About 3 million people in the UK work in the health and social care sector, that is equivalent to 1 in every 10 people. Demand for both health and social care is liable to continue to rise due to the ageing population, so it is undisputable that it plays a key role in UK society. The demand for people to fill these vital careers will therefore continue to increase. The Health and Social care department will nurture you through your journey to develop your resilience, expression, and independence, growing into wellrounded individuals to succeed in today’s diverse society. Complimenting other subjects’ and the wider school, you will experience and study a vast range of Health and Social Care topic areas requiring them to demonstrate maturity and respect for others, coupled with high expectations means you will aspire to excellence. You will become confident and fully prepared to manage their emotions for the many challenges and opportunities they face for their health and well-being, preparing them for life and inspiring them to work in Modern Britain.

KS4

Our intent is to provide a fluid and dynamic knowledge rich KS4 option curriculum, which gives you, access, and progress to KS5 and beyond. The course is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning whilst building on their experiences of SMSC. During year 9, you will engage in several mini projects to begin with around a variety of different contemporary issues in health and social care inspiring curiosity for further knowledge. You 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 in preparation for the application of the higher order thinking skills, evaluation and analysis required for KS5. Additionally, you benefit from experienced guest speakers from the local community to extend lessons beyond the classroom and support work related learning. This enables you to have a breadth of specialism outside of the course specification, giving them a real vocational experience. You 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. You will analyse this impact from a positive and negative viewpoint, demonstrating empathy and applying knowledge using case studies. The curriculum allows you 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.

KS5

To support fluidity, the curriculum taught at KS5 is provided by the same awarding body as KS4. It does not limit progression options because the skills acquired are applicable to a range of future pathways. You will research health and social care services in the local community. You will look at how people access the local health and social care services provided and the support that is given in the local community. You will be given the opportunity to demonstrate and apply the key care values to scenarios. You will develop skills in measuring and interpreting data about someone’s physiological health to design a care plan that will allow them to analyse and improve their health and wellbeing. Overall, you should be given the opportunity to self-reflect about choices they make and how they affect others. You may be given the opportunity to visit and take part in work experience in a variety of setting such as pre-schools, primary schools, and nursing homes. It will also be an intention to raise student aspirations by developing key links with universities for all you. You will also be able to draw on the knowledge and skills acquired from other GCSE subjects where relevant. You can use the knowledge and skills from GCSEs generally, giving you the opportunity to apply your academic knowledge to everyday and work contexts.