Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
40 Matheson Boulevard West, Mississauga, ON, L5R 1C5, Tel: (905) 890-1221
May 4, 2015
Letter to the Dufferin-Peel Community on the Revised Health and Physical Education
Curriculum
The Ministry of Education released its updated Health and Physical Education Curriculum Guidelines on
Monday, February 23. Our preliminary analysis would indicate that the document is a significant update of
the curriculum. Working with the Institute for Catholic Education (ICE) and the Assembly of Catholic
Bishops of Ontario (ACBO), we will meet the expectations of the Ministry, within our Catholic faith context,
in delivering the curriculum to our students.
It is important for parents and guardians to know that, as a publicly funded Catholic board, we teach ALL
curriculum through our faith lens. Human development and sexual health is no exception. As Catholics,
we understand that parents and guardians are the primary educators of their children and that your role in
the teaching of family life issues is pivotal and vital. In our education system, we support this vision
through our Fully Alive program. In fact, the vast majority of the revised curriculum is already covered
within the Fully Alive program.
For over 35 years, Catholic schools have been teaching a family life program, which covers human
development and sexual health. Under the guidance of the Catholic Bishops of Ontario, the Fully Alive
program was written to provide a distinct Catholic framework for family life education, which is closely tied
to our Religious Education program and embedded across multiple curriculum areas.
All curriculum, including the Health and Physical Education curriculum, is written using specific
expectations, so that parents, students and teachers have a clear indication of what is expected of
students by the time they finish learning the material at each grade level. Curriculum documents also
provide teachers with possible suggestions and examples to illustrate the intended learning. These are
NOT mandatory. Teachers support student learning through materials appropriate within the context of a
Catholic classroom.
As we do with all curriculum, we will teach the revised Health and Physical Education curriculum through
a Catholic lens. Now that the curriculum has been released, the Catholic education community will work
to develop resources that support our Catholic teachers and ensure that the curriculum delivered in our
classrooms is consistent with our Catholic teachings. The content related to family life will be taught in our
Fully Alive program, which provides its own set of prompts and examples. Be assured, also, that, we will
continue to offer a rich, holistic curriculum, which provides a context for healthy sexuality that is shaped
by a Catholic worldview.
Sincerely,
John B. Kostoff
Director of Education
Mario Pascucci
Chair
Extraordinary lives start with a great Catholic education