Diploma in Society, Health and Development

The Industry
Society, Health and Development covers some of the most important sectors in the UK. It is important, because it is about the care and development of the people who live around us.

There are four important sectors:

The children's workforce: teachers, youth workers, play workers, nursery nurses and more

The health industry: medical staff, health workers, healthcare scientists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and more

The community justice sector: community support officers and community police officers, probation officers, youth offending teams and more

The adult social care sector: social workers, care workers and more

The National Health Service (NHS), which is only a part of one of the sectors, is one of the biggest employers in the world. It has over 300 different types of jobs on offer.

Build essential skills and experience
The Diploma in Society, Health and Development will give you an understanding of all four sectors: the children's workforce, the health industry, community justice, and social care. It will help you to learn the skills that are important to work successfully in these areas: problem-solving, team-working, communication and creative thinking. It will also give you a chance to learn in different settings. You could take part in virtual learning by using computer simulations, or you could experience working with a real employer. You could meet healthcare scientists, community police officers, adult social care workers or even a prosthetic limb designer along the way.

What will I learn?
All levels of the Diploma in Society, Health and Development focus on six main themes:-

The sectors in context: focuses on the political, social and economic factors that affect the four sectors today

Principles and values in practice: the values and principles that underpin and inform the practice of everyone across the sectors, putting the person using the service at the centre of provision

Partnership working: new work practices mean that services work much more closely together to ensure the quality of service provision. For example, in family centres, there will be people from social services, health and the children's workforce, all working together to ensure quality and integrated services for children and families

Communication and information sharing: good communication is crucial to people working across the sectors. What are the barriers to good communication, and how can they be overcome? Are there tensions between good communication and sharing information with other professionals on the one hand, and respecting the privacy of individuals on the other hand?

Personal and professional development in the work environment: being able to reflect on own practice is a critical aspect of professional development. What did you do well? What can be improved? How can you improve your practice?

Safeguarding and protecting individuals and society: people are often working with the most vulnerable people in society, so it is important to understand what needs to be done to ensure that people are kept safe

How is the Diploma made up?

Principal learning (subject learning you have to do)
At the heart of the Diploma are your core society, health and development subjects. These will teach you the main things you need to know about the field. You will learn about the issues that are affecting the sectors today, how they work and what skills you need to work within them. You could, for example, through role play, show how communication skills are important in different situations, like dealing with someone who is shouting and being aggressive, or dealing with someone who finds it hard to speak following a stroke, or working with babies and small children.

Additional and specialist learning (choices you can make)
-----Specialist Learning: At each level, you can develop your particular interest in society, health and development further by taking specialist courses relating to your chosen subject and career ambitions. You could, for example, learn about infection prevention control, the role of play in learning, or how to handle ethical dilemmas.
-----Additional Learning: You might choose a GCSE or A level in subjects like Biology and Chemistry, which would help you get onto a university course. You can also broaden your course by taking an additional subject that reflects other interests and career ambitions - like a language, or a creative subject like Music.

Functional skills in English, Maths and ICT
Like all Diploma students, you will develop a good standard of English, Maths and ICT. These subjects are essential to succeed in any business or learning environment, whether you decide to continue in the society, health and development sectors or not.

Personal, learning and thinking skills
All Diploma students will develop personal, learning and thinking skills, such as team-working, creative thinking and self-management. These are vital skills in both life and work, and will be useful to you in the future, no matter which path you take.

Work experience
Your Diploma will give you the opportunity to do at least 10 days' work experience. This is a great way to use the knowledge, understanding and skills you have learnt in the classroom, and experience what work is like from the inside.

Advanced Diploma students will complete 20 days' learning in two work-related settings - this is unique to the Diploma in Society, Health and Development.

Student projects
During your Diploma, you will complete a student project to demonstrate the skills and knowledge that you have learnt. This could be a written piece of work, like a report or an investigation; or it could be a practical piece of work, like thinking of ways to make the common room of your local youth club more exciting and easy to get to for young people with different backgrounds and abilities.

What a Diploma will lead to
A Diploma in Society, Health and Development will give you the skills you need for either university or work, and is a first step towards a career in the sector.

It could lead you to a university degree in childhood studies, dietetics, nursing, community justice, applied criminology or forensic investigation; or it could help you begin a career as a teacher, a play worker, a healthcare scientist, a probation officer or a victim support worker, depending on what interests you.

However, the Diploma in Society, Health and Development doesn't mean you have to opt for a career in this sector. Because a Diploma teaches a mix of subjects, it will give you the skills that will be welcomed by colleges, universities and employers, no matter what you choose to do.

"On behalf of the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam University, I am delighted that we can endorse the Diploma in Society, Health and Development. We have been involved with the development of the Diploma through our work with the Diploma Development Partnership and we recognise that it will offer a good progression route to a wide range of careers in health."
Catherine Arnold, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University.

Want to find out more?
To find out more about the Diploma in Society, Health and Development, speak to your teacher or careers adviser.
You can also find more information about Diplomas on these websites:

www.direct.gov.uk
www.connexions-direct.com
www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/diploma