Business

Curriculum Intent for Business Studies

The Business curriculum at KS4 will start of by introducing students to what is Business and Enterprise. Attention will be given to enterprise and entrepreneurship, spotting a business opportunity and putting a business idea into practice. As students progress, they will start to examine how businesses develop beyond the start-up phase. Focus will be given to key business concepts, issues and decisions used to grow a business, with emphasis on aspects of marketing, operations, finance and human resources. The Business curriculum at KS4 is for learners who wish to develop a commercially minded and entrepreneurial understanding of business that allows them to succeed in their chosen pathway.  Assessment will be in the form of 2 externally assessed units that assess i. Investigating small businesses and; ii. Building a business. At KS4, content is sequenced so that students can build on prior knowledge. For example, in Unit 1 the Marketing Mix is introduced, and in Unit 2 this is examined in more detail looking at Price, Product, Promotion and Place. The content in Unit 1 introduces students to business concepts, which is suitable for those that have not studied aspects of Business Studies before.

The Business curriculum at KS5 will start of by allowing students to explore the business world; whereby learners will study the purposes of different businesses, their structure, the effect of the external environment, and how they need to be dynamic and innovative to survive.  The foundations of this will permit students to develop their business knowledge further through both internally and externally assessed units. The Business curriculum at KS5 will encourage students to continue in their education through applied learning opportunities. The aim of the lessons will be for students to contextualise assignments that have been issued; working towards either a Pass, Merit or Distinction level. The curriculum provides progression to the workplace either directly or via study at a higher level. Assessment will be in the form of internally and externally assessed unit. At KS5, content is also sequenced to allow for students that have no prior knowledge of business to gain a firm understanding of concepts and key terms. As the programmes of study progress, units will focus on more niche and specific areas of business i.e.; Finance and Marketing.

At both KS4 and KS5 careful consideration has been given to the content, knowledge and skills. The former is made up of assessments that focus heavily on low level questioning and knowledge/ application skills; in addition to case study approaches that encourage analytical and evaluative approaches. For KS5, consideration has been given to the units selected and the assessment methods. Most exams at KS5 in Business provide students with a pre-released case study to help students contextualise the assessment. In addition, BTEC qualifications offer internally assessed units too.

In the first year of the LIBF Financial Studies course, students develop the knowledge and skills required for young people to make informed financial decisions by introducing them to the risks and challenges involved in personal finance and the tools for effective planning. A solid foundation of knowledge of personal financial sustainability in the short and medium term is gained in Year 12, which then leads to progression to the Diploma qualification in Year 13 where long-term financial planning is explored which prepares students to make fully informed and confident financial decisions later in their own lives, or to further their studies in accountancy and finance at university.  

Links to Whole School Intent.

At both KS4 and KS5, the Business department has regularly embedded knowledge rich opportunities for students to explore further. This will be presented in the following formats;

• Core knowledge: Students will always be provided with the core knowledge required in line with the specification and the Scheme of Work. This will often be presented as learning objectives which will be the focus of the lesson. Students will be provided with skills-based knowledge and key terms/ vocabulary to help underpin their understanding.

• Substantive knowledge: In Business, students will often be required to factually recall key term definitions and formulas (this may also extend to advantages and disadvantages if applicable). In doing this little, but often students will be able to sustain factual pieces of information into their long-term memory. 

• Procedural knowledge: All assessments in Business follow a very similar skill set and structure. So that students can apply this suitably to the exam, where applicable past exam questions will be modelled. Every six lessons a low stakes assessment will be recorded so that we are able to monitor students progress in this area.

• Hinterland knowledge: Business is all around us and so it is very easy and beneficial for case study examples or news articles to be feed into teaching and learning so that students can relate to the Business knowledge through real life application.

The Business curriculum provides many opportunities for challenge and deeper thinking. Using real-life Business examples will allow students to explore schools of thought from a profit and non-profit perspective. Students will be given the opportunity to debate and explore different impacts (through both the specification and personal opinions). Communication is encouraged through many channels; especially written and spoken. This is done through assessment questions and class discussions/ debates. Reading is developed by encouraging students to read outside of the classroom, whether that be The Times online or case study articles.

