‘In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ - Acts 20:35

Our Vision and Intent

Our school’s ethos of ‘Let Your Light Shine’ is at the heart of all our assessment, planning and delivery. Making sure that Christ is at the centre of all our decisions, we put the pupils best interests first to ensure that we reach our goal of preparing our students to be tomorrow’s citizens, equipped and able to be successful at anytime, anywhere, any place and to become independent life-long learners. Our key focus for Business Studies is developing enterprising minds; inspiring our students to become enterprising and commercially minded individuals, inspiring students to understand the importance of enterprise and the nature of the business world. Students will leave the classroom enriched with abroad and balanced perspective of business, as well as an inspiration for success and a passion to work hard in the community. Throughout the Business curriculum, students will take a journey that develops their knowledge and skills to evaluate the dynamics of a business. This will lead to an outcome where students enjoy their learning to make outstanding progress by applying the knowledge and skills to the subject as well as events faced in their everyday pathways.

We strive to reduce the attainment gap between groups of students by making effective use of data to inform teaching and learning any by constantly developing our skills as a teaching team. All staff have up-to-date knowledge and understanding of our subject and working as a team helps us to help our students to reach their full potential. We play a key part in developing skills that will prepare students’ workplace skills which in turn will contribute to their economic wellbeing. Our curriculum contextualises learning through the use of real-life situations and problem-solving scenarios. Students develop personal qualities such as the ability to work effectively in teams.

 Summary of Our Aims:

  • Teaching will provide opportunities to develop confident students with high expectations who can be creative, resilient and be skilled for the globalised workplace.
  • Business studies will allow students to develop a wide variety of skills to achieve lifelong learning.
  • All our students will experience a curriculum where SMSC is embedded to ensure our ethos is central to our planning
  • We will ensure that ALL students are challenged and stretched within the lessons
  • Our students will be entrepreneurial, independent learners, confident presenters and strong team players.
  • Students will achieve the highest achievement which is our central purpose of teaching and assessment
  • We will provide opportunities and feedback for students to improve work and develop their skills.
  • Students can go out into the world of work with the attributes necessary to be successful
  • students will have the ability to think commercially and creatively to demonstrate business acumen in class activities, presentations and enrichment projects

 

Our specification is structured into two themes, taking students from how entrepreneurs start businesses (Theme 1) through to growing and global businesses (Theme 2). There are two equally weighted exam papers, focusing on each specification theme. Theme 1 concentrates on the key business concepts, issues and skills involved in starting and running a small business. It provides a framework for students to explore core concepts through the lens of an entrepreneur setting up a business. Theme 2 examines how a business develops beyond the start-up phase. It focuses on the key business concepts, issues and decisions used to grow a business, with an emphasis on aspects of marketing, operations, finance and human resources. It also considers the impact of the wider world on the decisions a business makes as it grows.

 

Literacy (including subject vital vocab)

Literacy is a key component of Business Studies. To ensure students can access the higher level marks they need to be able to articulate a well justified response to given scenarios. Throughout the GCSE we spend time working on extended writing using structures which help them apply their knowledge to scenarios given ensuring they can provide an in depth response. Word power is vital for success in Business Studies. It is imperative that pupils learn and use subject specific vocabulary. We constantly make use of vital vocabulary, definitions, Literacy walls, question and answer sessions and practicing extended answers to ensure ALL our pupils can aim for those higher level marks.

Click here for our Subject Vital Vocab 

Revision/supporting materials and Learning Wall

Students can find out what is happening in the world of business by watching programmes such as: The Apprentice, and Dragons’ Den.

Students can visit the Edexcel website: www.edexcel.com for more information about the GCSE course we study

GCSEPod.com

Careers and progression

No matter what you do in life you will interact with businesses. Most of you will work for a business and all of you will buy goods and services from businesses. Apart from being a great qualification to have for university and employers, we teach you to be smarter in your dealings with business and making and saving money throughout your life.

Why should I study Business Studies?

Students gaining a qualification in Business Studies will have access to a range of career and further educational opportunities. You will learn and use a variety of skills throughout the course, including collecting, analysing and interpreting data. These skills are in great demand and are recognised and highly valued by employers and colleges.

Which career pathways will Business Studies lead to?

Business Studies will develop your analytical skills, organisation and communication, making you suitable for most career types.

Therefore, career opportunities are vast, Public Sector Administration Marketing, Retailing, Teaching, Accountancy, Human Resources, Law and PR. Business studies is a subject that compliments any other and can be utilised in lots of different ways.