Business

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Thamesview Curriculum Intent and Implementation

Curriculum Intent for Business Studies

The Business curriculum at KS4 will start of by introducing students to what is Business and Enterprise. Attention will be given to enterprise and entrepreneurship, spotting a business opportunity and putting a business idea into practice. As students progress, they will start to examine how businesses develop beyond the start-up phase. Focus will be given to key business concepts, issues and decisions used to grow a business, with emphasis on aspects of marketing, operations, finance and human resources. The Business curriculum at KS4 is for learners who wish to develop a commercially minded and entrepreneurial understanding of business that allows them to succeed in their chosen pathway. Assessment will be in the form of 2 externally assessed units that assess i. Investigating small businesses and; ii. Building a business. At KS4, content is sequenced so that students can build on prior knowledge. For example, in Unit 1 the Marketing Mix is introduced, and in Unit 2 this is examined in more detail looking at Price, Product, Promotion and Place. The content in Unit 1 introduces students to business concepts, which is suitable for those that have not studied aspects of Business Studies before.

The Business curriculum at KS5 will start of by allowing students to explore the business world; whereby learners will study the purposes of different businesses, their structure, the effect of the external environment, and how they need to be dynamic and innovative to survive. The foundations of this will permit students to develop their business knowledge further through both internally and externally assessed units. The Business curriculum at KS5 will encourage students to continue in their education through applied learning opportunities. The aim of the lessons will be for students to contextualise assignments that have been issued; working towards either a Pass, Merit or Distinction level. The curriculum provides progression to the workplace either directly or via study at a higher level. Assessment will be in the form of internally and externally assessed unit. At KS5, content is also sequenced to allow for students that have no prior knowledge of business to gain a firm understanding of concepts and key terms. As the programmes of study progress, units will focus on more niche and specific areas of business i.e.; Finance and Marketing.

At both KS4 and KS5 careful consideration has been given to the content, knowledge and skills. The former is made up of assessments that focus heavily on low level questioning and knowledge/ application skills; in addition to case study approaches that encourage analytical and evaluative approaches. For KS5, consideration has been given to the units selected and the assessment methods. Most exams at KS5 in Business provide students with a pre-released case study to help students contextualise the assessment. In addition, BTEC qualifications offer internally assessed units too.

Links to Whole School Intent.

At both KS4 and KS5, the Business department has regularly embedded knowledge rich opportunities for students to explore further. This will be presented in the following formats;

Core knowledge: Students will always be provided with the core knowledge required in line with the specification and the Scheme of Work. This will often be presented as learning objectives which will be the focus of the lesson. Students will be provided with skills-based knowledge and key terms/ vocabulary to help underpin their understanding.
Substantive knowledge: In Business, students will often be required to factually recall key term definitions and formulas (this may also extend to advantages and disadvantages if applicable). In doing this little, but often students will be able to sustain factual pieces of information into their long-term memory.
Procedural knowledge: All assessments in Business follow a very similar skill set and structure. So that students can apply this suitably to the exam, where applicable past exam questions will be modelled. Every six lessons a low stakes assessment will be recorded so that we are able to monitor students progress in this area.
Hinterland knowledge: Business is all around us and so it is very easy and beneficial for case study examples or news articles to be feed into teaching and learning so that students can relate to the Business knowledge through real life application.

The Business curriculum provides many opportunities for challenge and deeper thinking. Using real-life Business examples will allow students to explore schools of thought from a profit and non-profit perspective. Students will be given the opportunity to debate and explore different impacts (through both the specification and personal opinions). Communication is encouraged through many channels; especially written and spoken. This is done through assessment questions and class discussions/ debates. Reading is developed by encouraging students to read outside of the classroom, whether that be The Times online or case study articles.