The LIBF Financial Studies course embeds opportunities for students to prepare for life after school. This is done both in the classroom and outside of the classroom. In the classroom, lessons are taught using seminar/ lecture style lessons, whereby students are encouraged to do pre-reading on the topic area before lesson, which is then followed by a deeper discussion in class, notes, past exam questions and also case study links to simulated scenarios. In the Summer term, students are encouraged to attend the LIBF walking tour of London so that their cultural capital is embodied further in the discipline.

Curriculum Implementation for Business Studies

In the Business department, a variety of teaching and learning strategies are used to enable students to be able to contextualise business theory with real life Business case studies. This will include questioning, independent research, modelling and regular retrieval practice. Clear focus is given in lesson that enables students to meet targeted assessment objectives based on criteria given. The following pedagogical practice can be seen across the Business department:

• Scaffolding/ modelling; This will often be done at KS4 when students are newly introduced to a topic. For example, when being introduced to Break-even Analysis this will be scaffolded across the lesson starting with introducing the formula, providing data and then constructing a break-even chart/ analysis. At KS5, scaffolding is done by allowing students to enter their zone of proximal development as outlined by Vygotsky.

• Independent learning; A key feature of KS5, independent learning is encouraged. This will often involve students selecting the organisations that they want their assignments to focus on and conducting the necessary research in relation to this. The private study periods at KS5 also encourage independent working outside of the classroom.

• Questioning; At both KS4 and KS5, questioning is often targeted to students in line with the assessment objectives. Questioning is presented in verbal form or written form (especially for low stakes assessments).

In Business and Finance, where high stake assessments are done a whole class gap analysis will be conducted- this will allow feedback to inform common mis-conceptions and individual intervention plans. Assessments also inform exam skills that need further focus.

Links to Whole School Implementation.

At KS4 and KS5, Rosenshine Principles of effective instruction is utilised in a number of ways:

• Review, checking previous work (and reteaching if necessary); this will be done via the low stake assessments done in every lesson. At KS4 this will be the norm at the start of every lesson either in the form of a ‘do it now’ task or past exam practice. At KS5 this will often be done in line with the assignments that are being written and building on previous learning to develop knowledge required for that lesson.

• Presenting new content/skills; this will depend on the key stage that is being taught. At KS4 new content and skills are often presented in the form of a PowerPoint which may incorporate questioning, modelling and case studies. At KS5, in addition to the above, new content and skills is often introduced in a ‘discussion’ format, that allows students to enquire, challenge and reach their zone of proximal development

• Initial student practice; At KS4 and KS5, students are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills taught to case studies and questions. Where applicable modelling will be used to demonstrate new concepts or tricky concepts.

• Feedback and correctives; In Business, this is done in line with the school policy. Feedback is given in form of green pen time, whereby students are able to correct, add or if applicable re-do their work based on individual or whole class feedback. Modelling will be utilised if common mis-conceptions are apparent.

• Student independent practice; This is often done as a red task where students are able to apply what has been taught to a particular question, activity or case study. Pace and timings are important here so that the student is able to remain focused.

• Weekly and monthly reviews; As previously mentioned, this will mainly be done through low and high stakes assessments (in line with the school’s assessment policy)

Subject knowledge within the department is often developed via CPD courses and webinars that are offered by the exam board; these are often unit specific and are able to provide detail and specific knowledge and guidance. It is also a common feature to make contact with colleagues from local schools to gain support where required. Pedagogy is often developed during departmental meetings whereby a focus will be given i.e.; ‘Exam Structure’; ‘How to mark’. Examiner reports are also very useful at informing teaching and misconceptions that apply to particular topic areas.

How Impact is measured within the department

In the Business department at both Key Stages, data is used to inform staff of students that are on, above or below target. If a student is below target, data can help inform intervention stratgies that can take place. The use of data also helps to identify if there is a correlation between groups i.e.; low attenders, SEN, PP students in addition to those that are on the borderline of their target grade.

