Student & ParentPortal

21Nov

Curriculum Intent

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease.”

— World Health Organisation

Health and Social Care at Newark Academy aims to provide students with the opportunities and experiences to develop a deep understanding of the broad range of services that make up the health, social care and childcare sectors that exist in the UK today. The subject is often chosen with the misconception that health and social care comprises of looking after the elderly, or helping people to recover from physical illness, however, as the World Health Organisation seek to clarify, the sector has a strong underpinning responsibility for the physical, mental and social wellbeing of a vast array of individuals in our society. There are clear links with the KS3 science, PSHE and RS curriculums and these can serve as a platform for choosing the subject, applying current knowledge to this new subject area and developing new concepts throughout the course. A strong student-teacher relationship is built through a respectful working environment offering a safe space for students to discuss often sensitive and personal matters as we aim to tackle societal issues around the provision of care and inequalities in our health and social care system.

Our aim is for students to complete their course feeling knowledgeable, ambitious and keen to make a strong and positive contribution to the world around them. An excellent health and social care student will use the tools they acquire in the subject to make positive life choices and to challenge views that they feel are unethical or discriminatory. The emotive nature of the subject seeks to ensure that our students develop emotional intelligence to view situations objectively, through logical sequencing of ideas and careful consideration to opposing views and experiences of those around them. Our students will leave Health and Social Care as inquisitive, reflective and compassionate practitioners who are keen to use their skills in a broad range of careers either within the sector or beyond.

The course has a strong theoretical base, coupled with opportunities to apply theory to practice. This enables us to ensure that health and social care is given the academic rigour it deserves through a carefully constructed curriculum that ensures students are engaged, challenged and inspired to pursue a career within the sector as they move into adulthood. Students are encouraged to become experts in a broad range of aspects across the health and social care sector, through exposure to topics such as:

Individual rights
Human lifespan development
Developing effective communication
Body systems and disorders
Basic first aid

These topics are built around the care values of promoting equality and diversity, maintaining confidentiality and promoting individual rights and beliefs. Students will access a range of tools to secure their learning both in the classroom and through external opportunities such as work placements within the sector where learning can come to life. These will provide invaluable opportunities to cement their learning and experience the sector first hand.

Health and Social Care offers crucial life skills given the inevitability of our students and their families accessing and encountering any one of the services that we study during their lifetime. By providing our students with the opportunity to study such a motivating and powerful curriculum, or students will leave Health and Social Care at Newark Academy fully equipped with the skills, knowledge and understanding to be a tenacious, effective and compassionate practitioner, ready to embark on further study, or a successful career in an expansive, diverse and exciting sector.