Curriculum Implementation for Business Studies

In the Business department, a variety of teaching and learning strategies are used to enable students to be able to contextualise business theory with real life Business case studies. This will include questioning, independent research, modelling and regular retrieval practice. Clear focus is given in lesson that enables students to meet targeted assessment objectives based on criteria given. The following pedagogical practice can be seen across the Business department:

Scaffolding/ modelling; This will often be done at KS4 when students are newly introduced to a topic. For example, when being introduced to Break-even Analysis this will be scaffolded across the lesson starting with introducing the formula, providing data and then constructing a break-even chart/ analysis. At KS5, scaffolding is done by allowing students to enter their zone of proximal development as outlined by Vygotsky.
Independent learning; A key feature of KS5, independent learning is encouraged. This will often involve students selecting the organisations that they want their assignments to focus on and conducting the necessary research in relation to this. The private study periods at KS5 also encourage independent working outside of the classroom.
Questioning; At both KS4 and KS5, questioning is often targeted to students in line with the assessment objectives. Questioning is presented in verbal form or written form (especially for low stakes assessments).

In Business and Accounting, where high stake assessments are done a whole class gap analysis will be conducted- this will allow feedback to inform common mis-conceptions and individual intervention plans. Assessments also inform exam skills that need further focus.

Links to Whole School Implementation.

At KS4 and KS5, Rosenshine Principles of effective instruction is utilised in a number of ways:

Review, checking previous work (and reteaching if necessary); this will be done via the low stake assessments done in every lesson. At KS4 this will be the norm at the start of every lesson either in the form of a ‘do it now’ task or past exam practice. At KS5 this will often be done in line with the assignments that are being written and building on previous learning to develop knowledge required for that lesson.
Presenting new content/skills; this will depend on the key stage that is being taught. At KS4 new content and skills are often presented in the form of a PowerPoint which may incorporate questioning, modelling and case studies. At KS5, in addition to the above, new content and skills is often introduced in a ‘discussion’ format, that allows students to enquire, challenge and reach their zone of proximal development
Initial student practice; At KS4 and KS5, students are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills taught to case studies and questions. Where applicable modelling will be used to demonstrate new concepts or tricky concepts.
Feedback and correctives; In Business, this is done in line with the school policy. Feedback is given in form of green pen time, whereby students are able to correct, add or if applicable re-do their work based on individual or whole class feedback. Modelling will be utilised if common mis-conceptions are apparent.
Student independent practice; This is often done as a red task where students are able to apply what has been taught to a particular question, activity or case study. Pace and timings are important here so that the student is able to remain focused.
Weekly and monthly reviews; As previously mentioned, this will mainly be done through low and high stakes assessments (in line with the school’s assessment policy)

Subject knowledge within the department is often developed via CPD courses and webinars that are offered by the exam board; these are often unit specific and are able to provide detail and specific knowledge and guidance. It is also a common feature to make contact with colleagues from local schools to gain support where required. Pedagogy is often developed during departmental meetings whereby a focus will be given i.e.; ‘Exam Structure’; ‘How to mark’. Examiner reports are also very useful at informing teaching and misconceptions that apply to particular topic areas.

How Impact is measured within the department

In the Business department at both Key Stages, data is used to inform staff of students that are on, above or below target. If a student is below target, data can help inform intervention stratgies that can take place. The use of data also helps to identify if there is a correlation between groups i.e.; low attenders, SEN, PP students in addition to those that are on the borderline of their target grade.

The Business department will monitor whether intent and implementation is being met by:

Conducting learning walks
Sharing good practice within the department
Conducting book looks
Data analysis

HILTS

Source: Economics, Business and Enterprise Association (EBEA)

Strategy 1 – Retrieval Practice:

Retrieval practice is any task which requires pupils to retrieve concepts or facts from their memories. This is often referred to as ‘test-enhanced learning’ or more simply as quizzing. This aids performance in terminal exams because being required to retrieve information from your memory increases long-term retention of this information, making it easier to recall in the future. This is known as the ‘testing effect’. This has been shown to be much more effective than re-studying information (Brown, Roediger and McDaniel, 2014). Some techniques which can be used to effectively use retrieval practice in the classroom include:

