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Physical education and wellness

Highlights of the new elementary physical education and wellness curriculum (April 2022).

Overview

Physical education and wellness curriculum uses a comprehensive, strengths-based focus that develops the whole individual and nurtures students in pursuing a healthy and active life.

In physical education and wellness, students are supported on their journey to achieve well-being as they learn about active living, movement skill development, growth and development, safety, nutrition, personal development, mental health, human reproduction, puberty, healthy relationships, and financial literacy.

Physical education supports well-being by developing movement skills and concepts, and an appreciation for active living that is valued and integrated into daily life. As students become physically literate, they develop the motivation, confidence, competence, and knowledge to value and take responsibility for participating in a wide range of physical activities throughout life.

Wellness education promotes the health of individuals and communities and provides students with opportunities to learn about various aspects of well-being. This enables students to make informed decisions that support personal and community well-being. As students mature, they acquire, understand, and apply health and wellness information that supports well-being in a variety of contexts.

Find out what is next for K to 6 curriculum renewal.

Resources (updated April 2024)

From draft to new curriculum: Content update summary

  • What we heard about the draft K to 6 curriculum

    We listened to all feedback from classroom piloting and engagement activities and heard these common concerns across all draft K to grade 6 subjects:

    • Load
      • some content is too heavy within a subject, grade or learning outcome
    • Age-appropriateness
      • some knowledge, understandings, and skills/procedures need to be better aligned with students’ developmental level in a specific grade
      • more pre-requisite learning is needed to support the knowledge, understandings and skills/procedures
    • Wording clarity
      • clearer expectations and verb choice are needed in some content for students to achieve learning outcomes
      • clearer descriptions are needed for some knowledge, understandings or skills/procedures
    • First Nations, Métis and Inuit content
      • additional content is needed to support First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives
      • some content needs to represent First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives and contributions more authentically
  • Feedback on physical education and wellness

    The feedback on draft K to 6 physical education and wellness curriculum offered suggestions related to physical literacy, physical fitness, mental health, human reproduction, puberty, safety, consent and nutrition.

    We heard the content needed updates to:

    • emphasize physical literacy and opportunities for students to engage in a broad range of movement experiences
    • eliminate physical fitness goal setting and focus on the joy of movement and developing various components of physical fitness across all grade levels
    • strengthen the connection between physical activity and mental health, and address mental health across grade levels
    • clarify language to support knowledge an understanding of human reproduction and puberty
    • include more knowledge and understanding about substance safety across grade levels
    • reflect an individual’s obligation and legal responsibility to ask for and obtain consent, and respect when consent is not given
    • emphasize positive experiences with food and support foundational understanding of food and nutrition
    • support diversity and inclusion and create an environment of belonging for all students
  • What we updated

    In April 2022, we finalized new K to 6 physical education and wellness curriculum by updating the draft curriculum from March 2021. In addition to making changes that reflect engagement and piloting feedback, we also aligned the new curriculum with top-performing jurisdictions, both within Canada and internationally, as well as those with knowledge-rich curriculums.

    We made the following content updates to address:

    • Load: Refined examples and redistributed content across multiple grades while considering age-appropriateness.
    • Age-appropriateness: Shifted content between K to 6 grades or into grades 7 to 12.
    • Wording clarity: Analyzed and aligned verbs in learning outcomes to Bloom’s Taxonomy to ensure the higher-level verbs are used in all K to 6 grades, and/or edited for clear and correct language use.
    • First Nations, Métis, and Inuit content: Made updates based on feedback from stakeholder groups and jurisdictional scans.
    • Physical literacy: Revised content to use active verbs and emphasize physical literacy and opportunities for students to engage in a broad range of movement experiences.
    • Physical fitness: Revised content across all grade levels to focus on the joy of movement and developing various components of physical fitness, eliminating content related to physical fitness goal setting and revising content to emphasize participation in a variety of physical activities.
    • Mental health: Revised and added content to strengthen the connection between physical activity and mental health, self-regulation strategies and understanding, as well as naming and learning about feelings, emotions and sources of support.
    • Human reproduction and puberty: Revised and added content to ensure students understand puberty, changes to the body and human reproduction.
    • Safety: Added and revised content to include more knowledge about substance safety, unsafe and uncomfortable situations, risk-taking and digital citizenship.
    • Consent: Added or revised content across all K to 6 grades to ensure students know that individuals have a responsibility to ask for and obtain permission and consent, and respect when consent is denied.
    • Nutrition: Revised content to emphasize the nutritional value of foods, support positive food experiences and build foundational understanding of food and nutrition.

