Business
CURRICULUM VISION
INTENT:
What is the curriculum aim / vision for this subject?
- To provide the students with an insight to how businesses operate within the real world and understand the integration of each of the functional areas.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Edexcel GCSE Business
Theme 1 Year 10 – Investigating Small Business
- Topic 1.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Topic 1.2 Spotting a business opportunity
- Topic 1.3 Putting a business idea into practice
- Topic 1.4 Making the business effective
- Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business.
Theme 2 Year 11 – Building a business
- Topic 2.1 Growing the business
- Topic 2.2 Making marketing decisions
- Topic 2.3 Making operational decisions
- Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions
- Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions
Year 11
R066 Market and pitch a business proposal
- Be able to develop a brand identity and promotional plan to target a customer profile
- Be able to plan a pitch for a proposal
- Be able to pitch a proposal to an audience
- Be able to review the strengths and weaknesses of a proposal and pitch
What principles have guided our decision making in developing this curriculum? What is distinctive about our curriculum?
The implementation of new specifications at KS4 has been the main guide in decision making.
Additionally, the courses provided at KS4 offer clear progression to A level courses that offered by the department AQA A level Business and Economics.
How is the timetabled curriculum supplemented or enriched by other approaches to learning?
Each element of the course will be linked to an up to date business scenario. We extensively use Tutor2u blogs which are relevant to the syllabus content. During the ownership element of the course students take part in a stock market investment exercise with real time share prices.
The course content is linked to the wider environment in terms of digital marketing and guest speakers provide additional information to students.
In what ways does the curriculum help to develop …?
- Cultural diversity and identity: Within the course syllabus sources of finance are discussed along with ‘Sharia compliant finance’. Also exchange rates of various countries against the pound will draw upon the diverse family nationalities within the classroom. Business ethics and ‘The Equality Act’ are also part of the syllabus.
- Physically and mentally healthy lifestyles: The impact of the government’s sugar tax is topic of discussion particularly its impact on the marketing of these firms and the link is made to the impact of obesity on the NHS.
- Community participation: The impact on internal and external stakeholders is part of the syllabus. This is related to Calderstones students through the impact of Redrow housing project on Harthill Road and the impact the school has to the revenue of the shops on Allerton road particularly Subway.
- Careers and enterprise: The syllabus is centred around various job roles and each member of the department has extensive industrial experience and advice on future career paths is continually provided.
- Technology and the media: The impact of technology on business is part of the syllabus and the impact of digital marketing.
- Creativity and critical thinking: The nature of the subject requires student to critical analyse various business decision and evaluate which action the business should take.
The Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Business is structured into four themes and consists of three externally examined papers.
Students are introduced to business in Themes 1 and 2 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work. Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information, are developed in Themes 3 and 4, requiring students to take a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues.
Students are encouraged to use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of business, to understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.
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Theme 1: Marketing and people |
Theme 2: Managing business activities |
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Students will develop an understanding of:
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Students will develop an understanding of:
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Theme 3: Business decisions and strategy |
Theme 4: Global business
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This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 2. Students will develop an understanding of:
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This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 1. Students will develop an understanding of:
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Paper 1: Marketing, people and global businesses *Paper code: 9BS0/01 |
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35% of the total qualification |
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Overview of content Paper 1 will assess marketing, people and global businesses. Questions will be drawn from Themes 1 and 4, and from local, national and global contexts. |
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Overview of assessment
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Paper 2: Business activities, decisions and strategy *Paper code: 9BS0/02 |
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35% of the total qualification |
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Overview of content Paper 2 will assess business finance and operations, business decisions and strategy. Questions will be drawn from Themes 2 and 3, and from local, national and global contexts. |
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Overview of assessment
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Paper 3: Investigating business in a competitive environment *Paper code: 9BS0/03 |
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30% of the total qualification |
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Overview of content Paper 3 will assess content across all four themes. Questions will be drawn from local, national and global contexts. For Paper 3, there will be a pre-released context document issued on our website in November of the previous year. A new context will be given to centres each year and will relate to the examination series for the following summer. The context will focus on a broad context, such as an industry or market in which businesses operate. The question paper will be in two sections. The first section will focus on the broad context provided. This will be outlined to centres through the pre-released document. Questions will focus on the broad context. The second section will focus on at least one strand within the context provided, such as a particular business. Each section will contain unseen stimulus materials comprising quantitative and qualitative evidence. Students are required to apply their knowledge and understanding from Themes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and their understanding of the broad context to this evidence. Students cannot take any of their research or investigation data carried out as part of the pre-release into the examination. |
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Overview of assessment
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IMPACT:
What forms do assessments take? What is the purpose of assessment?
The assessment is centred on exam style questions to prepare students for their final exams. The department also uses knowledge organisers which students are tested upon through low-stake quizzes.
How do we know if we have a successful curriculum?
- Assessment information
- Student voice sessions
- Exam results.
CURRICULUM CONTENT
KEY STAGE 4
Click here for the Business KS4 Curriculum Map
For more information, click here to visit the Key Stage 4 courses page.
KEY STAGE 5
Year 12
Click here for the Year 12 Curriculum Map (Foundation Subjects)
Year 13
Click here for the Year 13 Curriculum Map (Foundation Subjects)
For more information, click here to visit the Key Stage 5 courses page.
