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Health & Social Care

Health and Social Care is an ever-growing workforce that employs approximately 3.4 million people in the UK alone. Demand for health, social and early years care will continue to rise with an ageing and increasing population and the workforce clearly plays a critical role in UK society.

We are passionate in providing our students with opportunities to develop into autonomous, resilient and compassionate learners who are prepared to succeed. Students cover a wide range of topics that provide them with an appreciation for the diverse nature of the population in the UK and the needs of vulnerable people; specialist knowledge and skills which can be used in caring careers, as well as research, essay writing and exam techniques which will support them in further education and in future careers.

Our curriculum aims to ensure that all students develop health and social care knowledge, conceptual understanding, exam and coursework skills and the Warlingham Learner attributes.  The curriculum is a progression model, through which the ‘big ideas’ are developed and built upon, as students develop their own schema for Health and Social Care.  Our big ideas or Core Concepts, through which all aspects of our subject can be linked to or explained by are:

The Core Concepts 

  • Health: the human body - its structure, functions and malfunctions
  • Care: how to protect and meet the needs of a diverse range of individuals
  • Wellbeing: fostering an understanding of how to empower and promote happiness, comfort and safety

key stage 4

Year 10

Essential values of care for use with individuals

  • Students learn about the relationship between practitioners and care users within care settings and how this enables effective care of individuals which leads to improved health and wellbeing. They learn that for effective care to take place, practitioners need to follow best practice and maintain the values of care which are informed by professional standards, guidelines & legislation. When best practice and the values of care are carried out, care user's rights are maintained and they are kept safe. 

Using basic first aid procedures

  • Students learn about how a first aider can deliver first aid to a casualty in order to keep care user's safe. These skills are vital to have when working in care to promote the health and wellbeing of individuals who may have suffered from a range of injuries. Students also learn skills that are required to be a reflective practitioner which is vital for effective care to take place.

Year 11

Communicating and working with individuals

  • Students learn about how to effectively communicate through a variety of means in order to provide effective care. They show how these communication techniques positively impact on a care user's health and wellbeing. They also identify factors that can positively influence communication to make it as effective as possible. Students also identify the personal qualities a practitioner must possess in order to deliver effective care.

Creative activities to support individuals

  • Students learn about a way in which care can be carried out in a variety of settings to meet the needs of individuals. These are a range of different types of creative activities which are designed to support and promote the health and wellbeing of care users. Students also continue to learn skills that are required to be a reflective practitioner which is vital for effective care to take place.

key stage 5

Year 12

Equality, diversity and rights

  • Students learn about the relationship between practitioners and care users within care settings and how this enables effective care of individuals which leads to improved health and wellbeing. For effective care to take place, practitioners need to follow best practice and maintain the values of care which are informed by professional standards, guidelines & legislation. When best practice and the values of care are carried out, care user's rights are maintained and they are cared for in an environment that promotes equality and diversity. 

Health, safety and security

  • Students learn about potential hazards, emergencies and abuse that have an impact on care user's, employee's and employer's wellbeing and health within care environments. They learn about legislation and safeguarding procedures and how these are enacted within care environments through policies and procedures to best support good working conditions and practices. They learn about the roles and responsibilities of employers, employees and individuals who require care and how this helps promote health and wellbeing of these different groups of people.

Anatomy and physiology

  • Students learn about the range of systems in the human body, their structure and function to support an individual's normal everyday function and health. Students are also introduced to a range of common malfunctions that individuals who require care may have and how these are cared for in order to support the health and wellbeing of individuals.

Year 13

Building positive relationships

  • In order to develop an understanding about how to best support an individual's health and wellbeing, students learn about all the types of relationships involved in the care of an individual -  between practitioners and the individuals themselves, but also the network of relationships that is established in order to deliver the best quality care for an individual. They learn about factors and contexts that help to build positive relationships and strategies of a person-centred approach and how this will support the building of positive relationships in care environments. They also learn to build their own effective communication skills for use within care environments to support the wellbeing of individuals.

​​​​​​​Sexual health, reproduction and early development

  • Students learn about how to best support and provide care for an individual's sexual, pre-natal and post-natal health and wellbeing, this includes learning about sexual consent, legislation that is in place to protect individuals, sexually transmitted infections, contraception and conception and the birth process. They also learn about the health, wellbeing and care of a foetus and baby in the first year of its life including developmental stages and the factors and services that will have an impact on the care and development of a baby.

Nutrition for health

  • Students learn about healthy eating, nutritional and diet guidelines, the functions of nutrients, nutritional requirements of individuals and factors which can influence on nutritional health. They work on providing specific nutritional care through evaluating an individual's diet and nutrition and develop a plan to improve this. They evaluate how the individual can sustain their diet plan and the implications of this on their health and wellbeing.