Health & Social Care

The recent emergence of Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of Health & Social Care and the vital role that all those involved play in keeping us safe. Health care roles include doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, while social care roles include social workers, care assistants, occupational therapists, counsellors and administrators. Together, they account for nearly one in ten of all paid jobs in the UK. The demand for health and social care workers has risen sharply as a consequence of Covid-19, and is likely to continue to do so. This subject provides pathways into a wide variety of career options including nursing, teaching and education, social care, and provides access to numerous apprenticeships and study options within the NHS.

In Health and Social Care, we aim to ensure that each student has the opportunity to understand the wide range of opportunities within the field, as well as preparing them for future employment. The Health and Social Care course is a vocational qualification that takes an engaging, practical and inspiring approach to learning and assessment. The course equips students with a 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 who contribute 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 use problem solving to develop curiosity and the desire for knowledge.

The course is designed so that the units build upon each other as students grow in confidence. This allows 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 then apply to real life scenarios through case studies and local community contexts.

In Health and Social Care, students will cover the content on a topic basis. The content is delivered through presentations and class discussions, with extensive use of questioning to help the pupils relate the content to real life situations. Students will then use this - and independent research - to record their understanding of the topic in their assessment document. Recall will be used throughout to ensure students remember previous work, but also to give them the chance to make connections between the different areas. Once the content has been covered, students will then apply their knowledge to complete the exam board assessment task.

In Component 2 pupils will use their knowledge to complete a role play to demonstrate how they would react in a real life situation.

The effectiveness of curriculum implementation is measured by student progress; progress means knowing, remembering and producing more and is the direct result of excellent learning.

To track progress, we follow a three layered assessment structure.

High Stake Testing

High quality summative assessments (twice or three times a year) interleave knowledge and skills to support students in developing long-term memory. Stand-alone lessons ensure that students reflect and respond to teacher feedback.

Mid Stake Testing

Typically purposeful practice tasks completed independently in lessons at least twice per half-term. These tasks are used to identify learning gaps prior to high stake testing. Students receive personalised written feedback to which they respond in lessons.

Low Stake Testing

To embed knowledge in long-term memory, every lesson starts with students quizzed on prior knowledge (Do Now Tasks). Student performance is then used effectively by teachers to identify misconceptions and plan accordingly to narrow knowledge gaps.