Business Studies form part of the optional curriculum offer at KS4, with mixed ability grouping used. Students can elect to study Business Studies as post-16 courses or apprenticeships.
The business curriculum is broad and dynamic allowing students the opportunity to experience different styles of learning and demonstrate different ways of understanding key concepts. Students will also see the significance of topics within other curriculum areas such as STEM and humanities reinforcing the importance of business.
The way that the course is delivered is very inclusive, using a building block approach. Students will start on a pathway of learning that introduces small nuggets of information that is then reinforced with real-life examples and experiences to motivate and widen their knowledge-base.
The business sessions also aim to develop transferable skills that can be extended through to Level 3 qualifications and beyond, and also into the workplace. The sessions will provide a platform to instil core learning habits and values, such as business ethics, equality and diversity. In conjunction, the development of enquiring minds through debates, team-working, research projects and presentations will also form part of the business pathway to success. In order to thrive in this subject area it helps to have an inquiring mind.
Moving forward, after Covid interruptions, we would like to see guest speakers from the business environment, visits and links with Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and local business enterprises and schemes. This will all further enrich the learning experience of the students.
Business lessons are more than just finance, corporations, resources, productivity, marketing and human resources. Business lessons encourage students to research, enquire, and be innovative, strategic thinkers, to embrace global issues, equality and diversity. Students will like what they do and how they do it and as a result will be successful and motivated by their achievements.
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. In this theme students will be introduced to local and national business contexts and will develop an understanding of how these contexts impact business behaviour and decisions. Local contexts refer specifically to small businesses or those operating in a single UK location and national contexts relate to businesses operating in more than one location or across the UK.
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. In this theme students will be introduced to national and global business contexts and will develop an understanding of how these contexts impact business behaviour and decisions. National contexts build on those in Theme 1 and relate to businesses operating in more than one location or across the UK. Global contexts relate to non-UK or transnational businesses.
The assessment is based on 100% examination with TWO 1 hour and 30 minute examinations. One for Theme 1 and one for Theme 2. Each paper carries 90 marks – 180 in total.
The GCSE comprises two themes, looking first at small business start-ups and entrepreneurship, and then looking at bigger companies.
Theme 1: Introduction to Small Business:
Theme 2: Building a Business: