Health & Social Care (Vocational)

‘Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.’ The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

Health and social care workers are those who do care. They care about social injustices committed every day, across the globe - behind closed doors and out in the open. They are the ones who care enough to believe they can make the world a better place. But as the Dalai Lama said ‘It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act.’

The overarching ethos underpinning the curriculum is for students to develop a broad understanding of the diverse practices, settings and influential factors that make up and affect the Health and Social Care sector whilst providing students with the theoretical knowledge to develop further interest in a rewarding and fulfilling career where you can make a real difference in people’s lives.

At Harris Rainham Sixth Form our students study a Level 3 Cambridge Technical Extended Certificate in Health and Social Care. The Cambridge Technical ensures the students can engage in a course that challenges them academically yet is adaptable due to its units of study.  The freedom to select units ensures that provision is made on the context of the students that study the course. This provides consistency with the Key Stage 4 Curriculum through development of knowledge and understanding of key concepts and ideas allowing students to access higher education courses and work placements.

Around three million people work in health and social care. 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. Demand for both health and social care is likely to rise, so they will continue to play a key role in UK society and the demand for people to carry out these vital roles will increase. 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.

The Health and Social Care Dept at Harris Rainham aims:

• To provide an excellent grounding for students interested in careers in health, social care or childcare but also provides any student with a good preparation for adult life
• To actively engage students to support them to develop as effective and independent learners, whilst also helping them to develop a critical and analytical approach to problem solving, within the health, social care and early-years sectors
• Encourage students to examine issues that affect the nature and quality of human life, which includes an appreciation of diversity and cultural issues as well as understanding aspects of personal development
• Develop students understanding of the different health and social care services that exist and how people can gain access to them
• To allow students to gain competencies, such as empathy, as they develop an understanding of different situations that might affect care and investigate a range of health needs and barriers to care
• To ensure students learn about the fundamental care values within health and social care settings and how these care values help to ensure a high quality of care for the most vulnerable of service users

Year 12

In the first-year students are introduced and will build on knowledge and understanding relating to Discrimination, Equality and Diversity within health and social care within unit 2: Equality, Diversity and Rights in Health and Social Care. Students will consider strategies and approaches that practitioners working in health, social and childcare environments can use to promote equality, respect and diversity to protect the rights of individuals in their care.

As the students’ progress, they will develop the skills needed to research academically. Students can use these new skills in their other subjects studied in school as well as when they later in the year study Unit 1. This Unit is where students will begin to understand the different types of relationships there are in Health and Social Care settings. Students will also study in this unit what can affect the building of relationships for example communication, cultural, environmental, spiritual and physical factors.

Unit 1 compliments the learning of Unit 4 ready for the summer term when students sit their Unit 4 Anatomy exam; this exam is not just on how the body works but also what happens when things go wrong, for example following a diagnosis of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, asthma or osteoporosis. Students will learn what must be done to enable individuals to lead as full and independent a life as possible. Students will study how as care practitioners we can make that possible for example by the building of positive relationships.

By the end of Year 12 students will have completed 3 of the 6 Units. The term concludes by students developing an understanding of the how individuals are affected by Discrimination, Equality and Diversity within health and social care. The relationships that are built within Health and Social Care and how these impact the service provided to individuals.

Year 13

In their final year, students complete their final exam in the January which leaves extra time to concentrate on their other exam subjects for the summer of Year 13. Students start the year with unit 3 and are introduced to the Care Values and the concepts of Statutory, non-statutory and voluntary services. We begin the year studying Unit 3, preparing for the January exam. The students will learn in Unit 3 how to promote health and wellbeing for patients and service users by ensuring they are safe and have access to secure environments that provide protection from danger, risk or injury which promotes a sense of safety.

During Year 13 we will complete Unit 13: Sexual Health, Reproduction and Early Development Stages. This unit covers the difficult topics of sexual consent and rape. The final unit is one chosen by the students- a common choice, currently being studied this year by Year 13, is Unit 17, Supporting People with Mental Health Conditions, there is however flexibility to engage in a unit determined by the students, allowing for some autonomy and control over their own learning.  During unit 17 the students investigate possible ways and models of understanding the nature of mental health needs and how different factors come together in a complex way to influence the mental health of an individual. This Unit builds on the knowledge of anatomy gained during Unit 4 and a deeper understanding of discrimination studied in Units 2 and 3. There is also an opportunity for students to gain a First Aid qualification.

The two years of study will leave students well prepared for a life outside of school in a health and social care environment, whether that be at University or an apprenticeship or even in the workplace. Students leave the course with a highly developed sense of empathy and an understanding of how they are well placed to not only make their mark on the world but also, they will have the skills to improve and empower the life of another person.