Health and Social Care
About 3 million people in the UK work in health and social care, which is equivalent to 1 in every 10 people. Demand for both health and social care is likely to continue to rise due to the ageing population, so it is sure to continue to play a key role in UK society. The demand for people to fill these vital jobs will continue to increase. Our rationale is to provide a fluid and dynamic knowledge rich KS4 and KS5 option curriculum, which gives learners, access and progress to KS5 and beyond. The courses are coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning whilst building on their own experiences of Child Development and Health and Social Care. Students will ascertain research skills, using primary and secondary methods providing reliable evidence to use for supportive and critical arguments. These skills are developed through the Key stage 4 in preparation for the application of the higher order thinking skills, evaluation and analysis required for KS5.
At Key Stage 4 students have the opportunity to study BTEC Child Development.
The intention of BTEC Child Development is to ensure that each student has the opportunity to explore a wide variety of topics that underpin the skills and qualities needed for a multitude of future careers within the child care/health sector. The skills and knowledge acquired within this course will equip students to give the best possible care for people under their supervision, whether this be as a nursery nurse, primary teacher, speech and language therapist, midwife or social worker (to name but a few).
This KS4 course allows the students explore the key characteristics of early childhood growth and development from birth to five years across the developmental areas. Students will be able to develop knowledge, understanding and technical skills by planning, developing and adapting play opportunities suitable for young children across the five areas of development.
Students will gain experience on a range of topics that are important to the early years, such as the importance of play and how child-friendly environments help to support this. The students will be learning about societal influences, which enables students to gain a real insight into all of the challenges, excitement, considerations and responsibility surrounding children’s development. It was Maria Montessori that said: “Early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society”, and by studying Child Development students will be passionate about the early education of children.
At Key Stage 5 students have the opportunity to study BTEC Health and Social Care.
The intention of BTEC Health and Social Care is to ensure that each student can understand the wide range of opportunities within the field, as well as preparing students for future employment or university pathways.
This KS5 course takes an engaging, practical and inspiring approach to learning and assessment. The course equips students with a sound, specialist and realistic understanding of how to meet the needs of individuals using services and specialist equipment, whilst challenging stereotypes and discrimination. The study of care values is at the heart of Health and Social Care which develops skills such as empathy, compassion, commitment, tolerance and empowerment. This enables our students to become educated citizens and contributes to society in a positive way.
Students learn how people grow and develop over the course of their lives from infancy to later adulthood, the factors that may affect this, such as predictable and unpredictable events. Students will analyse this impact from a positive and negative viewpoint, demonstrating empathy and applying knowledge through the use of case studies. The curriculum allows students to secure skills for their social development, through culture capital content understanding how people are individual and can adapt to changes using local and national health and social care support.
The curriculum within Health and Social Care supports the ethos within the school as the subject is broad, balanced and relevant to the needs of students and employers. The curriculum challenges students to think abstractly, work collaboratively and problem solve to develop curiosity and the desire for knowledge. The course is designed so that the units build upon each other as the students grow in confidence. This allows the students to embed their knowledge whilst giving opportunities to put into practice what they learn. This ensures they develop their technical skills, which they can they apply to real life scenarios through case studies and local community contexts.
