For Parents, Teachers and Health

Ko Aku Hoa
Friendships and relationships with others
Understanding Skills to enhance relationships, for example in relation to friendships, intimate relationships, love, families and parenting.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to manage intimate relationships (involving attraction, love, and desire) and relationship changes (including changes to relationships online and using social media), through:
  • Knowledge of rights and responsibilities.
  • Knowledge of the need to give and receive consent and to make informed choices.
  • Assertive communication.

Ko Tōku Ao 
Me And The World
Critical inquiry, reflection and social action skills related to issues of equity, gender, body image, risk and safety.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Know how to access help for themselves and others, know about a range of strategies and resources that support health and wellbeing, and understand how these can enhance wellbeing, mitigate risk, and support gender and sexual identity.

Ko Au
All About Me
Knowledge understandings and skills relating to physical and sexual health and development: emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Know about a range of cultural approaches to issues of gender and sexuality and how these relate to holistic understandings of wellbeing, eg, in terms of:
  • Cultural, generational, and personal values related to gender and sexual identities.
• Take part in a range of practices and activities (eg, physical activity and sport, school and community events, classroom activities, and interactions on social media); reflect critically on how these practices connect with issues of body image and gender norms; and develop strategies to promote inclusion and wellbeing.

Ko Aku Hoa
Friendships and relationships with other
Understanding Skills to enhance relationships, for example in relation to friendships, intimate relationships, love, families and parenting.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Have skills for enhancing relationships, including skills for:
  • Strengthening personal identity.
  • Effective communication.
  • Assertiveness.
  • Negotiating intimacy.
  • Giving and receiving consent.
  • Dealing with pressure.
  • Demonstrating care and respect.
• Understand how people’s ideas about love, intimacy, attraction, desire, romance, and pleasure can affect wellbeing and relationships.

Ko Au
All About Me
Knowledge understandings and skills relating to physical and sexual health and development: emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to examine how gender and sexual identities can shift in different contexts and over time, and understand how these identities can be affected by relationships, family, media, popular culture, religion, spirituality, and youth cultures.

Ko Aku Hoa
Friendships and relationships with others
Understanding Skills to enhance relationships, for example in relation to friendships, intimate relationships, love, families and parenting.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Have knowledge and skills to enhance wellbeing in intimate relationships, including knowledge and skills about:
  • Rights and responsibilities.
  • Consent, decision-making, and problem-solving.
  • Considering risks and safe sexual practices.
• Recognise how different values affect people’s behaviours in intimate relationships and can develop interpersonal skills and plan strategies for responding to needs and challenges, solving problems, and making decisions.

Te Ao
The World
Critical inquiry, reflection and social action skills related to issues of equity, gender, body image, risk and safety.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to compare concepts of love, attraction, romance, pleasure, and consent from different perspectives and in different situations, and can take ethical standpoints (eg, by considering cultural values, church values, family values, and the values portrayed in social media and films).
• Are able to critique heteronormative messages and practices in the school or community and recommend actions to address these.

Ko Au
All About Me
Knowledge understandings and skills relating to physical and sexual health and development: emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Understand physical change across the lifespan for different people, including changes relating to fertility, menstruation, and the menopause, and explore the impacts of people’s choices relating to sexual health (eg, choices about using contraceptives, hormone blockers, or drugs, and about dealing with STIs).
• Are able to identify risks arising from intimate relationships in online and offline environments and can explain their personal values and needs (eg, in relation to dating, the influence of pornography, or issues of consent).

Ko Aku Hoa
Friendships and relationships with others
Understanding Skills to enhance relationships, for example in relation to friendships, intimate relationships, love, families and parenting.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to analyse their own close friendships, partnerships, and social interactions, and can plan actions to enhance communication and wellbeing in a range of situations (including online situations and situations involving alcohol and other drugs).

Te Ao
The World
Critical inquiry, reflection and social action skills related to issues of equity, gender, body image, risk and safety.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to:
  • Evaluate societal and cultural influences on partnerships, families, and childcare relationships.
  • Analyse beliefs, attitudes, and practices that influence choices by reinforcing stereotypes (such as sexism, homophobia, and transphobia).
  • Use principles of social justice to advocate for inclusive practices.

Ko Au
All About Me
Knowledge understandings and skills relating to physical and sexual health and development: emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to reflect on their personal identity (which will include their gender, sexuality, body, ethnicity, culture, location, ability, and age) and to explore identity politics and related issues in diverse contexts (including issues around labels such as “LGBTQI+”, “rainbow”, “takatāpui”, and “MVPFAFF”).

