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Comprehensive Health Education
Comprehensive Health Education Program
The Comprehensive Health Education Act was enacted in 1988 to ensure that South Carolina students receive an age-appropriate, comprehensive, education program developed with community control in compliance with the provisions of the law. Comprehensive health education encompasses all aspects of a young person's life. Included are, among other things: skills, attitudes, and practices of children and youth that are conducive to their good health and that promote wellness, health maintenance, and disease prevention. The State Board of Education approved the South Carolina Academic Standards for Health and Safety Education on July 8, 2009. These Standards provide the scope and sequence for age-appropriate comprehensive health education.
The Comprehensive Health Education Act was amended in 2014 to include Erin’s Law and the State Board of Education approved grade level instructional units for the 2014 legislation, Erin’s Law (Act 293). These materials are offered as optional resources that schools and districts may choose to use. The 2014 amendment to the Comprehensive Health Education Act requires that all schools provide instruction in sexual abuse and sexual assault prevention during the academic calendar year to students in grades PreK-12th grade. The law can be accessed at: SC Comprehensive Health Ed.
Intermediate School Curriculum
Grade 5:
Guidance Counselors are responsible for Erin’s Law lessons in the
elementary classroom. The lessons are age-appropriate for each grade level as written by the SDE.Self-contained Special Education Teachers will be delivering a modified curriculum tailored to the appropriate developmental level of the students.
Grade 6:
Comprehensive Health & Physical Education teachers are responsible for lessons. Physical education teachers will be giving age-appropriate lessons as written by the SDE.
NuCulture Curriculum
Health & Wellness textbook from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill
NuCulture
Nu-CULTURE (pronounced “new culture”) is the classroom education component of the Healthy Futures approach described above. Dedicated to Cultivating Urban Leaders Through Unique Relationship Education, this program provides youth with the tools and resources needed to make and maintain healthy choices and be positive role models in their communities.
The goal is to support parents by reinforcing the messages that students are hearing at home. The lessons are age appropriate, medically accurate, and are presented in a way that is respectful of your values. We recognize that you are the primary educator of your child when it comes to these sensitive topics and that each family has a unique way of approaching these subjects. For these reasons, we offer resources to parents that are aimed at empowering you to speak openly about these issues.
Nu-CULTURE is designed for youth in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, and includes the following:
1) Twenty-four 50-minute sessions delivered over three years (8 sessions each year).
2) Curriculum delivered in single gender groups
3) Use of participatory activities including small group activities, role-playing, and audiovisual materials.
Goals The goals of Nu-CULTURE are to:
1) Influence attitudes, behavioral and normative beliefs, and self-efficacy regarding
healthy relationship choices and risk-reduction behaviors by creating an environment where healthy choices are supported by peers and family.
2) Strengthen beliefs about the benefits of delaying sexual activity.
3) Increase intentions to delay sexual activity.
4) Develop leaders to be positive role models.
Nu-CULTURE addresses three key areas:
1) human anatomy and physiology,
2) life skills, and
3) relationships. The curriculum emphasizes increasing skills and self-efficacy in communication and refusal skills through age-appropriate, medically accurate information about pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections, and sexual abuse.
6th Grade Lesson topics:
Healthy Relationships
Qualities of a Friend
Healthy Decision Making
Assertiveness and Refusal Skills
Conflict Resolution
Puberty
Anatomy and Reproduction
Positive Personal Character Traits and Emotional Needs
Sexual Abuse/Cyber Bullying
Erin’s Law
Section 59-32-20(B) of the South Carolina Code of Laws was amended June 2014 (H.4061, Act 293) to read that the State Board of Education through the S.C. Department of Education “shall select or develop instructional units in sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention, with separate units appropriate for each age level from four-year-old kindergarten through twelfth grade.” Relating to the requirement that local school districts implement the comprehensive health education program, among other things, Section 59-32-30(G) was amended so as to provide that “beginning with the 2015–2016 school year, districts annually shall provide age-appropriate instruction in sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention to all students in four-year-old kindergarten, where offered, through twelfth grade. This instruction must be based on the units developed by the board, through the department, pursuant to Section 59-32-20(B).”
On August 12, the State Board of Education approved a resource guide of instructional units. The guide and instructional units are offered to districts as a supplemental resource for the district’s curriculum to provide age-appropriate instruction in sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention. If your district is interested in learning more about these instructional materials, please join one of the professional learning opportunities provided regionally this fall. The delivery of sexual abuse and sexual assault prevention instruction will be discussed. The training dates and registration will be made available through district instructional leaders and the local district’s contact person for health and physical education.
