Education Amendment Act

As a Catholic school board, human sexuality will continue to be taught through a traditional Catholic lens.
Medicine Hat Catholic schools believe that parents are the primary educators of their children, and we will continue to communicate and work in partnership with families throughout each child’s educational journey.

The Education Amendment Act (formally Bill 27) supports families and students navigating complex conversations around gender identity, sexual orientation, and human sexuality, while also supporting continuity in a student’s learning during a public health emergency or state of emergency.

The Act creates greater transparency in communication between school authorities and parents and results in greater consistency for students, parents and teachers.

The Education Amendment Act, 2024, amends the Education Act, which specifies goals for Alberta’s education system and identifies the roles and responsibilities of the Ministry, school boards, charter schools, private schools, teachers, parents and students.

One key change to the Act is that school authorities require parents/guardians to opt their child in, rather than opt-out, where courses, programs of study or instructional materials, instruction, or exercises include subject matter that deals primarily and explicitly with gender identity, sexual orientation or human sexuality.

Learn more about curriculum information regarding human sexuality for each grade level below:

Gr. 1

Fully Alive - THEME 3: CREATED SEXUAL: MALE AND FEMALE

Listen and respond to a story about a relationship between a man and a woman that leads to marriage.
Appreciate that a baby is God’s special gift of love to a family.
Appreciate that it is God’s plan for a new baby to grow inside its mother’s body in a special place called the uterus.
Appreciate God’s design for bringing new people into the world.
Describe some ways in which babies are cared for after they are born.
Recognize that it is part of God’s plan that boys and girls are physically different.

Gr. 2

Fully Alive - THEME 3: CREATED SEXUAL: MALE AND FEMALE

Recognize that husbands and wives share their lives with each other and with their children.
Listen to a story about the beginning of human life inside the uterus.
Describe some features of prenatal life and give a simple description of how the human person is born.
Appreciate and respect God’s wonderful plan for new life.
Describe some of the ways they can show respect and care for their bodies.
Recognize that our bodies are gifts from God.

Gr. 3

Fully Alive - THEME 3: CREATED SEXUAL: MALE AND FEMALE

Recognize that their lives began because of the love their parents shared and because of God’s love.
Recognize that human life begins at the moment of conception as a single cell.
Recognize how the developing baby’s needs are met inside the uterus.
Appreciate the beauty of God’s design for sustaining new human life.
Give a simple description of how a baby is born.
Describe some basic features of growth and development between birth and childhood.
Recognize that they will continue to grow and develop.

Gr. 4

Alberta Physical Education & Wellness Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Explain how development and puberty are connected.
Recognize that puberty marks the beginning of a new life stage as individuals move toward becoming mature adults.
Describe changes that happen during puberty.
Identify how personal hygiene practices may need to be modified as the body changes.
Explain how puberty is a process of maturation that includes physical and social-emotional changes.
Explore how transitions into puberty are acknowledged in different cultures.

Gr. 5

Alberta Physical Education & Wellness Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Identify positive health practices during puberty.
Explain how puberty connects to the capacity of human reproduction.
Identify the components of the human reproductive system and the function of the components.
Describe how physical changes during puberty affect reproductive capability.

Gr. 6

Alberta Physical Education & Wellness Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Identify effective ways to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (studied through a Catholic Framework).
Examine fetal development in each of the three trimesters.
Investigate human reproduction from fertilization to birth.
Identify health practices that support a healthy pregnancy.
Describe that sexual activity without consent is sexual assault and can have physical, emotional, social, and/or legal consequences.

Gr. 7

Alberta Health Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Examine the human reproductive process, and recognize misunderstandings associated with sexual development.
Identify the effects of social influences on sexuality and gender roles and equity; e.g., media, culture.
Examine the influences on personal decision making for responsible sexual behaviour.
Examine abstinence and decisions to postpone sexual activity until marriage as healthy choices.

Gr. 8

Alberta Health Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Recognize and accept that individuals experience different rates of physical, emotional, sexual and social development.
Determine the signs, methods and consequences of various types of abuse; e.g., neglect, physical, emotional, sexual abuse.
Identify and describe the responsibilities and consequences associated with involvement in a sexual relationship.
Describe symptoms, effects, treatments and prevention for common sexually transmitted infections.
Identify and describe basic types of contraceptives (studied through a Catholic framework).

Gr. 9

Alberta Health Curriculum with Catholic Lesson Plans

Apply coping strategies when experiencing different rates of physical, emotional, sexual and social development; e.g., positive self-talk.
Evaluate implications and consequences of sexual assault on a victim and those associated with that victim.
Examine effective ways to prevent pregnancy (studied through a Catholic lens).
Identify and describe the responsibilities and resources associated with pregnancy and parenting.
Develop strategies that address factors to prevent or reduce sexual risk; e.g., abstain from drugs and alcohol, date in groups, use assertive behaviour.

Gr. 10

CALM

Alberta CALM (Career and Life Management) with Catholic Lesson Plans

Identify expectations and commitments in various relationships.
Examine a range of behaviours for handling sexual involvement.
Describe how personal values play a role in relationships.
Explain the role of trust and ways to establish trust in a relationship.
Describe sexually healthy actions and choices for one’s body, including abstinence.
Analyze strategies for choosing responsible and respectful sexual interactions.
Describe the ways in which personal values influence choices.
Assess the consequences of being sexually active.