Curriculum Intent

At Ferryhill School, our intent for Health & Social Care is to provide students with an engaging and meaningful understanding of people, health, development, care and wellbeing, while developing the knowledge, skills and personal qualities needed for further study, employment and adult life.

Health and social care affects everyone at different stages of their lives. Through the BTEC Tech Award, students explore real-life situations and consider how individuals grow and develop, how life experiences can affect us, and how health and social care professionals support people to live healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.

Our curriculum is designed to help students understand the importance of compassion, dignity, respect, communication and person-centred care. Students are encouraged to consider the needs, wishes and circumstances of different individuals and to recognise that effective care should value each person as an individual.

Across the course, students develop their understanding of three key areas:

Human Lifespan Development – students explore physical, intellectual, emotional and social development across the life stages. They examine the different factors and life events that can influence development and consider how resilience, relationships and different sources of support can help people cope with change.

Health and Social Care Services and Values – students learn about the range of health and social care services available to individuals, the barriers that may prevent people from accessing support, and the skills, attributes and values required when providing care.

Health and Wellbeing – students bring together knowledge from across the course to explore factors affecting health and wellbeing, interpret health and lifestyle indicators, and make realistic, person-centred recommendations to improve an individual's health.

The curriculum is sequenced so that students build knowledge over time. Learning in each component supports what comes next, allowing students to make connections between human development, care services and health and wellbeing.

Alongside subject knowledge, we want students to develop transferable skills including communication, organisation, problem solving, observation, analysis, evaluation and the ability to apply knowledge to real-life situations. Students are encouraged to become increasingly confident and independent learners who can justify their ideas and make informed decisions.

Health & Social Care also supports our school values of Integrity, Creativity and Excellence. Students demonstrate integrity by considering the importance of ethical, respectful and compassionate care; creativity by responding to different individuals and situations; and excellence by continually developing the quality and depth of their knowledge and written work. These values reflect Ferryhill School's wider commitment to developing students who are prepared for their next steps.

The course is particularly valuable for students interested in careers such as nursing, midwifery, social work, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, teaching, childcare, paramedicine, medicine and other health, care and community professions, but the knowledge and transferable skills developed are valuable in many different career pathways.

Ultimately, we want students studying Health & Social Care at Ferryhill School to leave the course with a greater understanding of themselves, other people and the society in which they live, as well as the confidence, knowledge and ambition to take their next steps successfully.