Business

Intent

The Business department at Oulton Academy aims to provide students with the opportunity to learn about the way in which businesses and their employees operate in the real world. In addition to the substantive knowledge gained, we aim to equip them in the longer term with employability skills, the ability to take advantage of business opportunities if they arise and resolve business problems using their knowledge and understanding.

Students develop and practise their entrepreneurial skills by applying business theory to case studies and investigating a range of businesses where appropriate. By the end of key stage 4, they will be more able to think independently and analytically, reaching logical evidence informed conclusions and making reasonable recommendations for change.

The department provides a knowledge-based curriculum; the substantive knowledge underpins and enables aspects of the course. Students cannot think like a business person unless they have crucial knowledge about different aspects of business activities upon which to base their decisions. Students are expected to express their decision-making skills using both short and extended written formats and therefore the course provided allows them to develop generic analytical, critical thinking and evaluation skills.

Objectives

We strive to create a curriculum which:

• Enables all students to gather the required knowledge to be able to understand and apply the learning, developing their interpersonal skills
• Enables all students to apply their Business and Enterprise learning by applying to real life situations by using practical situations, where relevant
• Enables all students to use their knowledge and skills so they can make a high standard of attainment and progress, whilst also preparing them for the future

Implementation

The GCSE Business qualification is a rich and varied subject that prepares students for all aspects of working life. It is divided into 2 key themes to aid sequential teaching. Theme 1 will largely focus from the perspective of setting up a business. Topics are ordered in such a way that it will give students a clear sequential pathway. We start by looking at what makes a successful entrepreneur, then move through the key topics that are crucial in business start-ups: Market Research, Competition, Sources of Finance, Profit, Break-even, Marketing and Location, before we finish with the external influences that affect businesses being taught at the end of theme 1. Theme 2 is taught with a growth focus throughout, allowing students to make the clear link from what they have learned in theme 1 of the course by looking at how to make the small businesses bigger and better. We begin by firstly looking at the critical marketing decisions (directly builds on knowledge from theme 1 as a stepping stone), before moving on the operational decisions, financial decisions and people decisions. The final topic looks at a holistic view of business growth which uses knowledge from each of the previous 9 topics over both themes 1 and 2.

Our vocational courses include both the OCR Enterprise and Marketing and the WJEC Retail Business qualifications.

The enterprise and marketing qualification encourages students to develop the practical skills and applied knowledge they’ll need in the business and enterprise sector. The qualification begins by teaching the key knowledge from the exam that also allows students to start the first piece of coursework (R068) (market research and segmentation) – both of the units are taught concurrently during the remainder of the R068 coursework, where applicable. The final coursework (R069) begins towards the end of the first year, which has a focus on branding and promotion. This again features overlap from the examination unit that allows a small amount of the to be taught at the same time. Once the final coursework has been completed during the second year of the qualification, the remaining knowledge of the examination unit (R067) is taught ready to be sat by the students at the end of the qualification.

The retail business qualification will develop students' knowledge and understanding of the retail business sector and provide them with opportunities to apply their understanding to that sector. The qualification begins by introducing the background to retail, looking at the different types of retailers, their aims and types of ownership. After developing the core knowledge, students can they start to investigate customer service in retail business. This will provide the basis of the first piece of coursework. It will also enable the concurrent teaching of the research skills from the examination unit. Towards the end of the first academic year, students can begin the second piece of coursework to assess the key principles of merchandising and promotion used by retail businesses. Once the final coursework has been completed during the second year of the qualification, the remaining knowledge of the examination unit is taught ready to be sat by the students at the end of the qualification.

All 3 key stage 4 curricula are designed this way to enable students to have a clear progression of the step by stages in setting up a business and the key aspects that the entrepreneur would need to think about. This will help boost entrepreneurialism.

Review and evaluate 

The Business department are themselves life long learners and so are reflective on all our practises, we are proactive in investigating best practise and sharing this learning and understanding across our network of schools. 

Further Information

If you require more detailed information, please email the Head of Department. Mr Mason:

P.Mason@oultonacademy.org.uk