Course summary

As the need for health and social support services continues to develop, this course aims to support those who are currently working within the sector or aspiring to be part of this fascinating and ever-growing sector. The course supports those that are both returning and progressing within education, drawing on the links between theory and practice so that students not only develop their academic skills but are able to feature as key contributors to the local workforce. The content of the course is diverse to reflect the different elements of frontline community working and the challenges faced within the multi-disciplinary workforce. This course will encourage you to explore and share your lived experiences that will strengthen your understanding of the curriculum. Learning and teaching activities have been developed to support and encourage you to reflect on your own experiences, strengthening your understanding of subject content and its applicability to assessment. All modules draw on theoretical approaches to underpin the practical application within the workplace with assessments drawing on these practical experiences. In doing so, your personal, professional and academic skills will be enhanced enabling you to become an effective professional within the health and social care sector. Supportive class sizes and classroom-based learning allow for a collaborative and interactive learning experience to share in the experiences of peers and tutors, resulting in individualised learning. You will be encouraged to be an active participant in your own learning. Through a range of approaches to learning and teaching you will be encouraged to ask questions, investigate problems, propose solutions and adopt a critical approach to your practice – qualities which are essential in the delivery of high quality health and social care. We will empower you with the tools, methods and thinking processes to read and evaluate current research, stimulating curiosity about evidence-based practice and you will be supported to develop as a self-directed learner. The course will support workplace practices and real-world contexts, preparing you for the challenges of independent and team work, and developing skills that will help you to succeed in the workplace. You will experience creative, engaging and meaningful assessment tasks which contribute to your ongoing development as a critical thinker and as a life-long learner. Assessments will build on each other and grow in complexity, enabling you to see the connections across modules and years. The course adopts a spiral curriculum which means that you will see some topics revisited increasing in complexity promoting more advanced applications of areas previously covered, thereby increasing your proficiency and expertise. Your new learning will build upon previous learning to reinforce what you already know and to support you to develop competence and confidence. Teaching and learning has been developed in ensuring constructive alignment across the programme through the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) providing students with the opportunity to build on existing knowledge and engage in higher-thought.