Curriculum
Business Studies
The Subject Way
Our subject has a ‘Subject Way’ at the heart of it. Our Subject Way is designed to help students become young subject specialists. The Subject Way has two main purposes:
Firstly, to teach students the vital skills they need to achieve their full potential and gain the very best grades they can. Secondly, to teach students how each subject relates to the wider world, incorporating the life skills they will learn.
It is our belief that knowing how what you learn links to the wider world brings a subject to life and therefore improves overall understanding and engagement.
Our Intent
The aim of the Business curriculum is to equip students with the appropriate knowledge and skills needed to develop their employability and identify business problems and opportunities. We encourage students to develop entrepreneurial Skills such as: Creativity, Risk Taking, Finance and Communication.
These skills are developed through the OCR Enterprise and Marketing Course. We do this by quality first teaching which ensures students understand underlying Marketing and Financial theory which students apply to a variety of familiar and unfamiliar case studies. We want students to be able to think analytically, reach logical conclusions based on data, and make judgements on future changes to markets and the economy. Our students are constantly introduced to a wide variety of viewpoints from some of the most influential entrepreneurs throughout history. We investigate the impact that their work has had on the world we live in and students are encouraged to make links between their studies and real life examples.
How we intend to remove barriers
Students are able to develop the main skills needed to remove barriers in the Business Curriculum. The business course is a heavy theory course and students are tested on their recall and their ability to write and construct their answers in assessments. Literacy is therefore plays a strong part in the curriculum where students are taught the key terms for the subject. Numeracy skills are also needed in the Business Curriculum where students will learn about business finances and the different mathematical sums needed to work out business concepts such as Profit/Loss, Breakeven and Sales Revenue. Students will then be able to analyse these financial figures and make judgements and recommendations about the business using this Finance data.
How we develop skills for learning
Students are required to demonstrate key skills for learning in the Business Curriculum. These skills include: Creativity, Interpretation, Analysis and Evaluation. Students will demonstrate the ability to plan and design new products with the aim of marketing this new product to the public. Students will need to carry out a range of Market Research and analyse the results in order to identify “Gaps in the Market” and the needs of their potential customers, in order to market a success product. Students will need to be able to interpret and evaluate financial information in order to identify if their new product is financially viable.
How we foster personal attributes
The curriculum allows the “Wickersley Way” to be be demonstrated in various ways. Students will need to be independent in running their own business project. They will need to design and pitch their business ideas to other students and members of staff. Like famous entrepreneurs students will need to demonstrate a degree of resilience being able to identify issues with their ideas and make changes to their approach in order to be successful. Students will have to develop communication skills this will be done through pitching their business proposal to their peers.
How we intend to enrich student experiences and broaden the horizons of students
Students will have various opportunities to broaden their horizons over the course of the Business Curriculum. Students will learn about famous entrepreneurs in history, understanding their successes and failures. Students will be able to see what skills are needed to run their own business or develop a new product to market. Students will learn about companies that have successfully marketed new or innovative products, including the ones that were not so successful.
Students will learn about how businesses operate including how businesses recruit and hire new employees, this will give students a wide range of skills and knowledge that they will be able to use when applying for their future jobs. Overall the curriculum gives students the knowledge and skills in order to set up their own business or to successfully design and market a business idea.
Long Term Plans
| YEAR 10 | |||||
| Half Term 1 | Half Term 2 | Half Term 3 | Half Term 4 | Half Term 5 | Half Term 6 |
| Putting a business idea into practice. Students develop an understanding of the importance of cash flow to new start-up businesses. Students will be able to complete a cash flow forecast for a business scenario and make suggestions for improving cash flow. They move on to learn about the various sources of finance available to small businesses. | Making the business effective. Students look at the concepts needed to realise their new businesses and keep them running effectively. They learn about writing and reviewing business plans, the four elements of the marketing mix (price, product, place and promotion) and the importance of choosing an appropriate location. | External influences on business. Students become aware of the factors outside the control of the business such as legislation, technology and the economy (exchange rates and interest rates). They will be able to suggest strategies for the business to react to or to predict changes in the business external environment. | Growing the business. Students are introduced to methods of growth and why and how business aims and objectives change as businesses evolve. The impacts of globalisation and international trade on both businesses and the consumer are explored, in addition to the ethical and environmental trade-offs against profit facing many businesses in today’s society. | Making marketing decisions. Students will explore how each element of the marketing mix is managed and used to inform and make business decisions in a competitive marketplace. They examine marketing models such as the product life cycle and the design mix as tools to improve a business’s competitive position within its market. | Making operational decisions. This topic focuses on meeting customer needs through the design, supply, quality and sales decisions a business makes. Students explore the importance of a business’s relationship with its supply chain stakeholders and how effective supply chain management can contribute to gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage. |
| YEAR 11 | |||||
| Half Term 1 | Half Term 2 | Half Term 3 | Half Term 4 | Half Term 5 | Half Term 6 |
| Making operational decisions. This topic focuses on meeting customer needs through the design, supply, quality and sales decisions a business makes. Students learn about a range of different quality assurance systems that are implemented in different businesses in product and service industries, they evaluate how these systems contribute to customer loyalty and business reputation. | Making financial decisions. Students will explore the tools a business has to support financial decision making, including ratio analysis and the use and limitation of a range of financial information. Students learn how to construct basic accounting documents such as the income statement. | Making human resource decisions. Growing a business means that decisions relating to organisational structure, recruitment, training and motivation need to be made to influence business activity. Students learn about the different ways businesses can organise their workforce, and to ensure effective communication to improve motivation and productivity within the workforce. | Revision and exam skills. | Revision and exam skills. | Revision and exam skills. |
Department Staff
N Lilleker
Director
- nlilleker@wickersley.net
C Alecock
D Ogley
E Ashton
Find out more
If you would like more information about our curriculum, please contact the school using the details on our contact page.
Our Subjects at KS4
CORE SUBJECTS
EBACC SUBJECTS
OPTION SUBJECTS
