Business

Pupils learn to:

• apply knowledge and understanding to contemporary business issues and to different types and sizes of businesses in local, national, and global contexts.
• develop as enterprising individuals with the ability to think commercially and creatively to demonstrate business acumen, and draw on evidence to make informed business decisions and solve business problems.
• develop as effective and independent students, and as critical and reflective thinkers with enquiring minds.
• use an enquiring, critical approach to make informed judgements.
• investigate and analyse real business opportunities and issues to construct well-argued, well-evidenced, balanced, and structured arguments, demonstrating their depth and breadth of understanding of business.
• develop and apply quantitative skills relevant to business, including using and interpreting data.

The following principles underpin the Business curriculum:

• Declarative knowledge, the ‘know what’, is identified and prioritised and there is systematic teaching of it, in Business this is developing pupils’ knowledge of business concepts, business terminology, business objectives, the integrated nature of business activity and the impact of business on individuals and wider society.
• Core declarative knowledge is the initial focus of any sequence of learning. It is important pupils become familiar with the facts and methods that will form the procedural knowledge (the strategies, know ‘how to’), apply knowledge and understanding to contemporary business issues and to different types and sizes of businesses in local, national and global contexts.
• Linked declarative and procedural knowledge, the ‘how to’, are sequenced together to reflect the reciprocal learning relationship between them. Familiarity with the facts helps with learning and understanding the linked method. Familiarity with the method helps to make associated facts firm and precise in the mind.
• Combinations of declarative and procedural knowledge are transformed into strategies when pupils learn to match the problem types that they can be used for, conditional knowledge, the ‘when.’

There are four key elements to the implementation of the Creative iMedia curriculum:

• Plan: each lesson is judiciously planned to identify declarative and procedural knowledge. It builds over time to ensure all pupils become mastery and can use methods and procedures fluently. Pupils are taught to think as an entrepreneur.
• Teach: the Business Charter is used when implementing the Business curriculum.
• Assess: pupils are assessed on composite tasks for each unit of the course.
• Intervene and re-teach composite tasks identify knowledge components that are not secure. These are re-taught or revisited to avoid future gaps from emerging and to secure automaticity with methods and procedures.

Year 10

In the first year of the course, pupils will complete the theory for the paper 1 element of the course “Investigating Small Businesses”.

The subject content has been organised into themes according to business contexts to ensure a holistic approach is adopted throughout the course of study. This develops students’ understanding of the interdependent nature of business activity, business operations, finance, marketing and human resources as well as external influences within a business context. It also supports students in applying their knowledge and understanding of how these interdependencies underpin business decision making. Both themes in the subject content represent this holistic approach through the application to different business contexts. This approach allows students to draw on knowledge and understanding from across their course of study as appropriate in any question on either paper. It also provides the basis for contextualised responses which is a key business skill.

Edexcel Business 1BS0

Paper 1 – Investigating Small Business

Paper 2 – Growing a Business

At KS4, pupils are invited to intervention sessions to consolidate their learning and prepare them for the GCSE examination.

We have cross curricular enrichment clubs that bring the subject to life. We run an idea.org.uk club at lunch times. “The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, known as iDEA is an international award winning programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Through our series of online challenges, you can win career-enhancing badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry-recognised Awards that help you stand out from the crowd.”

In collaboration with Art & Design we run a PhotoShop club, in this club pupils have the opportunity to learn & experiment with PhotoShop tools that go beyond the GCSE spec and the national curriculum. This is a fun and interactive club that allows pupils to manipulate digital images into new and interesting imagery. This also provides an insight into the skills that would required in roles such as an image editor, architect, graphic designer.

In collaboration with science, we run a robotics club where pupils can Engage in Hands-On Learning: Through interactive workshops, projects, and competitions, you will have the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts to real-life scenarios. Imagine the thrill of building your own robot or creating a program that brings it to life!

We also participate in the BIMA day each year “The only initiative of its kind, BIMA Digital Day gives 11-16 year olds an insight into a world of digital careers. Students get to meet digital experts and compete in a sponsored, nationwide digital challenge for a chance to win £500 cash for their school and some fantastic prizes for themselves.”

We also participate in Safer Internet day every year Safer Internet Day takes place in February of each year to raise awareness of a safer and better internet for all, and especially for children and young people. As part of this annual celebration, we encourage everyone – including children and young people, parents and caregivers, teachers and educators, policymakers, industry and others – to join “Together for a better internet”. Save the date for Safer Internet Day 2024 which will take place on Tuesday, 6 February 2024.

This qualification in business will:

• enable students to understand more about the business world
• motivate and challenge students, and prepare them to make informed decisions about further study and career pathways.

Students can progress from this qualification to a number of different academic and vocational qualifications at Level 3, including GCEs in Business, History, Geography, Economics and Psychology and BTEC Nationals in Business.

The knowledge and skills gained from GCSE Business support students’ entry into employment or other training in specific aspects of business, such as apprenticeships and vocational qualifications which focus on more specialised business areas.

GCSE Business provides a strong foundation for employment, with students progressing, with further training, to a wide range of careers training such as banking, sales, product management and general management.

• Edexcel – Business
• GCSE Business – BBC Bitesize
• Seneca Learning
• Collins Edexcel GCSE Business All-in-One. Complete Revision & Practice