Business Studies Departmental vision
The Business Studies Department aims to create an atmosphere that is dynamic and helps students improve their understanding of complex business or computer science environmental factors that affects the lives of individuals every day. We aim to involve some interaction with local businesses and organisations to enhance the learning experience of students.
Our vision is to ensure Churchmead’s Business curriculum is broad and balanced for all of our students’ needs.
- Students study GCSE Business Studies at KS4 and BTEC Tech Award Level 1/2 in Enterprise.
- Students will be able to undertake both vocational Business courses through BTECs and traditional GCSE and A Level courses
- To embed effective retrieval and recall in teaching, learning and assessment practises
- Launch successful “A” Level courses for students through BTEC Level 3 and “A” Level Business Studies that will allowing progression onto further education.
- To develop an effective self-evaluation strategy that includes observation feedback, student voice and book scrutiny
INTENT
The aim of the Business studies curriculum is to provide opportunities for students to enjoy challenge and rigour throughout their journey of discovery so they can explore new and exciting methods of business operations that will equip them with the appropriate knowledge and skills needed to develop their entrepreneurship skills.
Business Studies should enable pupils to:
- Know about entrepreneurs – some well-known and other more local and less well known.
- Understand what makes a successful entrepreneur.
- Develop an awareness of their enterprise capabilities so that they are able to consider owning their own business as an alternative career path.
- They should also be equipped with the employability skills needed for the changing world of work and entrepreneurship.
- Meet with adults other than teachers to have real life examples and knowledge about business in the real world therefore challenging and enriching the pupils’ vocational opportunities.
- Develop knowledge and understanding of business and economic concepts and terms.
- Develop knowledge and understanding of their role in business and as a wider part of society and the economy.
In addition to learning about business theory and calculations, pupils will be required to consider the health, social, moral and ethical issues surrounding business decisions and the impact that businesses can have on a wide range of stakeholders.
Develop an interest in current business and economic affairs by reading widely around the subject in newspapers and magazines, as well as watching business related television programmes.
The Business Studies curriculum at Churchmead is highly ambitious and designed to give all pupils the necessary knowledge and skills they need to live in the business orientated world in which we live. It has also been designed to prepare pupils who which to pursue both academic A levels and vocational Level 3 courses in business and related areas for those who wish to begin an apprenticeship in the field of business.
The Business curriculum is planned to develop knowledge and understanding of financial literacy. Pupils have opportunities to develop their financial awareness and to master the skills needed to analyse and interpret financial documents.
The department has a clear plan for what pupils should know and be able to do in Business by the end of KS4. Pupils are expected to be able to talk and write knowledgeably about business, enterprise and the economy, using subject specific language accurately and confidently. They should be able to utilise Business specific skills such as making links between different units of work; analysing and interpreting business case studies and understanding financial documents and language.
IMPLEMENTATION
GCSE Business Studies and BTEC Enterprise are optional subjects for Year 9, 10 and 11. The BTEC course was introduced as a way to ensure that all learners had access to a Business themed curriculum and to stop the narrowing of the curriculum. Offering GCSE Business Studies and the BTEC Enterprise course allow pupils to choose a course that meets their needs depending on their preferred style of assessment.
Currently there is one BTEC Business group in Years 9 and one BTEC Business & one GCSE Business groups in Years 10 and 11. All GCSE Business Studies and BTEC Enterprise classes are taught by a Business specialist and have 5 hours over a fortnight. This model means that the KS4 courses meets the minimum requirements of 120 learning hours.
The Curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced over 3 years in order to introduce key ideas and the concepts, skills and terminology of the business world. Pupils learn about what an enterprise is, and a number of entrepreneurs. This supports cultural capital. Pupils use their knowledge and skills to run their own mini-enterprise as part of the GCSE course, learners on the BTEC course plan their own enterprise and pitch their idea. There is a clear logic to the sequencing as to what is taught, and the order in which it is taught to ensure all pupils learn the expected/essential Business Studies key knowledge and skills.
Pupils are expected to be able to use subject specific language to write and talk about the different areas of Business and the economy. Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary is explicitly taught and modelled by teachers. Pupils are expected to use technical language in both oral and written answers. Classroom displays contain key vocabulary for the unit of work being studied and the learning and testing of vocabulary is a routine part of Business lessons in both GCSE and BTEC lessons.
The Business classroom is well equipped and supportive of high-quality teaching and learning.
Classroom displays are used to enhance learning through being a visual prompt for information and also promoting high expectations of standards of work.
The Business curriculum is reviewed on an annual basis. However, teaching and learning resources are reviewed and amended on a daily basis as a result of the assessment of the learning taking place in lessons and pupils understanding and enjoyment. Over recent years more time has been spent on developing careers education in the Business Studies curriculum and there is now evidence of this in both the BTEC and GCSE courses at Key Stage 4. Further opportunities have been identified to enhance this in the 2021-22 academic year.
Teaching in Business Studies ensures that pupils are enabled to remember work for the long term. Both formative and summative assessment are used at different stages throughout the curriculum to assess the knowledge and understanding of the pupils, not only subject knowledge but their understanding of what each type of exam question response requires them to do. This is used to monitor pupil progress and inform future learning. Pupils complete work individually, and also develop their enterprise capabilities by working in pairs and small groups. They also have to conduct research with adults in order to find out real examples of the content we are covering. Through the use of documentaries, the content of the course is also covered. For the BTEC course learners have to study two businesses in depth, one which they visit.
Questioning in lessons and written class and homework allow the teacher to judge whether learning of subject knowledge is secure. Tests taken at the end of units of work and through the Year 9, 10 and 11 exams allow pupils and teachers to gain a more holistic understanding of how pupils understand the content and can apply this understanding to the case studies.
