What is our vision in Child Development? 

Our Cambridge National in Child Development will inspire and equip students with independence and confidence in using skills that are relevant to the childcare sector and more widely. It covers all aspects of child development, from conception to five years, as well as providing safe and nurturing environments.

Students will develop a broad and deep knowledge and understanding of all aspects of child development and gain an understanding of the importance of responsibility and the true meaning of parenthood, assisting development of a child as a whole person.

The knowledge and skills they develop will help them to progress onto further study in the care sector. This may be other vocational qualifications, such as the Level 2 or Level 3 OCR Cambridge Technicals in Health and Social Care; the T Level Technical Qualification in Education and Childcare or the Early Years Educator Apprenticeship. The qualification also helps to develop other transferable skills, such as research and communication skills that will be valuable in other life and work situations.

Students will need an appreciation that our curriculum covers some sensitive topics and mature content, allowing them to understand the complexity of childhood and respect the science behind the creation of life. It is our hope that students develop in maturity sooner than many of their peers and find a passion for inspiring young people, after having more understanding about what really goes into the conception, creation and nurturing of a young person.

Child Development learning journey 

 

Child development at KS4

OCR Child Development

Students study for the Cambridge National Level 1/2 Award.  In Year 10 students firstly gain knowledge of the equipment needs of babies and young children and an understanding of the factors to be considered when choosing appropriate equipment to meet these needs.

It also covers nutrition and hygiene practices and students will be given the opportunity to investigate feeding solutions, comparing these to nutritional requirements and evaluating the outcomes. Evaluation skills are developed, which would be of use in further studies in a number of areas. This is a class based, coursework topic.

In the last term of Year 10 students will gain an understanding of the development norms from birth to five years and the stages and benefits of play.

Students will gain knowledge of, and skills in, developing activities to observe development norms in children up to the age of five. This topic will include researching, planning and carrying out activities with a child and observing and evaluating these activities, as well as comparing the child to the expected development norms. Researching, planning, observing and evaluating skills would be useful in further studies as these are transferable skills and could be applied to many subject areas. This is a class based, coursework topic.

The first topic of Year 11  underpins the exam learning in this qualification.

Students will develop the essential knowledge and understanding in child development, covering reproduction, parental responsibility, antenatal care, birth, postnatal checks, postnatal provision, conditions for development, childhood illnesses and child safety. Knowledge gained would be of use for further studies in PHSE, Biology and other child development qualifications.

Curriculum learning grid in Year 10 

Curriculum learning grid in Year 11

 

Support for students

Coursework support/revision sessions are provided once per week after school.

 

Extended Learning Opportunities in Child Development

Any experience students can gain from working with children, be it their own siblings or relatives would be a valuable extended learning experience. 

Speaking to parents (their own or others) about their own experiences becoming a parent would also be beneficial.

 

Further Education & Career Pathways in Child Development

  • Courses such as Health & Social Care and Childcare, Childcare and Education, Childcare Early Years Educator
  • A levels such as Sociology, Biology, and Psychology
  • BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate/Diploma in Health and Social Care
  • Apprenticeships such as Early Years Childcare and Education, Health and Social Care
  • Careers in education (teaching in early years, primary or secondary settings, teaching assistant, educational psychology), childcare (nursery nursing, childminding, nannying), medicine (doctor, nurse, midwife), community work (police, social work, health and social care).

 

Useful revision websites

Revision materials will be given to all students in hard copy form and placed on the Google classroom dedicated to exam revision. 

OCR website has past papers and course information.

 

How can parents and carers support learning ? 

Helping to support homework being completed and deadlines are met with coursework.

 

Marking & Assessment Protocol  in Child Development

 

Year 10 is coursework based. Students coursework will be marked at the end of each section and feedback given, this will allow the opportunity for the revision of the work if needed. 

Classwork will be marked every 2 weeks during the exam theory module in Year 11. End of topic tests will be marked and reviewed in class.

The two coursework projects are marked by the teacher and moderated externally by OCR.

The exam module is externally assessed.