The Health and Social Care curriculum fits with our whole school aims to enable students to gain an excellent understanding of Health and Social Care and be able to achieve high outcomes at the end of Year 11 and Year 13.
The Health and Social Care team is committed to providing a challenging BTEC Level 2 Tech Award curriculum to Year 10 and Year 11 students, as well as BTEC National AAQ Level 3 Extended Certificate to Year 12 and Year 13 Grange students via the Pearson exam board. The teachers within the programme deliver the courses with various methods of instruction suited to the Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form learner.
Key Stage 4
The Health and Social Care courses are to prepare students for further academic study, as well as for employment. The courses are vocational in nature and have a holistic, practical and well written approach to teaching, learning and assessment. The courses allow for students to gain an understanding of the health and social care sector, as well as understanding the various elements which impact our health and how we care for individuals in healthcare settings, and within the home. The courses enable students to develop curiosity of a new subject in their curriculum, as well as developing critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills, and allows them to further develop their collaboration and essay writing skills.
The courses enable students from all abilities and backgrounds to engage in the content. The teaching team encourages students to complete tasks above their target grades using extended writing tasks, assignment writing, controlled assessments, and different techniques of questioning.
At BTEC Level 2 students complete three components over the two years of the course, completing Component 1 in Year 10 and Components 2 and 3 in Year 11. The nature of the course allows for controlled assessments, as well as exams which compliments alongside the various other GCSE’s the students take. This course is 60% coursework via a controlled manner and 40% external examination. The content of the coursework involves the understanding of how physical, intellectual, emotional, and social aspects of life events, as well as growth and development impact our health.
Students will further investigate how health and social care services are implemented in the United Kingdom, as well as demonstrating how empowerment and care values impact service users and the general wider public. The external examination at the end of Year 11 builds upon the knowledge from the previous components by analysing these topics further, as well as bring in practical knowledge of health such as working out measurements of health (Pulse, BMI) and how to meet individual needs through care planning.
Students completing the BTEC Level 2 Tech Award in Health and Social Care can use the qualification for a wide variety of career paths such as healthcare assistant, care assistant, as well as for further study of the course at Level 3 in sixth form. The qualification can also be used as a basis for further study at A-Levels in a wide variety of subjects the Grange School offers such as Psychology, Sociology and Applied Science. The course is planned and sequenced in an appropriate manner for the benefit of the students within our school.
Key Stage 5
At BTEC Level 3, students complete four modules to achieve the extended certificate in Health and Social Care. This is equivalent to one A-Level. In Year 12, students complete the exam units Unit 1- Human and Lifespan Development and Unit 2- Human Biology and Health. In Year 13 they complete the coursework units; Unit 3- Principles of Health and Social Care Practice and Unit 5- Promoting Health Education.
Content of the course includes how human growth, and development occurs across the life stages, as well as the theoretical basis of child development and debates within Health and Social care, which intertwines with other psychological and sociological theories. Students will look at various lifestyle factors such as economic and social factors and how they can impact the care of individuals. The coursework units give a more applied approach in which students apply key theories and research in health and social care to case studies, in which students are expected to analyse and evaluate their understanding through an extended writing coursework assignment.
Students are supported throughout the course with experts in the field, by using up to date knowledge, as well as regular end of learning aim tests and interventions to increase the students’ grade averages, and expectations of high achievement at the end of the two-year course. Students are taught in a modular manner across the two years.
We use a variety of teaching methods which complement the vigorous study students at Sixth Form are expected to complete. The use of Active Learn to support learning via online mediums, as well as frequent recall and relay tests for the exam units provides students with a holistic understanding of Health and Social Care and prepares them for formal assessment throughout the course.
By completing a BTEC Level 3 AAQ Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care it enables students to seek further career opportunities in the area such as adult nurse, social worker care manager, physiotherapist etc. The health and social care qualifications provide a well-rounded vocationally rigorous qualification for future use; it forms a grounded basis for further study at university level in a variety of degrees, as well as for the world of work and their future careers.
Overall, the current rationale for both the Level 2 and Level 3 Health and Social Care courses is allow students to build confidence and bring understanding to this large sector of employment within UK society. The Health and Social Care teaching team builds knowledge and application of this very important subject to Key Stage 4 students, as well as Sixth Form students. By delivering the courses in the way that we do, we enable students to succeed within the department as well as complimenting their achievements in the rest of their subjects at the school.