Comprehensive Health Support Documents and Resources
South Carolina Grade Level Health and Safety Education Curriculum Guidelines
The South Carolina Grade Level Health and Safety Education Curriculum Guidelines are aligned to the 2017 Standards document. The guide contains essential questions, teaching activities, and assessment strategies that address performance indicators within the standards.
South Carolina Academic Standards for Health and Safety
http://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards-learning/health-education/standards/
South Carolina Grade Level Health and Safety Education Curriculum Guidelines
http://ed.sc.gov/scdoe/assets/file/agency/ccr/Standards-Learning/documents/2012CurriculumGuideforHealthandSafetyEducation.pdf
South Carolina Academic Standards for Physical Education Grades Kindergarten-12th ghttp://ed.sc.gov/scdoe/assets/File/instruction/standards/PE/2014AcademicStandardsforPhysicalEducation.pdf
South Carolina Academic Standards for Physical Education 2014: Elementary Curriculum Guidelines 2013
http://ed.sc.gov/scdoe/assets/file/agency/ccr/Standards-Learning/documents/2013ElementaryPhysicalEducationCurriculumGuide.pdf
South Carolina Academic Standards for Physical Education 2014: Secondary Curriculum Guidelines 2013
http://ed.sc.gov/scdoe/assets/file/agency/ccr/Standards-Learning/documents/2013SecondaryPhysicalEducationCurriculumGuide.pdf
Coordinated School Health Framework
Below are links to tools and resources to assist district and school staff, faculty, parents, and students to assess, plan, and implement effective school health programs using a coordinated school health framework.
SchoolHealth Index
HealthEducation Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT)
PhysicalEducation Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT)
South Carolina Comprehensive Development: Guidance and Counseling Program Model
https://ed.sc.gov/scdoe/assets/File/agency/ccr/Career-and-Technology-Education/documents/Ann4SCCDGCPM062308Finalpostedaug2011.pdf
Erin’s Law Instructional Resources
The2014 “Erin’s Law” amendment to the Comprehensive Health Act requires grades K-12 instruction in the prevention of child sexual abuse. The instructional resources below have suggested teaching activities that are aligned with health education standards.
Erin’s Law Memorandum (Released July 25, 2016)
South Carolina Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and ChildAdvocacy Center Programs
Additional Erin's Law Instructional Resources
Resource to Support Mandatory Reporting–
District’s Child Advocacy Attorney
South Carolina Academic Standards for Health & Safety Education
http://acsd5.schoolwires.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/1669/2009HealthEducationStandards.pdf
South Carolina Grade Level Health and Safety Education Curriculum Guidelines(Standards and Performance Indicators)
http://acsd5.schoolwires.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/1669/HealthCurriculumGuide2012.pdf
Comprehensive Health Act of 1988
http://acsd5.schoolwires.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/1669/COMPREHENSIVEHEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM.pdf
Comprehensive Health Education Advisory Committee
http://acsd5.schoolwires.net/cms/lib02/SC01001931/Centricity/Domain/1669/13MemberCHE.pdf
Comprehensive health education is required for all students in kindergarten through 9th grades. South Carolina has specific requirements for health education based on the Comprehensive HealthEducation Act of 1988. Required topics vary by grade level but should include the following:
community health
consumer health
environmental health
growth and development
nutritional health
personal health
prevention and control of diseases and disorders
safety and accident prevention
substance use and abuse
dental health
mental and emotional health.
sexually transmitted diseases (middle and high school)
reproductive health education (middle and high school)
domestic violence (middle and high school)
At the discretion of the local board, instruction in family life education or pregnancy prevention education or both may be included, but instruction in these subjects may not include an explanation of the methods of contraception before the sixth grade.
CPR and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) for high school
To assist in the selection of components and curriculum materials for reproductive health education, family life education, and pregnancy prevention education, each local school board shall appoint a thirteen-member local comprehensive advisory committee consisting of two parents, three clergy, two health professionals, two teachers, two students, one being the president of the student body of a high school, and two other persons not employed by the local school district.
SPARK Physical Education PE Programs grades4K- 8th has Research-Based curriculum, training & equipment
http://www.sparkpe.org/physical-education/k-2/
SC Academic Standards for Physical Education 2014
Elementary & Secondary Curriculum Guidelines 2013
Certified PE teacher(s) for all elementary and secondary schools -Physical Education
Elementary Schools – Required minimum for each student:
60 minutes weekly of Physical Education
90 minutes weekly of Physical Activity
Middle Schools – Required minimum for each student – one semester, grades 6-8
High School – one High School Credit or equivalent as accepted by law
For more detailed information, please contact your child's principal or Tammy Smith, Director of Health Services.