Mental Health

The enhanced HPE curriculum takes a comprehensive approach to learning about mental health that includes:

  • the development of social-emotional learning skills across the curriculum
  • knowledge and skills related to mental health literacy
  • more opportunities to understand connections between physical and mental health.

This approach contributes to students' overall health and well-being, positive mental health and the ability to learn, build resilience and thrive.

Educators play an important role in teaching students about mental health and helping them develop the skills they need to be mentally healthy. However, educators are not expected to be clinicians, to diagnose or to measure students' mental health.

To support educators in planning, new expectations that have been added to the curriculum include extensive examples, sample teacher prompts and sample student responses. Also, School Mental Health Ontario has resources for educators that support professional learning. The digital curriculum platform, scheduled to be released in fall 2019, is anticipated to include links to resources to support educators.

Parents are important partners in learning about mental health. When educators, parents and those providing professional supports work together, students benefit.

Sexual Health

The Human Development and Sexual Health component of the Health and Physical Education curriculum helps students learn about healthy human physical development as they develop skills for healthy, respectful relationships.

It will not replace the role of parents in educating their children about sexual health.

Parents are the primary educators of their children and their children's first role models. It is important that schools and parents work together so that home and school provide a supportive framework for young people's education.

Curriculum Documents

The 2019 release of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum for Grades 1 to 8

The curriculum for Health and Physical Education, Grades 9-12 has not changed since 2015.