Course content
About the course content and Life Ready skills
The Curriculum planning and programming, assessing and reporting to parents K – 12 policy standards require all government secondary schools to deliver Life Ready for a minimum indicative time of 25 hours.
The program can be completed in either Year 11 or Year 12 or across both years.
Download Life Ready course content (PDF 2.07 MB) to access the course requirements, structure, content and advice for implementation.
Life Ready is divided into six relevant and contemporary learning contexts.
- Independence
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Relationships
- Sexuality and sexual health
- Drugs and alcohol
- Safe travel
Note – The selection of content, methods of delivery, and the amount of time devoted to each learning context is a school-based decision which should reflect the needs of the student cohort each year.
Life Ready aims to help prepare senior students to:
- confidently and successfully transition to post-school employment, training orfurther education as well as participation and independence in the community
- lead healthy, safe and meaningful lives which promote respect, responsibility, enjoyment, inclusion and social justice for self and others.
Students will develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes to:
- Enhance their ability to think critically and creatively to take action to promote independence, health, safety and wellbeing of self and others.
- 1.1 Assess personal strengths and skills to achieve positive outcomes in a range of challenging and changing situations.
- 1.2 Critically evaluate services and resources to identify sources of reliable information and support.
- 1.3 Build positive thinking, self-belief and a sense of empowerment to take action to promote meaningful futures for self and others.
- Clarify and act on a personal set of positive values, beliefs and attitudes to promote respect and inclusion.
- 2.1 Show respect for the ideas, feelings and contributions of others in various contexts.
- 2.2 Challenge inequity, discrimination and harassment based on age, sex, gender, race, religion, disability and sexuality.
- Understand the signifcance of contextual factors that infuence independence, relationships and health behaviours.
- 3.1 Evaluate how contextual factors infuence attitudes, values and behaviours.
- 3.2 Analyse the positive and negative implications of technology and digital media on self-concepts, independence, relationships and health behaviours.
- Plan, develop and evaluate strategies to support the independence, health, safety and wellbeing of self and others.
- 4.1 Demonstrate capacity to build resilience and adapt to manage current and future challenges.
- 4.2 Propose, apply and evaluate solutions to take action to lead and contribute to healthy, safe and meaningful lives.
- Respond positively in challenging and changing situations.
- 5.1 Critically analyse situations, attitudes and behaviours that infuence independence, health, safety and wellbeing in different contexts.
- 5.2 Recognise and respond appropriately to situations which may be limiting or harmful to self and others.
- Communicate and interact effectively with others in arange of contexts.
- 6.1 Assess, adapt and apply skills to develop and maintain respectful relationships and successfully participate in education, work and community contexts.
- 6.2 Demonstrate behaviours that model positive values, beliefs and attitudes and promote inclusion and equity for self and others.
- Think and behave independently and know how and where to ask for help and support.
- 7.1 Demonstrate fnancial management, digital literacy and enterprise skills to facilitate education, workplace and community engagement.
- 7.2 Demonstrate the capacity to seek help for self and others.
- 7.3 Apply skills to take personal responsibility for their actions to protect and enhance the independence, health, safety and wellbeing of others.
Life Ready skills
Skill development is central to learning in Life Ready. The development of the following skills will empower students to take positive action to be healthy, safe and well; promote positive and respectful relationships and transition confidently to post school independence, and participation in the community.
These skills enable students to interact with others and understand the social norms that provide the foundation for socially responsible behaviour.
- Interpersonal communication: verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, expressing feelings, giving and receiving feedback.
- Negotiation and refusal: negotiation, conflict management, assertiveness, refusal.
- Empathy building: ability to listen, understanding others’ views, needs and circumstances.
- Cooperation, inclusion and teamwork: appreciating diverse perspectives, expressing respect for others’ contributions and different styles, assessing one’s own abilities, working collaboratively.
- Advocacy: influencing, persuading, networking, leading and motivating.
- Relationship and community building: appropriate expression of thoughts, emotions and opinions, connecting with others, networking, respecting diversity
Enhance students’ ability to evaluate future consequences of their present actions and the actions of others. Students should be able to determine alternative solutions and to analyse the influence of their own values and the values of those around them.
- Decision-making and problem-solving: information gathering, evaluating consequences, determining alternative solutions to problems, analysing, goal setting and tracking.
- Critical thinking: analysing influences, perspective taking, identifying relevant and reliable information and services.
Prepare students to navigate transitions and change. They enable students to see themselves as an agent for making a difference and for achieving a positive outcome in the future.
- Building independence and confident transitions: time management, budgeting, prioritising, planning, setting goals, self-evaluation, building positive self-concepts, and resilience.
- Managing emotions: recognising emotion, mindfulness, dealing with grief and anxiety, dealing with success, coping with loss, abuse and trauma, gratitude.
- Managing stress: optimistic thinking, relaxation techniques, help-seeking, self-monitoring.