Applying for life skills courses
Life skills courses provide course options for students with special education needs in Years 11–12 who cannot access the regular course outcomes. Wyndham College supports many students completing Life skills courses.
Before deciding that the student should access a Life skills course, consideration should be given to other ways of helping the student to engage with regular course outcomes. This may include a range of adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment activities. If the adjustments do not provide a student with sufficient access to some or all outcomes in Years 11-12, one or more Life skills courses might be appropriate.
Life skills courses are not an appropriate option for students:
- performing below their cohort
- who could be helped with appropriate adjustments and support.
All decisions about curriculum options for students with special education needs should be made through the collaborative curriculum planning process.
A student studying any Stage 6 Life skills course will usually have completed one or more courses based on Life skills outcomes and content in Years 7–10.
In special circumstances a student who has not undertaken one or more courses based on Life skills outcomes and content in Years 7-10 may wish to enrol in Life skills courses for Stage 6. These special circumstances might include situations where:
- a student has attempted regular courses in Years 7-10 but has experienced significant difficulty
- a student transfers from interstate or overseas
- a student has a deteriating condition
In Stage 6, there is at least one Life Skills course for each key learning area. Each Stage 6 Life Skills course comprises a:
- 2-unit Year 11 course (120 hours)
- 2-unit Year 12 course (120 hours)
Students studying English Life Skills, Mathematics Life Skills, or four or more Life Skills courses in Year 12 are exempt from the HSC minimum standard for literacy and numeracy.
Credentials
Students who follow a Life Skills pattern of study are not eligible for an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). Instead, they can receive a Record of School Achievement (RoSA) if they successfully complete Year 10 or Year 11 Life Skills courses.
For every successfully completed Life Skills course an accompanying Profile of Student Achievement is included with the RoSA to provide students with more details of their achievements from each course.
Build a bike - life skills course
Wyndham College's revolutionary program built on trust, mutual honesty and respect engages students at Wyndam College and gives them something to 'ride' home about. The Build a Bike program is both an English studies and an industrial technology life skills course with a hands on approach to learning. The course is focused around engine mechanics, the history and world of motorcycle and car racing, including its representation in literature and film.
This course has offered re-engagement to students who prefer a non- conventional classroom. The founding teacher has worked with the students to build a mechanic's workshop, equipped with the tools needed to service and repair motorcycles, cars and other appliances.
Students have learned numerous mechanical skills valuable for later life in addition to spray painting and welding. They have built upon their literacy and numeracy skills whilst maintaining their engagement through the link to motorcycles. The Build-a-Bike Program has become the anchor point to completing a stage 6 education for numerous students, and for others the launch point into a career in mechanics.