First students graduate from innovative Health & Social Care programme

by the Health & Social Care Department

Three years ago, the Health & Social Care Department piloted an ambitious programme to replace the Level 2 qualification on offer. We developed the Health & Social Care Step Programme, to enable learners who would have studied at Level 2 the opportunity to complete a Level 3 qualification over three years. This aimed to support learners to make the transition to Level 3 study and support them over a three year period to attain the Level 3 Extended Diploma, which is equivalent to three A Levels. These were students who didn’t quite make the entry requirement for automatic Level 3 study.

Fast forward to the present day and we are saying goodbye to our first cohort of learners. We couldn’t be more proud! These learners achieved the most fantastic grades: 90% achieving Distinction/Distinction/Merit and over 55% earning Distinction/Distinction/Distinction and above. In addition, they have worked tirelessly to develop their professional skills and many people in our local community have benefited from their excellent care. 

A huge component of the course is work placements. These placements are a big learning curve and have really helped the students with developing their self-confidence. It gives them pride in their own achievements and abilities, and lets them know what they are truly capable of so that they can fulfil their career potential, whether that’s through university or a job role in the community. In fact,  two of the students have been employed by placements that they have worked for and supported over the last three years.

This is just some of the incredible feedback we’ve received from the organisations where our students have had placements:

“She has shown maturity, confidence and versatility and has a natural empathy and ability to work well with our service users. She has been adopted by our craft room unit and worked with our more challenging service users. Her appearance, time-keeping and professionalism has been 100%. She is sensitive to the needs of others and picks up tasks first time when asked. She is polite and engaging. She is a ray of sunshine and will be missed by all and we hope that she volunteers here in the future. She is a credit to her College and to herself and it has been a pleasure having her with us.”

“Her attitude has always been of a high standard. She is a kind and caring young lady who has shown thoughtfulness to all the service users throughout her time here. She is good at following instructions and is always keen to please. Her communication skills have greatly improved. She is a good listener and hard worker, and she has no problem completing any given tasks and does so with enthusiasm. She is non-judgemental and has empathy and emotional intelligence and drive. We wish her well for the future.”

“The student helped to coordinate activities for residents with dementia including armchair exercises, music and movement, floor games, arts and crafts. She also supported social interaction with residents in her job role. She has been a model student in all aspects of the placement here. She has shown great confidence when working alongside all of our residents. She has helped actively encourage residents to take part in art and crafts. She has used her initiative when doing the activities and has supported lunch times, giving out meals and drinks and also helping residents feed if they needed it.”

All the students on the Step Programme have embodied the core values of the College in Positivity, Ambition, Resilience and Thoughtfulness.

As a team, we feel very honoured to have contributed to the learning of these wonderful individuals and wish them every success in the future.