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“A big business starts small.” — Richard Branson.

“You don’t build a business, you build the people, then people build the business.” — Zig Ziglar.

Purpose

In Business, we aim to provide our students with a broad understanding of how businesses are managed and how internal and external influences can impact upon them. Our students will develop the essential knowledge and skills to carry out effective research, and they will also be able to plan effectively and demonstrate financial capability within a vocational context. Students in Business will also develop and will be well-equipped with essential ‘soft skills’ that are transferable and (with positive mindsets) will successfully prepare them for life, whether this be in industry, as a future entrepreneur or a business leader.

Curriculum Features

Key Stage 4: 
The Level 2 BTEC Tech Award in Enterprise is designed to enable our learners to experience business in a vocational context. The course, which is broken down into three linear components, allows students to contextualise their understanding of the business theory taught in lessons by actively studying real enterprises. Students will study entrepreneurs’ characteristics and mindsets and eventually develop their own business ideas by creating a business plan.

Assessment of the Level 2 Tech Award in Enterprise is completed through a series of Pearson Set Assignments (PSA’s) which are written in a vocational context and released by the exam board at given points of the year. The two coursework components are worth 30% of student’s final grade alongside an external examination worth 40% of the final grade.

Students work will go through a moderation process whereby their coursework grades will be agreed upon. Students have a resubmission window of fifteen working days if they wish to improve on their grade. Following moderation there is no further opportunity to improve upon work submitted. Failure to complete coursework in the given window will result in students having to re-sit the component with a new case study.
The two internal coursework components consist of:

• Component 1 – Exploring Enterprises (30%). This unit encourages students to actively research, question, and interview entrepreneurs so they gain a thorough understanding of what it means to run a successful business and what challenges they may face internally and externally.
• Component 2 – Planning for and Pitching an Enterprise (30%). This activity promotes creativity and innovation by allowing students to think of their own business ideas in a particular industry. Students must collect research data, write a detailed business plan, project the financials, and create marketing materials. Students must also pitch their ideas promoting oracy in the subject.

Students will be awarded points for their coursework tasks. These points will accumulate towards their final grade overall. Points awarded are based on students’ application of knowledge throughout their work. Awarding mark band 1 for instance shows the student had limited knowledge, mark band 2 shows adequate knowledge, mark band 3 shows good knowledge and mark band 4 shows comprehensive knowledge.

External exam unit:

• Component 3 – Promotion and Finance for Business (40%). This exam unit consists of a range of multiple-choice, short-answer, and extended-answer questions. Students are expected to understand how businesses segment the marketing and promote effectively to different target audiences. Students will need to confidently create financial documents, analyse the impact financials have on a business and suggest how businesses could react.

This is a synoptic unit and the final grade counts. This will be sat in Year 2 of the course (usually in May).

Enrichment

We enrich our curriculum by:

• Ensuring learners are equipped with a wide variety of life skills.
• Teaching students about a range of cultures and how business is conducted within their country and internationally.
• Ensuring students understand the attitudes and values surrounding Business ethics and morals.
• Ensuring students are informed about a wide variety of further learning opportunities and career pathways.
• Ensuring students can discuss global warming, CSR, business ethics and impact on communities.

Students will have learning opportunities to take part in Young Enterprise events, Business society and Magistrates mock trial competition.