Health and Physical Education aims to empower students to understand and appreciate the value of being physically active and develop the motivation for making healthy life choices. To this end, health and physical education courses foster the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will contribute to a student’s balanced and healthy lifestyle. Through opportunities for active learning, courses in this subject group embody and promote the holistic nature of well-being. Students engaged in health and physical education will explore a variety of concepts that help foster an awareness of physical development and health perspectives, empowering them to make informed decisions and promoting positive social interaction.

Health and physical education focuses on both learning about and learning through physical activity.

Both dimensions help students to develop approaches to learning (ATL) skills across the curriculum. Health and physical education contributes a unique perspective to the development of the attributes of the IB learner profile, promoting the health of individuals and communities.

Through health and physical education, students can learn to appreciate and respect the ideas of others, and develop effective collaboration and communication skills. This subject area also offers many opportunities to build positive interpersonal relationships that can help students to develop a sense of social responsibility.

At their best, health and physical education courses develop the enjoyment, engagement and confidence in physical activity that students need in order to achieve and maintain a balanced, healthy life.

Physical activity and health are of central importance to human identity and global communities. They create meaningful connections among people, nations, cultures and the natural world, and they offer a range of opportunities to build intercultural understanding and greater appreciation for our common humanity.