Welcome to Business Studies

The Business Studies curriculum at Evelyn Grace Academy is designed to spark pupils’ imagination and inspire commercial thinking as they develop their business knowledge through this challenging yet rewarding course. Our teaching focuses on contemporary business context, marrying the theory and practical aspect of business and enterprise to engage students inside and outside the classroom. The department seeks to enable strong performances in both comprehension and analytical skills through the examination of case studies and current affairs with the aim of molding astute and aware young adults. Students will learn to study and deduce information from a range of written and non-verbal sources and applying this to business ideas, themes, and contexts. Throughout their journey in the Business Studies department, pupils will be engrossed in a challenging yet rewarding curriculum that will change the way they perceive the world and will prepare them for the challenges ahead in adulthood.

Knowledge-rich

To be able to build and expand on these skills, a foundation of knowledge must be developed. Students may have little-to-no prior knowledge of business themes and concepts, such as the basics of enterprise skills, Market Research and Risk and Reward. Thus, it is vital to explore business through both micro and macro perspectives, and this is done through examining local businesses as well as large multi-national corporations. Students will be able to identify the similarities and differences between small and large businesses whilst critiquing and arguing for and against the different business strategies learned on the curriculum, further strengthening understanding, as well as written and analytical skills.

Vocabulary-rich

It is imperative for students to grasp the key terms and phrases to articulate themselves correctly over the duration of this course. From the first lesson, a consistent emphasis will be placed on verbal responses. Each lesson will be supplemented with key terms which will provide students with an anchor and reference point for their learning that day. Students will be encouraged and motivated to refer to these terms and link them with prior leaned knowledge. They are then challenged to integrate these terms in their written and verbal communication, consequently deepening their knowledge and understanding. Key terms and vocabulary will be used with the aim that students can further deepen the richness of their vocabulary. This will also be developed by group presentations, where pupils will need to present various ideas whilst using provided concepts and terms in order to demonstrate their analysis and evaluation.

Progression Planning

As per academy expectations, the Business Studies department lessons centre around a single measurable objective and are organised into four parts: Do Now, Activation, Demonstration, and Consolidation. Where possible, we encourage an independent writing activity lasting around 20 minutes in every lesson. The Business Studies curriculum at Evelyn Grace Academy has also recently been updated with a focus on progression planning. Every lesson has been planned from scratch and aligned to the current business climate to include examples of popular local and larger business case studies which our students can relate to and recognise as a result. Excellent planning allows students to form a strong foundation where knowledge and skill are the key components of success. Our aim is to create a culture of error that allows students to think outside the box, understand their mistakes and see how important such mistakes are for learning to take place. In addition, our pupils take part in collaborative learning where the classroom is a tool to master skills and knowledge that will be relevant through to their adult lives. For instance, each student is provided with a curriculum overview that they refer to every lesson to ensure that their single measurable objective matches with their curriculum They can, therefore, plot progress backwards from the outcomes defined for the assessment points. This process aims to give students a level of control and self-regulation in their learning that allows them to replicate and apply learned knowledge and skills in exam conditions. This process ensures that all teachers and students have a clear roadmap to success.

Mastery

Our curriculum will include well-planned opportunities to retrieve essential knowledge and master its application. After every summative assessment, we carry out feedback lessons planned around the specific gaps in knowledge that need filling for each class. Furthermore, students are encouraged to master the core knowledge gained from year 10, this is done through Do Now tasks which are made up of interleaving questions at the beginning of each lesson, as well as low stakes quizzes during the unit before the main assessment. Students revisit knowledge not only in a current unit, but in other units as well to keep knowledge embedded. Appropriate placement is critical to teaching mastery. If students are placed in material that's too difficult for them, the amount that students must learn is much greater than 10-15% of a lesson. They cannot master the material in a single day when there is too much that they do not yet know. In Business Studies, pupils follow a four-part model which aims to break down the teaching of new content by building and exercising previous learning over the two years with a variety of skills through group work, individual presentations, and business projects.

Enrichment

In year 10, Business Studies students will have a chance to attend various assemblies hosted by our local entrepreneurs to get an insight of the business world’s perks and challenges. We will also get a chance to visit Cadbury World on an educational trip which covers Business GCSE topics. In this trip, students will explore business ownership, business activity and competitors, business aims and objectives, functional departments, and shareholder and stakeholder interest. Moreover, students will gain an understanding of how Cadbury has collaborated with various companies and organisations to ensure ethical business practices and adapt their product to meet the changing requirements of both consumers and governments.

Course: Business

Level: GCSE (10-11)

Board: Edexcel/Pearson

All Year 10 subjects

All Year 11 subjects