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Implementation advice

A strong research base underpins Life Ready, guiding its contemporary principles and content. The intent is that the seven evidence-based principles provide the foundation for the effective delivery of Life Ready in NSW government schools.

Each of these principles should be considered when designing, delivering and evaluating the Life Ready school based program each year to best meet the needs of senior students.

Principles of Life Ready

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Life Ready is planned and delivered as part of a whole-school approach to student health and wellbeing.

The successful delivery of Life Ready will be enhanced by a whole-school approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Health, safety and wellbeing are promoted through the whole-school environment, including curriculum, wellbeing programs, school policy implementation, partnerships and school ethos.

School Life Ready planning and delivery processes provide a protective and enabling environment for students that promotes choice, respect and responsibility in a non-judgmental manner, and facilitates consultation with and support from the school community.

Implementation for students with additional learning needs

For most students with additional learning needs, the outcomes and content of the Life Ready course will be appropriate. A small percentage of students may require adjustments to personalise access to the Life Ready outcomes and content.

Selected outcomes may be demonstrated independently or with support. However, in developing programs teachers need to take into consideration the specific communication, social, health, safety and wellbeing needs of students to address the Life Ready course outcomes.

Models of delivery

Schools vary in the way in which they organise their curriculum and structure their timetables. Schools will choose to implement Life Ready in a manner that accommodates their own particular context, using the resources they have available to them.

There are three main approaches that schools can use to implement Life Ready. Schools may also choose a combination of these approaches based on their context and student needs.

The approaches are:

  • Timetabled lessons
  • Seminar programs
  • Camps.

Schools can also choose online delivery and online learning activities to support any of the delivery methods. Schools should examine these approaches and select the approach or combination of approaches that best meets the needs of their students and accommodates their local context.

This approach involves integrating Life Ready into the normal school timetable for Year 11 and/or Year 12. Time is allocated to the course from within available curriculum time, and staff are timetabled onto Life Ready as part of their allocated teaching load.

As schools vary in how they structure their timetables and in the time they allocate to periods, schools can choose from a range of timetabling options. These include:

  • one 40-60 minute timetabled period each week over one year in Year 11 or Year 12
  • one 40-60 minute timetabled period each fortnight in both Years 11 and 12
  • one 80 minute timetabled period each fortnight in Year 11 or Year 12.

Considerations of this approach

Advantages Disadvantages
  • Encourages an ongoing and sustained program that builds on student knowledge, attitudes and skills across Year 11 and 12.
  • Provides a stable, regular and long-term infrastructure for the program.
  • Ensures that staff members’ involvement in Life Ready is recognised in their period allocations.
  • Supports the regular monitoring of students’ attendance and progress.
  • Maximises the potential to develop positive teacher-student relationships and to establish a safe and supportive learning environment.
  • Teachers with expertise may not be available due to a clash with other subjects timetabled on that line.
  • The program is vulnerable to disruptions that affect other timetabled subjects, resulting in a lack of continuity of learning.
  • It may be more difficult to get community or other outside agencies to assist, as they may not be able to spend time with a number of class groups over a timetabled week.

This approach involves organising extended blocks of time (e.g. half or full days) away from normal timetabled lessons.

The time allocation for a seminar program comes from available curriculum time in the form of a variation of routine. Schools decide how to manage the seminar model most effectively, depending on their particular situation.

Considerations of this approach

Advantages Disadvantages
  • There is greater flexibility of staffing, therefore teachers who are committed, skilled and highly motivated can be involved in the seminar program thereby increasing its effectiveness.
  • Can be organised at any time in the school year to fit in with the needs of the school.
  • Enriches the learning experience of students by adding variety to the normal school routine.
  • Provides greater scope to vary the structure of the learning environment.
  • Monitoring attendance is a simple process.
  • If held early in Year 11, there are no avenues for ongoing learning or to follow-up on issues important to students later in the year.
  • Staff are required to teach out of their normal weekly teaching load and, in addition, have to leave prepared lessons for their normal classes.
  • Relies on adequate time, resourcing and support given to course coordination.
  • May involve costs for venues or guests.

Camps are still a viable option for Life Ready, as long as the content and duration of the camp allow students the opportunity to achieve the outcomes of the course. As a minimum, schools would have to conduct a four-day camp and devote most of the time to activities focused on the outcomes of Life Ready to satisfy course requirements.

If schools include activities in their camp program other than those that relate to Life Ready (e.g. outdoor recreation activities), the camp will need to be supplemented with timetabled lessons or seminars.

Considerations of this approach

Advantages Disadvantages
  • Greater flexibility of staffing, therefore teachers who are committed, skilled and highly motivated can be involved in the seminar program increasing its effectiveness.
  • Can be organised at any time in the school year to fit in with the needs of the school.
  • Enriches the learning experience of students with the addition of those experiences that are part of camp life.
  • Provides greater scope to vary the structure of the learning environment, such as by organising students into smaller groups.
  • Monitoring attendance is simplified.
  • Costs mean that some students may be unable to  attend. Where costs are involved, schools are to ensure that no students miss out because they are unable to pay.
  • Students from some cultural backgrounds may not be allowed to attend an overnight camp. Schools will need to have alternative programs in place for any students unable to attend the camp for this or any other reason.
  • Staff are teaching more than their weekly teaching load, and in addition have to leave prepared lessons for their normal classes.
  • Intensive organisation and commitment of time are required to coordinate a school camp effectively.

Life Ready monitoring advice

In accordance with the Curriculum planning and programming, assessing and reporting to parents K-12 policy standards, government schools are to provide students with Life Ready, a 25-hour course in addition to NESA requirements for students to gain an HSC.

Access the advice for guidance on how to collect evidence of meeting this requirement.

The following list of records can be used as evidence of meeting this requirement.

Records kept centrally could include:

  • the course scope and sequence and implemented learning program. This should include teaching activities mapped against Life Ready course outcomes and content, and including registration and evaluation
  • records of students receiving information about course content and modes of delivery
  • student attendance for Life Ready sessions
  • documentation related to any external agencies accessed for the purpose of program delivery
  • information letters to parents, with signed consent where required.

If you need further assistance with accessibility for any of these resources, please get in touch with us at SecondaryEducationUnit@det.nsw.edu.au

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