Gym, health pilot program rolls out as Manitoba children go back to school

Phys-ed is on the minds of many Manitobans — seven-year-old Ethan Minski included — as roughly 200,000 kindergarten-to-Grade 12 students start a new school year.

Asked on Wednesday about what he most looked forward on his first day of Grade 2, Ethan said he couldn’t wait to run around with his friends.

“Everybody loves gym. It’s just fun!” he said during morning drop-off at King Edward School in Winnipeg.

Ethan is among the students who are meeting their new teachers and classmates this week as part of a staggered start to 2026-27.

To coincide with the launch of classes, the province has released a new physical and health curriculum covering all grades.

Upwards of 25 schools have signed up to test out the curriculum that replaces the one developed before the turn of the century. A mandatory rollout is scheduled for 2028-29.

The changes include requiring phys-ed to be 100 per cent in-person in all levels. Some high schools currently offer flexible Grade 11 and 12 options that allow teenagers to exercise independently and submit their hours to obtain a credit.

Manitoba Teachers’ Society president Lillian Klausen said she was pleased to learn one of the union’s affiliates – the Physical and Health Educators of Manitoba – has been involved in the rollout.

All of the new documents are organized on the principles of physical literacy and health literacy.

The province defines the former as having the confidence, motivation, knowledge and understanding about the value of movement. The latter refers to “the knowledge and competencies which enable one to value and promote the health and well-being of oneself, others and the community.”

Tyler Jurkowski, whose child is in Grade 4, said he is supportive of the province updating curriculum to facilitate discussions about screen time.

Jurkowski said he and his wife are strict about not allowing their daughter to “free-roam the internet.”

They’ve told the nine-year-old she doesn’t need a cellphone until she starts babysitting, he said, adding he supports Manitoba’s plans to ban social media access for children under 16 although he’s skeptical about the logistics of such a policy.

Starting in Grade 1, the new curriculum requires teachers to “explore the impact of technology on health, well-being and movement activities.”

In this particular fitness unit, early years students are anticipated to examine e-bikes and e-scooters, excessive screen time and the positive ways that technology can benefit one’s well-being.

Christy Smolik, a mother of three, said that, so far, she likes what she’s heard about the changes.

Smolik said her youngest, Ethan, loves to play Minecraft although she isn’t too worried about the seven-year-old’s screen time levels just yet.

At the same time, she said her son is growing up so quickly – a realization that brought her to tears on the playground at King Edward School.

She wiped tears from her face after dropping off Ethan.

Annie Koop, a mother of two, also expressed mixed feelings about the return of King Edward School, citing “a really good summer.”

Koop dropped off her eight-year-old on Wednesday. Her kindergartner will start in the River East Transcona School Division next week.

After dropping his sister off at school on his bike, five-year-old Walter Koop said he was relieved to have a few more days to get ready and break in his new shoes.

As part of his first back-to-school shopping experience, he picked up a pair of sneakers adorned with Mario and Luigi cartoons.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca