Health & Social Care

The purpose of Health and Social care in the school setting is to guide students through a course which covers a broad range of the health and social care settings that we are so proud of in the UK. This varies from understanding the principles that health care professionals live and work by, all the way up to students designing and carrying out their own creative and therapeutic activity to help support a target group of people in need. Students will gain theoretical and practical knowledge of some of the processes in our healthcare and social care systems.

Health and Social care requires a range of personal and academic skills which are developed through the course. Students need to have empathy and compassion and be able to consider the needs and viewpoints of others. They will learn how to be objective and professional, even in scenarios where they may be working with people they disagree with. They will develop their extended writing and independent learning skills through the completion of the two coursework units of the course.

Outside of school, there are a clear range of fields that appreciate a student having studied Health and Social Care. Students often go into NHS apprenticeships, early years education settings, private healthcare, social care and charity work.

The OCR Cambridge Nationals syllabus has been chosen because of its accessibility to a wide range of students, and the inclusion of a practical-based coursework activity is a good introduction to some aspects of healthcare for students wanting to work in those fields.

At STFS, lessons include PowerPoint presentations by a teacher with experience in the health and social care field. Students will work on their Chromebooks within a folder that can be monitored by the teacher for live feedback. Lessons initially focus on the delivery of content, followed by completion of exam board issued assignments, and the exam unit is delivered in Year 11. The course is compensatory, which means that any points gained in the coursework units go towards an overall grade at the end.

Each coursework component is worth 30% of the overall grade, whilst the exam unit is worth 40%.

The first coursework unit is R033: Supporting individuals through life events. This involves understanding the impact various life events can have on individuals’ physical, intellectual, emotional and social development.

This is followed by R034: Creative and therapeutic activities. Within this unit, students will design and carry out a creative activity of their choice to other students in the class, and will judge their own performance and respond to feedback as part of the coursework report.

The final unit is R032: Principles of care in health and social care settings. This is a 1hr15minute exam (70 marks) which covers the roles, rights and responsibilities of those working and living in health and social care settings.

Even if students aren’t planning to work in the health and social care field when they leave school, this course is ideal for teaching empathy and understanding about how one of our most important national institutions functions, as well as the challenges that people working in it face. It promotes independent thinking, time management and confidence through the variety of topics studied.