Ko Aku Hoa
Friendships and relationships with others
Understanding Skills to enhance relationships, for example in relation to friendships, intimate relationships, love, families and parenting.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to critically analyse values, practices, and legislation for promoting safer and more pleasurable sexual practices (eg, by examining health promotion strategies, law changes, and health policies).
• Are able to explore desire, pleasure, consent, and attraction as interpersonal, social, and ethical concepts, and can plan to actively promote positive, equitable, and supportive relationships.

Te Ao
The World
Critical inquiry, reflection and social action skills related to issues of equity, gender, body image, risk and safety.

Ākonga can show that they:

• Are able to critically evaluate societal attitudes to sex and sexuality (including attitudes in families, communities, religious contexts, and online), and can apply health promotion strategies to enhance sexual health and affirm diversity.
• Are able to critically analyse a range of issues that affect relationships, gender identity, and sexuality (eg, by considering the social impacts of online dating and pornography as well as the social and environmental impacts of menstrual products, contraceptive devices, fertility treatments, and pharmaceuticals), and can advocate for sexual and environmental justice and for inclusive cultures.

The sexual and reproductive heath statistics of young New Zealanders are highly concerning. The Ministry of Health has purchased Sexwise to add value to the health programme of priority schools, and work within a coordinated multi-agency approach to achieve better outcomes.

In 2011,Sexwise was externally evaluated by Work and Education Research and Development Services (WERDS). The following are extracts:

Read the Executive Summary

The evaluation explored how well THETA’s Sexwise programme met the specifications of its funder, the Ministry of Health, which are:

• to build students’ knowledge, understanding and attitudes
• to fit in with and add value to the school curriculum
• to engage with national and local agencies
• to impact positively on teacher and parent knowledge
• to demonstrate cultural competency

'The research found that the Sexwise programme focuses on relationship skills, uses interactive methods and allows students to personalise what they learn. The company draws on an Applied Theatre approach that aims for the audience to engage in the story in ways that prioritise emotional safety while at the same time allowing students to identify with characters and alter their thinking and behaviour.'
'The research showed how the performance and workshops covered key areas of sexuality education agreed with the Ministry of Health: relationship development, delay and abstinence, sexually transmitted infections and diverse sexuality.'

• Generally, students did not have very much information about the programme ahead of time and did not know what to expect. They were pleasantly surprised to find that the programme was a humorous drama performed by young people that sometimes incorporated singing. Students left no doubt that the programme was “funny” and “interesting” to them.
• Students also found the drama to be “realistic” and they believed the situations presented in the drama were ones they had experienced or could relate to.
• They also appreciated that the drama used their language and reported that it made them think more about the issues involved. Students were surprised that the drama was so open and direct in talking about sexual issues, but not in a clinical manner.
• Students contrasted Sexwise with learning similar content in their regular health class. They believed having the information presented through drama was more enjoyable, engaging, hands-on and interactive. They further indicated that their usual way of learning in the classroom was through listening, reading and writing, and that this, compared to the interactive methods of the drama, was boring.
• Students also contrasted Sexwise with other visiting programmes they had seen and believed it was more interesting than other presentations.
• Students described the performers as talented and likeable. This made the programme more appealing to them. Students believed the actors were comfortable and professional in dealing with sensitive issues and knowledgeable about sexual health. They also appreciated the fact that the actors were young.

All teachers agreed that the programme was culturally ‘very appropriate’ for the students who saw it, particularly Maori and Pacific students. One teacher in a school with a predominantly Maori student population reported that “It was wonderful for Maori students. It helped to have Maori actors. If they had all been Pakeha actors, it may have been different.
Stakeholders also believed Sexwise was culturally appropriate for Maori and Pacific Island students. A stakeholder who works with predominantly Pacific Island students said they responded well to the singing, storytelling, humour, language and visual aspects of the programme.

No, but here is some information you might include in your consultation:

• The Educational Objectives of Sexwise are linked to the Achievement Objectives (levels 4-8) stated in the Health and Physical Education part of the New Zealand Curriculum document.
• THETA programmes have been received by schools since 1990. Our website has more information, including links to resources available for whånau.
• We hope the programme will provoke meaningful communication within whanau: the programmes’ fictional frame can be used to discuss real issues.

'At the centre of process drama is improvised role play designed to create meaning for the participants rather than for an external audience. As the term suggests, process drama does not necessarily lead to a theatrical product, but aims through the ongoing nature of the work for participants to negotiate and establish fictional worlds.' Dr Peter O’Connor (2003)