Child Development
KS4 Intent and Rationale
Students at the Mandeville School are given the opportunity to be successful in Child Development at the beginning of KS4 as one of their GCSE options subjects. The Child Development curriculum aims to introduce students to the fundamental aspects of children’s growth and development, from birth to 5 years. We follow the Pearsons BTEC specification for Child Development which is split into 3 components.
Component 1 is studied at the start of Year 10 and covers topics such as growth, development and understanding the factors that impact on children’s overall development. In Component 2 students’ knowledge and skills are developed as they learn about how children learn through play and how they can be supported to do this. These are assessed with controlled assessments (PSA’s) at the end of each component. Building on this, Component 3 is studied in Year 11 and covers topics such as how to adapt play to promote inclusive learning, creating safe environments to support learning and how the individual needs of children can impact their play, learning and development.
For students to achieve their potential, there is a synoptic exam to sit at the end of the course in Year 11. Throughout each component, students will be introduced to a range of concepts, such as how speech and language develop in the first 5 years of their lives, including the theories associated with this, for example Chomsky, Bruner and Vygotsky. Concepts such as the different types of play and how they support development, along with how individual needs can impact their play and learning, which they will learn to understand and apply to their work to achieve and succeed.
At all times in Child Development, we strive to equip pupils to believe in themselves, so we arm them with the knowledge, skills and understanding of key words and terms associated within the childcare environment. Child Development is important because through the understanding of developmental areas and the factors that affect these, students will develop the essential skills and attributes that will allow them to achieve their goals and be successful in the classroom and beyond. Some of the careers that Child Development can lead to are Early Years Practitioner, Primary School teacher, children’s play specialist and midwife.
