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Learning for Life and Work With the launch of the Revised Curriculum in September 2007 “Learning for Life and Work” became statutory for Forms I and IV. What is Learning for Life and Work? Young people need to prepare for the demands of life and work as individuals, as contributors to society and in the context of an ever-changing local and global economy. Helping them to achieve this requires an emphasis on acquiring transferable skills and capabilities to produce more effective and flexible life-long learners. Learning for Life and Work ensures that pupils have the opportunity not only to develop these skills but also:
Aspects of Learning for Life and Work, not necessarily under that label, have already taken place in the primary school. At RSD we feel that is important to build on this excellent work as soon as the pupils reach grammar school. At Key Stage 3
Learning for Life
and Work consists of four strands: - Home Economics Currently LLW is taught to Form I pupils, however next year it will be studied by Forms I and II and in 2009/10 all three junior forms will take this subject. The Home Economics strand is taught by specialist teachers with Form I pupils having three periods (105 min) of Food Technology (FT) per week. Additionally pupils are timetabled for one period of LLW each week. The remaining three strands, Citizenship, Employability and Personal Development are taught in this period using the carousel model; therefore each strand is taught for approximately 11 weeks. During Key Stage 3 pupils will cover the following topics: Local and Global Citizenship Key Concepts - Diversity and Inclusion: considering diversity in societies and identifying the challenges and opportunities which diversity and inclusion present. - Human Rights and Social Responsibility: understanding that a globally accepted values base exists that reflects the rights and responsibilities of individuals and groups in democratic society. - Equality and Social Justice: understanding the need to safeguard individual and collective rights. - Democracy and active participation: understanding how to participate in and influence democratic processes and to be aware of some key democratic institutions.
Employability Key Concepts - Career management: the changing concept of career, lifelong learning and the development of skills for work. - Work in the local and global economy: the changing nature of work and the impact of global interdependence. - Enterprise and entrepreneurship: the need for creativity, enterprise and innovation. Personal development Key Concepts - Self-awareness: considering the importance of self confidence and self esteem to physical and emotional/mental health throughout life. - Relationships: recognising and managing factors that may influence physical and emotional/mental health throughout life. - Personal health: forming and maintaining relationships to physical and emotional/mental health throughout life.
Home Economics Key Concepts - Healthy eating: developing the understanding required in the choice, planning, storage, preparation, cooking and serving of food. - Family life: understanding the importance of the family as a caring unit. - Independent Living: becoming discerning consumers and effective managers of resources. At Key Stage 4
Learning for Life
and Work consists of three strands:
(N.B. Although Home Economics is one of the strands of Learning for Life and Work at Key Stage 3, it is not included at Key Stage 4.) Currently Form IV pupils are timetabled for one period of LLW each week. The three strands are taught in this period using the carousel model, with each strand receiving an equal division of time over the two years of Key Stage 4. Since pupils will be making subject/course choices during for Form V, they will receive the majority of their Employability (incorporating Career Planning) lessons in Form Five. While the programme for Learning for Life and Work is being given specific timetabled time it is quite obvious that all other areas of the curriculum contribute to the process of preparing young people for the world of work and for the decisions and experiences they will face in later life. The knowledge and skills developed through subjects play a vital part in helping pupils to develop the knowledge and skills which will lay the foundations for the world of work. In addition, pupils, by participating in other experiences such as sports teams, choirs, debating, dramatic productions for example, will be enhancing their self-confidence and ability to work in a team.
Outside agencies are used to deliver aspects of Learning for Life and Work on days/sessions when the timetable is collapsed. Some activities that have taken place during the present school year include: · Big School Day – run by Young Enterprise NI for Form I · Globalisation Day – run by BEP for some Form II pupils · Relationship Talk – run by Love for Life for Form II · Economics of Staying In School – run by Young Enterprise NI for Form III · Careers Insight Day – run by BEP for some Form III pupils · Drugs Talk – by Jackie Burke for Form IV · RAF Presentation – for Form V · Icebergs and Babies – run by Love for Life for Form V Numerous concepts of Learning for Life and Work are addressed by Form Teachers (in Form Assembly and also through target setting and pupil interviews), through House Activities and Major Assemblies, as well as being covered in the General Learning Areas. Whole School Projects, such as “Anti-Bullying Week” and the Annual Funfair have an important part to play.
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