The Business department will monitor whether intent and implementation is being met by:

• Conducting learning walks

• Sharing good practice within the department

• Conducting book looks

• Data analysis

The subjects delivered within the department are the most popular at Thamesview School.  Classes at KS5 c. 50 students, while at KS4 there are 3 groups opting to study GCSE Business in Year 10.  The number of students who want to progress onto undergraduate programmes is around 40% of the whole Year 13 cohort, which indicates the popularity and success of the subjects.  Many students choose to specialise in Sixth Form and study a combination of both Business and Financial Studies. They recognise the value of these qualifications in providing them with excellent employability and transferable skills for the modern work place. 

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

Year 10 (Sept. 2023)

• Unit 1

• The dynamic nature of Business

• Risk and reward

• The role of business enterprise

• Customer needs

• Market research

• Market segmentation

• The competitive environment

• Business aims and objectives

• Business revenues, costs and profits

• Cash and cash flow

• Sources of finance

• The options for start-ups and small businesses

• Business location

• The marketing mix

• Business plans

• Business stakeholders

• Technology and business

• Legislation and business

• Economy and business

• External influences

• Revision – Theme 1

• Consolidation of topic content

• End of topic assessment/ feedback

• Business growth

• Changes in business aims and objectives

• Business and globalisation

• Ethics, the environment and business

Year 11 (Sept. 2023)

• Unit 2

• Business growth

• Changes in business aims and objectives

• Business and globalisation

• Ethics, the environment and business

- Product

- Price

- Promotion

- Place

- Using the marketing mix to

make business decisions

- Business operations

- Working with suppliers

- Managing quality

- The sales process

- Business calculations

- Understanding business

  performance

 - Organisational structures

- Effective recruitment

- Effective training and development

- Motivation

- Revision Theme 1 and Theme 2

Year 12 (BTEC Business L3)

• Unit 1

• Unit 2

• Unit 3

• Explore the features of different businesses and what makes them successful

• Investigate how business are organised

• Examine the environment in which businesses operate

• Examine business markets

• Investigate the role and contribution of innovation and enterprise to business success

- Introduction to the

principles and purposes of marketing that underpin the creation of a rationale for a marketing campaign

- Using information to develop the rationale for a marketing campaign

- Planning and developing a marketing campaign

- Unit 2 revision/ exam

- Understand the importance of managing personal finance

Year 13 (BTEC Business L3)

• Unit 3

• Unit 27

• Explore the personal finance sector

• Understand the purpose of accounting

• Select and evaluate different sources of business finance

• Breakeven and cash flow forecasts

• Complete statements of comprehensive income and financial position and evaluate business performance

- Unit 3 exam

- Unit 27

- Unit 27

- Resit exams if applicable

Year 12 (Fin Cert L3)

• Unit 1

• Unit 2

• Purpose of money

• The personal life cycle

• Payment methods

• Everyday banking

• Saving products

• Borrowing products

• Providers

• Consumer protection

• Budgets and forecasts

• Dealing with unexpected events

• Dealing with debt

• Earnings

• Needs, wants and aspirations

• Savings and investment products

• Borrowing products

• Dealing with long term risks

• Financial planning

• Financial planning and informed choices 

• Dealing with unforeseen events

• Ethics and sustainability

• Sources of information and advice 

• Making an informed choice

- Resit exams if applicable

Preparation for Unit 3

Year 13 (Fin Dip L3)

• Unit 3

• Unit 4

• Personal financial sustainability

• How the state can help

• The impact of external factors

• Monitoring and adapting personal financial plans

• Good debt, bad debt

• The impact of global events and ethics  

• Impact of recent changes

• The financial system

• Competition in the financial services sector

• Sustainability in the financial services sector

• The impact of the media on sustainability of the financial services industry

• External influences on financial services providers and their products

• The impact of change and uncertainty on financial products

• Marketing materials and their effectiveness

• Attracting, retaining and satisfying customers

• Market segmentation and product development

• Case studies

- Resit exams if applicable