay races to optimise baton exchanges, runner order, and overall performance. |
Set play |
A pre-planned strategy used during specific moments in a game, such as a corner kick or penalty pass. |
Short corner |
A tactical play used in sports like hockey where a team is awarded a corner close to the goal area. |
SMART goals |
A goal-setting framework that ensures objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. |
SPORT principles of training |
A training framework that includes the principles of specificity, progression, overload, reversibility, and tedium. |
Sprint start |
The technique used to begin a short-distance race, focusing on explosive speed and acceleration. |
Static stretching |
The practice of holding a position to lengthen muscles and improve flexibility. |
Striking and fielding games |
Games where one team strikes an object and attempts to score while the other team fields to prevent scoring, such as cricket or softball. |
Tactical decision-making |
The process of making strategic choices during gameplay to improve performance or achieve objectives. |
Qualitative data |
Descriptive information that provides insights into experiences, feelings, or observations. |
Quantitative data |
Information that can be measured and expressed numerically, such as time, distance, or heart rate. |
Teddy roll |
A seated roll from a straddle position. With hands holding legs, roll sideways across the back and shoulders, finishing in the opposite straddle position. |
Links to Health and Physical Education supports and resources:
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