By the end of Year 11 pupils will be aware of the main types of business ownership and the work done by the main functions in a business: Finance, Human Resources, Marketing, and Production. They will also be aware of the impact of the external business environment and more modern themes such as ethics and sustainability. They are able to identify, explain, analyse and evaluate the different areas of the specification. They are also able to use data to back up their answers.
GCSE Assessment
Pupils will be assessed regularly throughout the course by a series of key term and topic tests and with more formal summative PPE exams which take place in December and June in years 9, 10 & 11.
Internal Assessment - Pupils will be given a wide range of opportunities for pupils to apply their business knowledge, skills and concepts through multiple choice, short, medium and long answer questions. Use has been made of the Exam Builder tool which allows past paper questions to be used to make shorter internally used assessment material. Further development of this for assessments will continue in 2021-22.
External Assessment is made up of 2 exams at the end of year 11 and pupils will sit two papers – both with only one tier of entry and will receive a grade from 1-9 in GCSE Business.
- Paper 1 1 ½ written exam, 90 marks, 50% of GCSE grade.
Content overview:
- Topic 1.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Topic 1.2 Spotting a business opportunity
- Topic 1.3 Putting a business idea into practice
- Topic 1.4 Making the business effective
- Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business
The paper will consist of calculations, multiple–choice, short–answer and extended–writing questions. Questions in Sections B and C will be based on business contexts given in the paper
• Paper 2 1 ½ hour written exam, 90 marks, 50% of GCSE grade.
Content overview:
- Topic 2.1 Growing the business
- Topic 2.2 Making marketing decisions
- Topic 2.3 Making product decisions
- Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions
- Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions
The paper will consist of calculations, multiple–choice, short–answer and extended–writing questions. Questions in Sections B and C will be based on business contexts given in the paper
BTEC Assessment
Learner's study three components. The first two are assessed by a series of assignments that are assessed by the teacher and externally moderated:
▪ Exploring Enterprise (Internal assessment)
▪ Planning for and Running an Enterprise (Internal assessment)
▪ The third component is assessed by an external 2-hour exam: Promotion and Finance
for Enterprise
Internal Assessment - Leaners will be given a wide range of opportunities to show their understanding and apply their knowledge of the topics cover by Unit 3 throughout the lessons and during end of unit tests which often take the form of parts of past papers.
IMPACT
Business Studies is a well-constructed, thoughtfully taught subject which has historically led to above average GCSE results. The BTEC course has also allowed learners to be successful in their study.
Quality Assurance within the department ensures that the intended curriculum plans are delivered appropriately. There is a planned programme for monitoring and reflecting on provision, including:
• Cooperative planning meetings
• Fortnightly meeting with SLT line manager
• Termly work scrutiny – to look at pupil books as a department and compare/monitor standards of pupil work
• Internal and external moderation to ensure quality standards are maintained
All of the above is designed to ensure there is no mismatch between the planned and delivered curriculum in lessons delivered by different members of staff.
An element of curiosity and enjoyment is introduced from the very first Business lesson and continues throughout Key Stage 4, not only coming from the teaching staff but also from outside visits and visitors that are invited into school to present to pupils.
Business Studies has been both a popular and successful GCSE option at Churchmead. Outcomes in Business have historically been excellent and well above the national average.
The majority of GCSE Business pupils go on to study Business related courses at the local colleges’ usually A ‘Level Business Studies, Economics or Accounting. Some go on to do Level 3 BTEC courses. Few students have applied for Business related Apprenticeships.
Informal feedback from pupils (from thank you cards and comments from parents at parents’ evenings) suggests that pupils enjoy the subject and value the knowledge and understanding they get from the course.
After pupils have completed their Business Education, they leave Churchmead school much more informed about the world in which they live. They are able to offer better informed opinions on their future based on the development of their commercial minds and the enterprise capabilities they have developed.
Cultural Capital in Business
- Cultural Capital refers to the skills and knowledge middle class parents have that they can use to give their children an advantage in the education system.
- A closely related concept is Social Capital – which is the support and information provided by contacts and social networks which can be converted into educational success
- NatWest bank held a Business & Finance skills workshop with Year 8 students. The students had to create a business plan for a social enterprise aimed at addressing a problem in their school/local community. After making a business plan, they had to pitch their idea to a panel of judges to gain their support to set up their social enterprise
- All Year 10 students had an enterprise challenge day. The Mosaic National Enterprise Challenge is an annual, national competition during which students learn about establishing and running a business through a business simulation game. The five best performing teams in each region compete to receive a coveted place in the prestigious National Final, pitching their developed business concepts to an expert panel of judges.
- A number of students in Years 7 – 10 are involved in the Volkswagen Inspire Competition which has now been narrowed down to 8 teams and representatives from VW will be coming to school to judge those teams. Four winning teams will be invited to the finals in Silverstone
- One of our governors, Amy Lawrence, a former manager at British Airways Head Office came to visit Year 11 students to inspire and offer career advice
- Carousel Windsor, a local business in Datchet came in to talk about a range of business topics and inspire students to become future entrepreneurs. The MD helped the students to consider the various issues when thinking of setting up their own businesses; the type of ownership; setting clear aims and objectives; considering the wider ethical responsibilities and the mind-set and skills for successful entrepreneurs.
- Comxo is the leading UK provider of global switchboard services and a local company based in Datchet, hosted our year 13 students to a CV and interviews technique workshop. They are looking to establish strong links with school and use the school as a future recruitment pool. More visits with KS3 & KS4 students are being organised.
Business Learning Journey
