Business Studies | Dalriada School

Business Studies

INTRODUCTION

At Dalriada Business Studies is a dynamic course which prepares students for the challenges of the 21st Century by introducing them to the world of business. It emphasises the ever-changing character of business, the diverse nature of business enterprise and the interdependence of the various parts of the business world. Although an academic subject, Business Studies is practical, applied and exciting. It equips pupils with many life skills such as communication, problem solving, time management, team work and decision making. Whether your aim is to pursue an academic career, train for a profession or become an entrepreneur the necessary knowledge and skills will be provided.

DEPARTMENT AIMS

We aim to:

To maintain and/or stimulate pupil curiosity, interest and enjoyment in Business Studies.
To enable pupils to be familiar with a body of business and economic knowledge, principles, skills and vocabulary.
To enable pupils to see Business Studies in the context of a wider body of knowledge and skills.
To enable pupils to understand and use investigative methods.
To enable pupils to develop a range of desirable personal qualities such as politeness, perseverance, initiative and independence.
To enable pupils to be able to work independently and as part of a team.
To employ teaching methods and resources that allow all pupils (irrespective of their gender, ethnic origin, academic ability, etc.) to have equal access to Business Studies and to experience success and enjoyment in their Business Studies work
To develop an awareness in pupils of the implications of business and industry (past and present) for the individual, the community and the environment

OUR STAFF

Mrs LJ Parkhill (Head of Dept)

Miss C Diamond

BUSINESS STUDIES AT KS3

In Business Studies, we aim to develop a greater understanding and interest in how businesses and the economy work so that our pupils will be well prepared for the complex, technical, business orientated world they will enter as young adults.

Each pupil in Year 10 undertakes a ‘Taster Course’ in Business Studies – 1 period for the full academic year. This course introduces the pupils to some basic business concepts such as:

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Business Organisations
Sales and Marketing
Business Finance & Accounting

We want our pupils to discover what it takes to be a successful Entrepreneur and what major decisions they would have to make in order to ensure the survival of their own businesses. They learn about the world of work so that they will know what will be expected of them in the competitive world. As a consumer we want them to be well informed so that when they buy goods and services, they get what they want and know what to do and where to go when they are dissatisfied.

Business Studies is fun, relevant and challenging. We encourage our pupils to have opinions and ideas and to be able to communicate them in the most effective way. Through maintaining strong links with Young Enterprise and local companies our pupils also develop more general business, presentation and team working skills.

Is GCSE Business Studies for me?

This course is both active and enjoyable. You need to be good at communicating and explaining your ideas, and not afraid of learning new things and working with numbers to solve business problems. You will learn how to be a creative thinker and how to make decisions. What’s more, you will also learn about the world of business through research and investigation, as well as through practical tasks.

GCSE BUSINESS STUDIES

GCSE Business Studies is a dynamic, interesting and challenging course. It is completely relevant to the world in which we live today, providing students with realistic learning experiences which they will carry on into life. They learn how to use relevant terms, concepts and methods effectively to describe business and economic behaviour. Within the Business Studies Department, we want our students to develop as independent learners and encourage them to use an enquiring, critical approach to distinguish facts from opinions, develop arguments and make informed judgements

GCSE Business Studies also makes a positive contribution to developing young people as individuals and participants in society, the economy and the environment. During the course pupils will also have the opportunity to visit local businesses and observe entrepreneurship in practice. The subject gives the pupils the opportunity to develop their ICT skills in a business context.

Course Content

Year 11 – Unit One Business Start Up

Starting a Business
Marketing
Business Operations

Year 12 – Unit Two Business Development

Human Resources
Business Growth
Finance
Business Plan

Pupils will be expected to draw on their own experiences of business situations, do some research into local businesses, find out business information from friends and family, keep aware of current business activity in the wider world through watching the news/business programmes on television, reading appropriate articles in the newspapers and researching the internet. Throughout the two year course pupils will have the opportunity of visiting various business organisations such as Tayto, Coca-Cola and McAuley Engineering to see the theory they are studying in class put into action.

What can I do after I’ve completed the course?

GCSE Business Studies prepares you for AS/A2 Levels as well as BTEC and NVQ courses in many different subjects. You will become skilled in making decisions, being creative, solving problems, understanding finance, dealing with data, communicating and working as part of a team. Even if you do not want to go on to study business further you will have benefited from studying a GCSE business course because many jobs you do will involve managing resources and people. However, a GCSE business course could lead to work in a business-related profession such as accountancy, law, marketing or the leisure and tourism industry.

BUSINESS STUDIES AT AS/A2 LEVEL

Our relationship with the sixth form is very much a partnership where we work together to help the students achieve the highest possible grade. This is only possible with co-operation and so as a department we ask for full commitment and work to be completed on time.

As students are studying 3/ 4 A Levels they should spend at least 2 periods a week of their private study time on Business Studies. The time should be spent on note preparation, going over and completing class work and making sure all notes are up to date if they have been absent from class for any reason. Homework set assumes that on top of private study time the students spend 3 hours a week on written homework, reading business related articles, viewing relevant TV programmes and visiting relevant websites as recommended. This does not include revision, which must be ongoing and start inside the first month. We will feel free to test anything studied previously at any time.

Course Content

AS Outline

The AS specification has 2 units:

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

To gain experience in business situations we advise our students to become involved with all extra-curricular activities offered by the department. Business Studies offers students enrichment experiences through:

Young Enterprise Company Programme

This programme is only available for students completing AS/A2 Level Business Studies. It gives the student an opportunity to be involved in a real business. They set up and run their ‘mini-company’ for an academic year, where they produce a product or service and sell within the school and at various trade fairs provide by Young Enterprise. The students compete with other schools/colleges in the region, across the UK and internationally to become Young Enterprise Company of the year. Public liability insurance and legal structure is provided by Young Enterprise.

School Business Team

Every year as a department we are responsible for many Business Management tasks relating to Annual School Production and Evening of Music. Our business team would oversee the selling of tickets, collection of money, seating arrangements, giving out programmes etc. Yet again helps our students to experience business situations and apply their knowledge.

BUSINESS STUDIES WEBSITE LINKS

In Business Studies we encourage all our students to make use of additional resources. We have listed a few websites which are of value to pupils studying GCSE and AS/A2 Level Business Studies.

Exam Board

http://www.ccea.org.uk/business_studies/

Revision Material

www.businessstudiesonline.com

www.bized.ac.uk

www.bbc.co.uk/workinglunch

www.bbc.co.uk › Schools Home › Secondary - Ages 11-16

www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/

www.s-cool.co.uk › A-level

www.timesonline.co.uk

www.tt100.biz

www.tutor2u.net