COURSE: Work Studies

Leader of Learning: Ms Maria Casamento

2 units for each of Year 11 and Year 12

Content Endorsed Course

EXCLUSIONS:  Nil

Course Description:

The Work Studies Course is designed to provide substantial opportunities for students in Years 11 and 12 to gain knowledge, skills, values and attitude which facilitate school-to-work transition. Work in all its forms — paid and unpaid — plays a central role in our lives.  Thus an awareness of issues and concepts relate to the world of work, and the acquisition of work-related skills are valuable for all students irrespective of their post-school aspirations.

The course aims to:

• assist students to recognise the links between education, training, work and lifestyle and the economic and social facts that affect work opportunities.

• develop students' skills in accessing work-related information, presenting themselves to potential employers and functioning effectively in the workplace.

• equip students to make more informed decisions about their future study and employment pathways

• prepare students for a flexible approach to the rapidly changing nature of work and traditional patterns of work organisation 

• allow students to explore several areas of vocational interest.

• allow students to develop a range of skills and attitudes in actual workplace contents.

Core

The core topic, My Working Life, is compulsory. The core provides an introductory study of aspects of work and work-related skills which are then taken up in more detail in the course modules. The indicative time allocation for the core is 30 hours.

Course Modules

The course modules expand on the issues introduced in the core.  The course modules supplied are:

1. In the Workplace

2. Preparing Job Applications

3. Workplace Communication

4. Teamwork and Enterprise Skills

5. Managing Work and Life Commitments

6. Personal Finance

7. Workplace Issues

8. Self-Employment

9. Team Enterprise Project

10. Experiencing Work

11. School-Developed Module

Selection of course modules will depend on student interest, teacher expertise, available resources, intended depth of treatment and extent of workplace involvement.  Not all course modules are studied.

Throughout the course, there are four key themes

1. Career Planning

2. Performing Work Tasks

3. Working with Others

4. Managing Change

Course Requirements

Work Placement: This course has a practical orientation intended to allow students to develop a range of knowledge, skills and attitude in actual workplace contexts.

The structure of the course allows individual schools the flexibility to determine the proportion of course time a student will spend in the workplace and the nature of this experience.  The course and modules may involve integrated work placement, block work placement or may be taught from a classroom perspective supported by industrial visits and short term workplace investigation studies.

It is possible for students to undertake an extended work placement to allow for the development of specific job-related skills.  Students may also undertake detailed research activities in a work setting.

The value of these experiences is reinforced by the school-based components of the course, which provide both a knowledge base and the opportunity for structured reflection on workplace learning.