Start each lesson with a quiz that reviews the material from the last lesson and also some material that was covered last week and last month. These should be ‘low stakes’ quizzes where the marks are not collected (Rosenshine, 2012). At TVS we do this through the ‘Do Now Activities’ that focus on learning for the previous lesson. They are differentiated with past exam questions ranging from 1-6 marks; levelled as basic, challenge, superstar.
Use quizzes which require all pupils to answer such as mini-white boards or coloured/lettered cards. This ensures all pupils do the cognitive work required to answer the question. These are incorporated and hyperlinked with the knowledge organisers for students to perform as part of revision for low stakes or cumulative assessments.
Use quizzes as homework to review material from previous lessons. Not dressed as quizzes, but homeworks are compiled of 15 marks worth of multiple choice questions, and 5 marks work of low level questions.
Knowledge organisers – A knowledge organiser specifies in detail, the facts and knowledge that all pupils will need to know and remember about a particular topic. These can be used for in-lesson quizzes by giving blank grids to students which they fill in, or as homework – pupils can ‘self-quiz’ at home by covering up one side of the knowledge organiser and writing out the knowledge from memory. They can then self-check this and correct any mistakes. They can also ask parents or friends to test them on the material. Pupils can be asked to learn sections as homework, to then be tested on at the start of the next lesson. In Business, these are used to support homework and revision for assessments. All are available on the TVS website and have interactive elements in the form of a video and quiz to take.

Strategy 2 – Concrete Examples:

This is the use of specific examples to explain abstract ideas. This makes the idea easier to grasp and remember (Willingham, 2009). One of the main writers on cognitive psychology, the Learning Scientists give the example of the idea of scarcity. Scarcity can be explained as ‘when something is rare it can be said to have a higher value’. This may be difficult for pupils to understand and remember. However, when using the example of aeroplane tickets becoming more expensive as the day of the flight gets nearer and there are fewer seats available, the idea is easier to understand and remember. Most recently used in 1.5 when discussing the external environment and the impact of job losses, inflation, increase in interest rates etc.

Strategy 3 – Elaboration:

Elaboration means explaining and describing an idea with many details. This may also include connecting the idea to other ideas and connecting the material to the pupils’ experiences, memories and current knowledge. This is achieved through questioning including asking pupils for clarification, explanation, contextualisation and speculation. This helps to develop deeper understanding and ensure that this meaning is transferred into the long-term memory (Dunlosky, 2013). Used in most lessons when demonstrating a business idea that can relate to the students as consumers/ customers. Often I pick a student at random and ask them to pick a business experience of their choice.

Literacy

Reading and Writing in the Business Department

Reading at KS4:

Done in lesson via, reading the case studies, questions, model answers
Homework, reading questions
Exam structure map in folders and on the wall

Writing at KS4:

Answering a range of levelled questions
Live modelling answers
Exam structure map in folders and on the wall for connective words and scaffolding
Definition of key terms
Core knowledge from PPT
End of topic assessments; teacher assessed

Literacy- Next Steps document (Business)

What successful readers look like within the discipline – define the qualities

Strong and coherent understanding of key terms and vocabulary
Being able to contextualise key terms in line with the case studies provided in assessments and lessons
To be able to digest key information from the text or case study
Understand the skill set and requirements for question terminology i.e.; state, define, explain, discuss etc.

The pitfalls students encounter when reading in your subject – how will you address the pitfalls, what will be your strategies?

Coming across new vocabulary and not being able to pronounce the word or use it accurately contextualise a case study or question
- Strategies: In class reading and practice, encouraging wider reading within Business, key terms board, knowledge organisers with key terms
Command words- some students still aren’t able to apply these correctly in assessments or through direct questioning
- Strategies: Each student to have a laminated prompt sheet for exam terminology and command words
Case studies themselves are often long and students are unable to focus
- Strategies: Practice, reading in class, time prompts in lesson

The skills successful readers need to achieve within the discipline – how will students be taught these skills

Sometimes case studies themselves focus on organisations/ products that students don’t have access to
- Wider reading outside of the classroom will support this
Students don’t always fully understand the words used in questions (i.e.; pros and cons)
- Getting students to write down words in their books that they don’t understand (i.e.; alternatives with the same meaning)

How the department will support reading through the curriculum

Encouraging students to read from the PowerPoint or case studies.
Teaching students how to highlight a case study correctly based on the command words used in assessments

How the department will quality assure disciplinary reading within the department

Creating knowledge organisers as a team
Being consistent across the department with the connectives used in exam structure
Learning walks
Book looks

Contacts for the department

Elizabeth Terry

e.terry@thamesview.kent.sch.uk

Business

Knowledge Organisers - for the attention of parents and students

Thamesview Curriculum Intent and Implementation

Schemes of work

Subject Core Knowledge Maps

Assessment

HILTS

Literacy

Contacts for the department

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