Navigating the Journey: Relationships and sexuality education
Te takahi i te ara: Te mātauranga mō ngā hononga tāngata me te hōkakatanga

The Ministry of Education is in the process of updating the New Zealand Curriculum. Navigating the Journey aligns with the current 2007 Health and Physical Education curriculum, which remains in effect until 1 January 2027. From this date, Navigating the Journey will no longer be curriculum-aligned. Visit the Ministry of Education website for more information on the curriculum update, and have your say by contributing a public submission. Find out more on our Let’s talk sex ed page.

Navigating the Journey is a comprehensive programme for educators delivering relationships and sexuality education in school-based settings. It is designed to meet rangatahi at their stage of development – and build on their previous year’s learning. Navigating the Journey is full of lesson plans and activities for Years 1-10 and aligns with the Ministry of Education’s 2007 curriculum.

Find out more about Navigating the Journey, including frequently asked questions.

Navigating the Journey has five themes that remain the same throughout all year groups – the content changes to be age and stage appropriate. 

Some of the topics that are explored in Year 9 are:

1. Establishing a positive learning environment: Te whakarite i tētahi ao ako huapai

• What do we know

2. Who am I? Ko wai au?

• Being a teenager
• Gender identity
• Gender stereotypes and the media

3. Relationships: Ngā whanaungatanga

• Healthy relationships
• Different ways of communicating
• Asking out, turning down, breaking up
• Sexual relationships
• Consent
• Sexual orientation

4. Growing and changing: Te tipu me te huri o te tangata

• Reviewing pubertal change and reproductive systems
• Conception and menstruation

5. Staying safe: Te noho haumaru

• Listening to our feelings
• Sexually transmissible infections (STIs)
• Condoms and other barrier methods
• Other methods for safer sex
• Being safe online: cyberbullying
• Online safety: nudes and sexting
• Online safety pornography
• Who can help?

Navigating the Journey comes with a guide detailing how to use the resource.  We have also developed a guide for parents, caregivers, and whānau which explains how schools utilise Navigating the Journey and what they expect their tamariki to be learning about.

Format: two downloadable PDFs – PDF links will be supplied via email.