Health and Social Care 

Intent

The intention of Health and Social Care is to ensure that each student has the opportunity to understand the wide range of opportunities within the field, as well as preparing students for future employment. The Health and Social Care course is a vocational qualification which 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.

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.

Implementation

The implementation of Health and Social Care will provide a wide range of learning experiences which are accessible to students of all abilities. This involves group work opportunities, clearly adapted tasks, report writing through internal NEA controlled assessments and examination technique for external assessments.

At Level 2, the internally assessed NEA units are designed to promote deep learning through ensuring the connection between knowledge and practice. Content involves the understanding and application of human growth and development, how people deal with life events, health and social care services, as well as a practical demonstration of care values through a creative and therapeutic activity. The externally assessed unit builds upon this and

We use a variety of teaching strategies, as well as utilising a range of resources to support progress.

The range of techniques allow for knowledge to become embedded within the long-term memory. Assessments are regular and frequent with recall tests at the beginning of lessons, end of topic tests and mock examinations to prepare students for formal assessment.

Impact

The Health and Social Care curriculum has a positive impact on the outcomes of every student. It raises awareness of different needs and the range of services available. It promotes good health which will provide life-long benefits on themselves and their families. It has a high success rate in terms of academic results and destinations of students with a consistently high number of students exceeding expectations. Finally, students express their enjoyment within the subject and consistently engage and participate in all activities given.