Physical Education, Health & Dance

Physical Education, Health and Dance Learning Area

The learning area of Physical Education, Health and Dance makes a significant contribution to the wellbeing of students. Students learn to accept challenges in health related and movement contexts and they learn to reflect on the nature of wellbeing and how to promote it. Students will develop resilience and a sense of personal and social responsibility. During the four years they will take both Physical Education and Health in the core programme, they will learn to take increasingly more responsibility for themselves and be able to contribute to their own well-being, of those around them and of their communities. 

In the junior programme there are core themes that run through all four years – we make use of the swimming pool where each year, students spend up to one term in the water developing their confidence, their swimming ability and then their surf survival skills. We have one unit a year specifically developing their understanding of Māori language and culture through physical games. We have a focus on leadership through units that give students the opportunity to develop these skills. For example, in Year 7 students will gain confidence through officiating, in Year 8 they develop leadership through a mini coaching unit, in Year 9 it’s through a sports education model and in Year 10 it’s through a Stage Challenge Unit. Another key theme running throughout the junior programme is development of Interpersonal Skills and a real focus on participating and contributing across all aspects of each unit. 

We take pride in our Health programme at St Mary's College. Once a week in Years 7/8/9 students meet with their health teacher and will unpack topics. In Year 7 units include ‘New Beginnings’ which relates to how to cope with change, cybersafety, personal hygiene and social justice. In Year 8 students look at body image, mental health and how to keep yourself healthy and in Year 9 students unpack relationships and friendships, nutrition, health promotion and how to make good decisions. Year 10 has two Health units with a focus on how to be resilient and unpacking how to make decisions around alcohol and drugs. 

Students have the choice for Year 10 to choose two option subjects – Dance and/or Sports and Hauroa Studies.  

Choosing dance in Year 10 can lead to opportunities in senior years to take Dance, which is an excellent option for many of our students. 

Sports and Hauora Studies gives students a taste of what senior Health and Physical Education might look like and covers different units than the core programme. Although not compulsory, it often helps senior health or PE students if they have taken Sports and Hauora Studies in Year 10.  This course offers a school trip to experience in a practical session the concepts and lessons learnt in this course. This trip usually takes place in Term 2 for a day.

In our senior programme, students have the option of taking Level 1, 2 and 3 in Physical Education, Health and/or Dance. 

In Physical Education senior students are given the opportunity for a trip each year involving an outdoor activity. This is designed to investigate risk management procedures in the real outdoor world or leadership styles. These trips could include white water rafting, climbing, snorkelling or similar. Students also look to analyse performances in activities in a number of contexts and learn about biophysical principles. This course is very active however, there is an element of writing required to support the students understanding. 

In Health, students look deeper into health concepts such as hauora, health promotion, attitudes and values and investigating our view from a socio-ecological perspective. Students look at relevant health topics of interest in New Zealand and around the world. 

In Dance, students learn about dance sequences, concepts and performances in order to demonstrate understanding. Each year dance students visit dance performances and experts outside of our school and they perform in our own Dance Showcase in Term 3. This is designed to allow them to demonstrate their learnings and dances from the year. 

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