Holmes Chapel
6th Form College
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School & Sixth Form College
Our Curriculum
Health & Social Care
Our Intent
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In BTEC Tech Award Health and Social Care our intent is to give students an insight into a variety of aspects of the health and social care environment, ranging from how the human develops from birth to death to different types of support that might be used, and to seeing how care values are expressed. The Health and Social Care course is a vocational qualification which takes an engaging, practical and inspiring approach to learning and assessment. The course equips students with an understanding of how to meet the needs of individuals using services and specialist equipment, whilst challenging stereotypes and discrimination.
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The study of care values is at the heart of Health and Social Care which develops skills such as empathy, compassion, commitment, tolerance and empowerment. This enables our students to become educated citizens and contributes to society in a positive way. The curriculum within Health and Social Care supports the ethos within the school as the subject is broad, balanced and relevant to the needs of students and employers. The course is designed so that the units build upon each other as the students grow in confidence, leading to an external synoptic assessment. This allows the students to embed their knowledge whilst giving opportunities to put into practice what they learn. It also helps students to develop their technical skills, which they can apply to real life scenarios through case studies and, where possible, local community contexts.
​Health and Social Care is an option which students can select at KS5. Our intent is to provide a fluid and dynamic knowledge rich curriculum, which gives learners access and opportunity to progress to higher education when taken as part of a programme of study that includes other appropriate BTEC Nationals or A Levels. The course is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively developing knowledge and competencies facilitating a wide variety of opportunities in and out of health and social care. Furthermore, our students develop transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, research and analysis, which are valued in both higher education and the workplace.
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Our Implementation
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The implementation of the BTEC Tech Award Health and Social Care will provide a wide range of learning experiences which are accessible to students of all abilities. This involves group work opportunities, clearly differentiated tasks, report writing through internal assessments and examination techniques for external assessments and controlled assessments. Aspirational teaching encourages students to complete tasks above target grade and emphasises, where possible, the importance of real world experiences through trips and visitors. At Level 2, the internally assessed units are designed to promote deep learning through ensuring the connection between knowledge and practice. The content is split into 3 components, as follows
Component 1 – Human Lifespan Development
Component 2 – Health and Social Care Services and Values
Component 3 – Health and Wellbeing
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In the BTEC National units there are opportunities during the teaching and learning phase to give learners practice in developing employability skills. Where employability skills are referred to in this specification, we are generally referring to skills in the following three main categories:
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cognitive and problem-solving skills: use critical thinking, approach non-routine problems applying expert and creative solutions, use systems and technology
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intrapersonal skills: communicating, working collaboratively, negotiating and influencing, self-presentation
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interpersonal skills: self-management, adaptability and resilience, self-monitoring and development. There are also specific requirements in some units for assessment of these skills where relevant, for example, where learners are required to undertake real or simulated activities.
​The Impact
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The BTEC Tech Award Health and Social Care curriculum has a positive impact on the outcomes of every student. It raises awareness of different needs and the range of services available. It promotes good health which will provide life-long benefits to themselves and their families. It has a high success rate in terms of academic results and destinations of students with a consistently high number of students exceeding expectations. Finally, students express their enjoyment within the subject and consistently engage and participate in all activities given.
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Level 3 Health and Social Care provides transferable knowledge and skills that prepare learners for progression to university. The transferable skills that universities value include:
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the ability to learn independently
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the ability to research actively and methodically
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being able to give presentations and being active group members.
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BTEC learners can also benefit from opportunities for deep learning where they are able to make connections among units and select areas of interest for detailed study. BTEC Nationals provide a vocational context in which learners can develop the knowledge and skills required for particular degree courses, including:
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reading technical texts
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effective writing
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analytical skills
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preparation for assessment methods used in degrees.
Examination Board
The examination board for this subject is Pearson EdExcel.
