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Special Education Needs

Supporting teachers of students with special education needs

FAQs 11-12

What are the Stage 6 Life Skills courses?

Stage 6 Life Skills courses provide a curriculum option for the small percentage of students with special education needs for whom the regular outcomes and content are not appropriate. These courses have Board Developed status and can be used to meet the requirements for the award of the Higher School Certificate.

Each Life Skills course comprises a 2 Unit Preliminary course and a 2 Unit HSC course.

There are eight Stage 6 Life Skills syllabuses:

  • Stage 6 Citizenship and Society Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills
  • Stage 6 English Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Mathematics Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Personal Development, Health and Physical Education Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Science Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Technological and Applied Studies Life Skills
  • Stage 6 Work and Community Life Skills.
What Life Skills courses are available in the Creative Arts learning area in Stage 6?

The reviewed Stage 6 Creative Arts Life Skills Syllabus (2009) (PDF format - 49 pages - 248 KB) contains five courses:

  • Creative Arts Life Skills
  • Dance Life Skills
  • Drama Life Skills
  • Music Life Skills
  • Visual Arts Life Skills

Commencing in 2010, Year 11 students can undertake one or more of the five Stage 6 Life Skills courses from the syllabus.

Who can access Life Skills courses?

The Board expects that most students who will access Life Skills courses will have an intellectual disability. Life Skills courses are for the small percentage of students for whom it may be determined that the regular Board Developed or Board Endorsed courses are not appropriate.

Before deciding that a student should access a Life Skills course, consideration should be given to other ways of assisting a student to achieve regular course outcomes. This assistance might include adjustments at the school level and/or special provisions.

In general, students enrolling in Stage 6 Life Skills courses will have completed at least four subjects based on Life Skills outcomes and content in Stage 5: see ACE Manual, section 7.2.

Decisions about curriculum options for students with special education needs should be made in the context of collaborative curriculum planning with the student, parent/carer and any other significant individuals in the student's life.

For more information on the Collaborative Curriculum Planning process see ACE Manual, section 7.4.

Where can I find the Life Skills courses for Stage 6?

The Stage 6 Life Skills courses can be found on the Board's website

or

contact Customer Service at the Office of the Board of Studies on (02) 9367 8178 or fax (02) 9262 6270 or by email to service@bos.nsw.edu.au

How should Life Skills courses be implemented?

Decisions about the best way to implement a Life Skills Course for a student or students should be made at the school level.

For further information about school planning, see ACE Manual, section 7.5, p 75.

Do students need to address all of the outcomes in a Life Skills course to satisfactorily complete it?

No, it is not necessary for students to address or achieve all Life Skills outcomes or complete all of the associated content. Selection of Life Skills outcomes and content should be based on the needs of the individual student as part of the collaborative curriculum planning process.

How do I go about entering a student in one or more Life Skills courses in Stage 6?

The school must inform the Office of the Board at the time of submission of Preliminary and HSC entries through Schools Online.

What are the requirements for the Higher School Certificate for students undertaking one or more Stage 6 Life Skills courses?

To qualify for the Higher School Certificate, students must have a preliminary pattern of study comprising at least 12 units and an HSC pattern of study comprising at least 10 units.

Students with special education needs can meet the requirements for the Higher School Certificate using a combination of Board Developed courses, Board Endorsed courses and Board Developed Life Skills courses.

Life Skills courses have indicative time of 240 hours, with 120 hours being in each Year of Stage 6.

How should I assess Life Skills outcomes in Stage 6?

Students should be assessed on their achievement of outcomes identified in the planning process.

Students can demonstrate achievement in a number of ways and across a range of environments (eg school, home, community). Assessment should reflect the student's ability to generalise the knowledge and skills to a range of adult environments.

Evidence of achievement can be based on ongoing observation during teaching and learning or assessment tasks specifically designed to assess achievement at particular points.

For more information, see the ACE Manual, section 7.7, p 76.

What credentials do students undertaking one or more Life Skills courses receive for the Higher School Certificate?

These are outlined in the ACE Manual, section 8.14, p 119.

Where do I find the Profile of Student Achievement?

Schools will issue a HSC Profile of Student Achievement for each student studying one or more Stage 6 Life Skills courses. The Profile will contain a list of all Stage 6 Life Skills syllabus outcomes that have been attained by the student during Stage 6. The Profile should be issued to the student before he or she leaves the school.

The Profile of Student Achievement, and instructions on how the Profile is to be used, are available on the Board's website.

Do Life Skills courses have HSC examinations?

No, Stage 6 Life Skills courses do not have HSC examinations. Life Skills courses cannot be used in the calculation of a student's Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).

What if a student at my school wants to study a Religion or Language Life Skills course?

Schools may develop courses for students with special education needs for Religion in Stages 5 and 6 and in a Language in Stage 6. School Developed Courses are submitted to the Board for endorsement.

Other courses designed for students with special education needs will not be endorsed as the Board provides Life Skills as an appropriate pathway for those students.

For more information on submitting a course proposal see School Developed Board Endorsed Courses - Guidelines for Course Proposals (PDF format - 40 pages - 1.9 MB).

What are the options for a student with special education needs accessing a VET Industry Curriculum Framework course?

Students with special education needs may access a VET Industry Curriculum Framework course in one of two ways: either by undertaking the course under regular course arrangements, or by undertaking selected units of competency within the course that have been identified through the collaborative planning process.

For more information, see the Stage 6 Industry Curriculum Frameworks Support Document for Students with Special Education Needs (PDF format - 87 pages - 487 KB).

Are students undertaking only Life Skills courses required to satisfactorily complete the HSC: All My Own Work program?

No, from 2010 students undertaking only Life Skills courses are not required to complete HSC: All My Own Work.

The HSC: All My Own Work program is optional for these students.

Every other student undertaking Preliminary or HSC courses must complete the HSC: All My Own Work program (or its equivalent) before the submission of students’ Preliminary or HSC course entries.

For some students with special education needs, schools may decide to devise an appropriate equivalent of the HSC: All My Own Work program.

For more information, see the HSC: All My Own Work website or contact the Senior Curriculum Officer, Special Education on (02) 9367 8148.

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