Red Kite Learning Trust School

office@rs.rklt.co.uk

01423 564444

View navigation

Rossett - Sixth Form Boys chatting - Oct 24

Learning

Curriculum

Extra-curricular

Support

Drag to scroll

You are here: Home > Learning > Curriculum > Health and Social Care

Health and Social Care

'We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.’  Ronald Reagan (President of the USA 1981-1989) 

Curriculum Principles 

The quotation above summarises the purpose of a subject like Health and Social Care. Modern society is ever evolving in terms of ‘societal norms’, however human development and how we treat and care for one another continues to be at its core. Health and Social Care equips our students to discover the impact of positive and negative human development and how to critically analyse how these factors affect our da- to-day lives. Furthermore, it highlights how human relationships, physical environments and socioeconomic status may influence how they develop.   

The aim of our Health and Social Care curriculum is not only to provide our students with an in-depth and powerful knowledge of a broad range of topics concerning health and social care, but also to increase their awareness and understanding of a diverse range of current issues and events to broaden and contextualise their learning. In so doing, this prepares them for a variety of careers within the sector and beyond. This enables students to explore academically and practically areas that influence how we develop throughout life stages and in turn raise expectations of how we can live successful and healthy lives now and in our future. Health and Social Care promotes opportunities for students to draw from real life experiences and case studies, and it provides opportunities to undertake research to compliment learning and create skills that will be used throughout both their professional and personal lives, such as the ability to express empathy and understanding towards people with a diverse range of human needs. These skills encourage our students to think outside typical teenage ego-centrism and begin to challenge the way they perceive the world we live in.  

Curriculum Features  

The features and design of this curriculum map are based on research in to Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction2 and work by Tom Sherrington – Rosenshine and Curriculum: What’s the connection? Three Fundamentally, Health and Social Care is a knowledge rich curriculum (within a specific vocational context).

Students are provided with the opportunity to develop sector-specific knowledge and skills through studying BTEC Health and Social Care at KS4 and KS5. There is significant overlap between topics in Health and Social Care, with subjects exploring different aspects of human growth and development across a lifespan, the provision of health and social care services and the application of care values in meeting the needs of a diverse range of individuals. So, we deliver this at Rossett School through a spiral approach to the curriculum which focuses on ensuring that student’s knowledge is built through a cyclical process whereby each time they revisit a topic, we develop student’s schemas further by building on prior knowledge to learn the subject in a deeper and more complex level within its new context.  Interleaving and regular retrieval practise and questioning is integral to the delivery in supporting students to embed their learning. 

Additionally, student’s prior learning or experience in this subject is often very generic, for example everyone has experienced using health care services, but they couldn’t explain about the structure of the NHS and how the other sectors are an integral and indispensable feature of health care provision in the UK. So, topic sequencing, and modelling is carefully considered to support deeper learning.   

The Health and Social Care Curriculum at KS4 and KS5 is based around the vocational curriculum route. The schemes of work and specifications outline the parameters of the subject content in both courses. At KS4 the BTEC Tech Award supports the development of the foundational knowledge that underpins the effective use of skills, processes and attitudes vital to progression in Health and Social Care. Learners who achieve at Level 2 can progress to the level 3 BTEC Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care. At KS5, students typically opt to study subjects such as A level Sociology and/or Psychology alongside Health and Social Care. The natural links between these subjects in Social Science are beneficial in supporting student’s wider development and help to prepare them to enter employment, apprenticeships or to move on to higher education. 

Career Relevance   

About three million people in the UK work in health and social care, that is equivalent to 1 in every 10 people.  1.48 million people currently work in the social care sector. Because of the increasing number of disabled younger adults living longer and the growing number of older people needing care, adult social care is growing, and the sector needs at least another half a million jobs, and people to do them, by 20305. LMI for the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding regions, shows the population is forecast to grow by 7.7% between 2014-2039. Currently, 31% of all vacancies are hard to fill, of which 68% are because of skills shortages.6 The demand for people to fill these vital jobs outweighs the number of people available to do them.  

Most recently this has been compounded by the increased need for staff in times of crisis (such as in a pandemic).  As demand for both health and social care services continues to rise, our rationale is to provide a fluid and dynamic knowledge rich KS4 option curriculum, which inspires learners, and provides access and progression to KS5 and beyond.   By studying Health and Social Care, students develop key transferable skills and knowledge which opens doorways to a huge number of careers across the sector both locally and nationally.   

Health and Social Care Curriculum Sequencing Rationale

Curriculum Maps

Year 12 and 13 Heath and Social Care

Rossett - Sixth Form Girls chatting - Oct 24

Rossett Sixth Form - Mr Keyworth Sat with Students - 2023 (1)

Rossett School uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For optimal performance please accept cookies. For more information please visit our cookies policy.

Accept and close