Current and new curriculum comparison

The following list shows how elements in the current K to 6 physical education and wellness curriculum, published in 2000 and 2002 respectively, compare to the new curriculum. The comparisons provide examples and do not represent all the changes that were made.

  Current curriculum (2000 and 2002) examples New curriculum (April 2022) examples
Subject organization There are 2 separate curriculums: K to 9 health and life skills and K to 12 physical education. One curriculum combines content from both health and life skills and physical education.
Social-emotional learning Opportunities to discuss ideas and topics related to social-emotional learning are included in the K to 9 health and life skills curriculum. Social and emotional learning skills that support mental well-being are clearly stated across grades.
Physical literacy Opportunities to discuss ideas and topics about physical literacy are included in the K to 12 physical education curriculum. Clear expectations for students to learn about physical literacy to reflect best practices in physical education.
Physical activity dimensions Provide opportunities for engagement in a range of movement experiences. Expectations are expanded to provide opportunities for engagement in a broader range of movement experiences.
Consent Opportunities to discuss ideas related to consent are included in the K to 9 health and life skills curriculum. Clear expectations for students to learn about consent are in every grade.
Financial literacy Opportunities to discuss ideas and topics related to financial literacy are included in the K to 9 health and life skills curriculum. Clear expectations for students to learn about financial literacy are in every grade.

Snapshot by grade

In new K to 6 Physical education and wellness, students will learn about active living, movement skill development, healthy relationships, nutrition, consent, human reproduction, puberty and financial literacy.

  • Kindergarten
    Kindergarten
    • Perform physical activities that provide personal enjoyment
    • Spatial awareness helps people move safely during various physical activities
    • Healthy relationships support social-emotional well-being
    • Explore a variety of foods that help the body grow
    • Personal boundaries can be communicated through words and actions
    • Explore the value of Canadian coins and bills
  • Grade 1
    Grade 1
    • Changes in the body can result from participating in physical activity
    • Demonstrate various ways of moving safely through space during physical activity
    • Practise words and actions that support friendship
    • Examine decision making in food selection
    • Practise ways to express, request, obtain or refuse consent relating to personal boundaries
    • Money has value and purpose in everyday living
  • Grade 2
    Grade 2
    • Participate in physical activities that require various levels of exertion and energy
    • Utilize movement skills from one physical activity in another physical activity
    • Reflect on how personal relationships are maintained or strengthened
    • Explore recommendations from a variety of food guidelines to support nutritional decisions
    • Decisions for safety include requesting, obtaining, giving or refusing consent
    • Decisions about money include how much to spend, save and share
  • Grade 3
    Grade 3
    • Planning for active living is an important step for leading a healthy life
    • Apply movement elements when engaging in physical activity
    • Individuals in healthy relationships resolve conflict by sharing the responsibility in coming to fair solutions to problems
    • Examine how food preparation techniques can affect the characteristics of common foods
    • Consent is established by clearly requesting, obtaining and giving permission or communicating refusal in support of personal safety
    • Discuss the importance of responsible spending and saving
  • Grade 4
    Grade 4
    • Participate in a variety of physical activities that develop various components of physical fitness
    • Integrate elements of movement in various physical activities
    • Individuals have the right to live in healthy, safe, and bully-free environments
    • Describe changes that happen during puberty
    • Identify sources of credible nutritional information to determine the requirements for balanced food choices
    • Consent is critical to respecting the rights, feelings and belongings of others
    • Consider a variety of factors when making decisions about spending money
  • Grade 5
    Grade 5
    • Describe internal and external factors that influence motivation to be physically active
    • Combine movement skills to perform movement patterns in a variety of physical activities
    • Perspectives can be shaped or shared using effective listening and communication skills
    • Identify positive health practices during puberty
    • Nutrition provides energy and nourishment to the body and supports body systems
    • Responsibility includes respecting the acceptance or refusal of consent from another
    • Examine factors that influence consumer choice
  • Grade 6
    Grade 6
    • Participate in a variety of moderate-to-vigorous physical activities that support training principles
    • Demonstrate how movement patterns are applied across various physical activities
    • Healthy relationships require consideration for different opinions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs and needs
    • Thinking about the outcomes of risk-taking activities can inform decisions
    • Examine how access affects nutrition choices in a variety of contexts
    • Analyze the risks and benefits of borrowing money in a variety of situations

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