The Aims of the Department
- To give students with an interest in Health and Social Care the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of this sector, its skills and techniques, values and employment opportunities.
- To encourage students to achieve their potential by using a variety of teaching and learning strategies and having high expectations for achievement.
- To encourage a classroom culture in line with the value base of care which emphasises respect for others, supporting them through good communication skills, raising self-esteem and confidence, empowering individuals and avoiding discriminatory behaviour.
- Emphasis is on the application of knowledge to actual care settings and learning through visits, case studies, role plays and simulations.
- To develop the opportunity for students to undertake work experience as part of their course.
As a vocational subject Health and Social Care enables students to:
- Find out more about an area of work that interests them
- Develop independence in learning through planning and carrying out their own research for coursework
- Take part in work experience, work shadowing or visits
- To build confidence and social skills
- To develop an awareness of the caring values and employability skills necessary for work
- To take fewer exams and produce more portfolio work than in traditional GCSE courses.
Key Stage 4
GCSE Double Award in Health and Social Care
This is a 2 year course which students may choose as an option when they make their GCSE choices in year 9.
It is equivalent to 2 GCSE passes.
Three units are studied over the two years:
- Unit 1 – Health, Social Care and Early Years Provision
- Unit 2 – Promoting Health and Well-Being
- Unit 3 – Understanding Personal Development and Relationships
Unit 1 and 2 are assessed by portfolio and unit 3 by examination.
Key Stage 5
GNVQ Health and Social Care Intermediate
This is offered in Year 12 and is equivalent to 4 GCSE passes at Grade C or above.
Six units are completed over one year:
- Unit 1 – Health, Social care and Early Years Services
- Unit 2 – Promoting Health and Well-Being
- Unit 3 – Understanding Personal Development
- Unit 4 – Nutrition and Food Hygiene
- Unit 8 – The Development and Care of Children
- Unit – Introduction to Human Body Systems
Units 3 and 10 are assessed by examination and the remaining units by portfolio.
Students who pass this qualification may go on to an Advanced course or to employment in the Health and Social Care sector, possibly working to NVQ level 2 and above.
This course will be run for the last time in 2006/2007 and will be replaced by the BTEC First Diploma in Health and Social Care.
AS/A2 Applied Health and Social Care
There are 3 AS units in Year 12. Unit 1 is externally assessed while units 2 and 3 are coursework.
Unit 1 – Effective Caring
This will cover:
- life quality factors
- treating people well
- caring skills and techniques
- services
- access to services
- rights and responsibilities of service users
- risks and safe working
Unit 2 – Effective Communication
This involves:
- types of communication
- communication difficulties and strategies to overcome these
- barriers to communication
- factors affecting the effectiveness of communication skills
- communication when working in teams
- clients and care settings
- feedback research
Unit 3 – Health, Illness and Disease
This will cover:
- concepts of health and ill health
- Factors affecting health and well-being
- Immunisation against disease
- The value of screening
In Year 13 three A2 units will be studied to complete the A level qualification.
Unit 11 – Working in Health and Social Care
This will cover:
- employment sectors
- roles and conditions
- meeting individual needs
- legislation
- quality assurance
- interview techniques
- ethical precautions
Unit 12 – Human Development ; Factors and Theories
Topics:
- factors affecting development
- theories of cognitive development
- theories of personality development
Unit 21 – Research Methods and Perspectives
This involves:
- methods
- sampling
- ethical issues
- data processing and presentation
Unit 12 is the examined unit and the other two units are coursework.
