Prepare for Life

Prepare for Life is designed to assist learners to develop some basic knowledge and skills for living. Using a practical skills-based approach, this course is designed to encourage learners to develop a range of skills in the use of equipment around the home* and to assist in building independent living skills.

Learners will develop their personal skills in decision-making. They will formulate some social goals, develop a greater understanding of their responsibility to others, build friendships and share ideas.

There is a focus on personal safety and safety in the home environment.

* For the purposes of this course, the term “home” can refer to (for example) a private residence, a shared residence, a student hostel, supported living accommodation or a group home.

Prepare for Life is one of a suite of courses designed to provide basic skills to learners with high needs, many of whom have a learning difficulty or disability.

Some learners may need the full suite of courses for study in both Years 11 and 12, some may need it for only part of their course load, and other learners may need only some courses for Year 11 before moving to other programs for Year 12.

Prepare for Life will provide learners with a flexible and individualised program. The skills and knowledge acquired by completing this course will enable learners to gain more autonomy and independence as they prepare for independent living.

On successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. safely use a range of materials and tools found in the home
2. use a range of IT equipment
3. use a range of home appliances and equipment
4. have basic skills in food preparation
5. have basic skills in home and personal care
6. be aware of home safety and hazards in the home.

All learners have a right to an education that meets their needs through full participation and engagement with learning. Teachers need to enhance the quality of all students’ learning through responsive and planned learning programs that optimise achievement using inclusive practices.

Learners should have access to appropriate resources such as professional support staff; or adult assistance, and equipment such as assistive technology or modified facilities, as required. The Disability Standards for Education, 2005 outline the obligations that educational providers must meet in supporting the needs of students with disability through reasonable adjustments.

Adjustments include a range of supports and accommodations including but not limited to: supportive learning environments, tailored delivery models, visual and organisational supports, multimodal learning and assessment opportunities, varying levels of prompting and adult assistance. In the instance of online, distance or flexible delivery, adjustments may be made to the courses by teachers to suit the individual student’s learning environment. This may involve adaptation of the course to reflect the resources readily available to the learner within their home or community.

This course has a complexity level preliminary to TASC Level 1.

This course has a size value of 15.

Tasmanian Certificate of Education: The qualifications available have a level of complexity preliminary to that of TASC Level 1. Achievement of the qualifications does not, therefore, contribute credit points towards meeting the participation and achievement standard of the Tasmanian Certificate of Education qualification.

Qualifications Certificate: The qualifications available can be listed on the Qualifications Certificate issued by TASC.

This course has six (6) Units. All Units are to be delivered.

1.  home and garden maintenance

2.  information technology equipment

3.  home appliances

4.  basic food preparation

5.  home and personal care

6.  home safety and hazard identification.

UNIT 1: Home and Garden Maintenance

• recognising basic hand tools (e.g. hammer, saw, paint brush, broom)

• safe use of materials and hand tools (e.g. work gloves, eye protection, safe surfaces). May be with or without support

• storage of basic hand tools (e.g. tool box, shed, cupboard)

• identifying different materials (e.g. wood, metal, fabric, plastic, glass)

• using basic construction techniques (e.g. cutting, gluing, sewing, folding).

UNIT 2: Information Technology Equipment

• using communication technology. E.g.

• mobile phone, camera, video, mobile phone camera

• computer for simple emails, accessing information, communication (e.g. Blogs, Wiki’s, banking)

• information technology safety (e.g. passwords, cyber bullying)
• safe use of social media (e.g. privacy, pirating).

UNIT 3: Home Appliances

• recognise the purpose of common home appliances and equipment (e.g. air conditioner, television, kettle, heater)

• safe use of appliances and equipment (e.g. electrical cords, proximity to other items, use of oven mitts). With or without support

• cleaning and storage of appliances and equipment.

UNIT 4: Basic Food Preparation

• recognise and and/or apply hygiene and safe food handling practices (e.g. washing hands, knife safety)

• recognise healthy food choices

• recognise where and how to purchase food (e.g. bulk buys, specialist shops, supermarkets, on-line shopping)

• recognise safe storage of food (e.g. storage/refrigeration of perishables)

• use basic food preparation techniques (e.g. collecting ingredients, pouring, measuring, cutting and spreading)

• recognise appropriate table settings  (e.g. basic cutlery, crockery, salt/pepper)

• clean up safely (e.g. clearing the table, stacking dishes, rinsing, washing up and putting away).

UNIT 5: Home and Personal Care

• care of room (e.g. making the bed, airing, tidying up and dusting/vacuum/cleaning)

• care of clothes (e.g. washing, hanging, folding, putting clothes away)

• appropriate selection of clothing for special activities (e.g. gardening, exercise, dinner outings)

• personal hygiene (e.g. showering, bathing, hand cleaning, use of personal hygiene products)

• personal preventative health strategies (e.g. exercise, nutrition, basic health care).

UNIT 6: Home Safety and Hazard Identification

• smoke alarm and fire alarm

• what to do in an emergency (e.g. fire escape route, emergency use of 000)

• fire drills (real or simulated)

• fire blankets

• seeking help if injured, unsafe, or needing assistance

• identifying household hazards

• general household safety (e.g. locking doors after exit, use of night lights, key control, visitor identification).

NOTATION ON EVIDENCE OF LEARNING

Some of the criteria standard elements (see below) use the terms ‘identify’ or ‘describe’.

In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘identification’ might be done via methods such as:

• correctly selecting from a given list

• correctly selecting from a set of images

• correctly naming from memory or after consulting a source such as the internet.

‘Selecting’ might be done by methods such as: pointing; nodding; circling with a pen; or matching (e.g. picture with corresponding name card).

In the context of this preliminary level course, ‘describing’ might be done via methods such as:

• an oral description

• a written description (e.g. a word list of characteristics)

• a series of actions

• a series of images with simple written notations.

Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course. Therefore, assessment for summative reporting to TASC will focus on what both teacher and learner understand to reflect end-point achievement.

The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating of ‘C’ (satisfactory standard) according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course document.

A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating. The ‘t’ notation is not described in course standards.

A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.

Providers offering this course must participate in quality assurance processes specified by TASC to ensure provider validity and comparability of standards across all awards. To learn more, see TASC's quality assurance processes and assessment information.

Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Assessment processes must gather evidence that clearly shows the match between individual learner performance, the standards of the course and the learner’s award. Providers will report the learner’s rating for each criterion to TASC.

The following process will be facilitated by TASC to ensure there is:

• a match between the standards of achievement specified in the course and the skills and knowledge demonstrated by learners

• community confidence in the integrity and meaning of the qualification.

Process – Each provider is responsible for ensuring the integrity and validity of their assessment results against the requirements of the course, including standards, and for maintaining records and documentation that will demonstrate the integrity, accuracy and validity of the award decisions they make each year.

Where TASC identifies sufficient potential for concern about the integrity or validity of a provider’s award decisions it will undertake an investigation. After such an investigation is completed, TASC may take action under Section 33 of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification Act 2003 as it considers appropriate, including but not limited to:

• giving the school/college a direction in relation to the provision or assessment of the course (section 33 (2))

• refusing to accept results for this course from the provider (section 33 (4)).

The assessment for Prepare for Life will be based on whether the learner can:

• 1. demonstrate basic skills in working safely with materials and tools
• 2. use a range of information technology equipment
• 3. apply basic skills needed to safely use a range of home appliances and equipment
• 4. use basic skills in food preparation
• 5. maintain personal hygiene and home cleanliness
• 6. recognise potential hazards and home safety procedures

Prepare to Live Independently (with the award of):

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)

The minimum requirements for an award in Prepare to Live Independently are as follows:

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT (SA)
5 ‘C’ ratings

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT (PA)
4 ‘C ratings

The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment.

In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.

Requests for amendments to an accredited course will be forwarded by Curriculum Services to the Office of TASC for formal consideration.

Such requests for amendment will be considered in terms of the likely improvements to the outcomes for learners, possible consequences for delivery and assessment of the course, and alignment with Australian Curriculum materials.

A course is formally analysed prior to the expiry of its accreditation as part of the process to develop specifications to guide the development of any replacement course.

Version 1 – Accredited on 2 April 2014 for use in 2015 to 2018. This course replaces Prepare to Live Independently (PRE012310) that expired on 31 December 2014.

Version 1.a  – Minor amendments to course content and criteria standards, and change of title to Prepare for Life. 21 December 2017.