Our Aim

• We want our students to see how successful businesses are run and understand; we want them to understand the role that they could play in a business in the future; and we want them to be inspired to have a future career in business. 
• The course we have chosen gives students the opportunity to cover a wide range of theoretical and practical opportunities that are relevant to future business involvement. 
• The course is designed to allow students to continue their study in a variety of ways: via university; an appropriate apprenticeship; pursuing their own business ideas and ventures; or entering employment after Sixth Form. 
• It also links well with our other KS5 courses, as the business topics are relevant for a variety of future career pathways. 
• We use real world business scenarios and case studies on a local, national and global scale to support student learning; and – where possible – we work with businesses to achieve this. 
• We give students the practical skills to be successful. These include confidence, communication, meeting deadlines, teamwork and independence. 

Our Delivery

• Students will compile work in folders in accordance with the 6th Form work policy and must bring these to every lesson. There will be a folder for all students studying Business Core and a further folder for those studying Business Diploma. 
• Course structure focuses on knowledge acquisition whilst continually building on prior knowledge, creating meaningful schema throughout.
• We make explicit links between the theory and examples learned in different units to support students’ learning. Where applicable, topics will be modelled using real-life business scenarios relevant to specific industries and local, national and global business markets.
• Assessments have also been structured in a way that allow students to build on knowledge and skills systematically, ranging from recall tests, case studies and examinations. 
• A range of DNAs are used at the start of every lesson focusing on knowledge recall; these reflect best practice in terms of regular knowledge reviews.
• Vocabulary is taught explicitly and with a clear focus on Business. Students are given opportunities to develop and use Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary for every unit of work.
• We expect students to think and use meta-cognition. We use individual thinking time, paired and group discussions to achieve this. 
• There will be a clear focus on developing student writing skills and literacy to support their completion of the course. We model how to write, using LSS planning documents: MPOs, SPOs and GSTs.  These are based on the excellent resources found in ‘The Writing Revolution’. 
• Exemplar answers and examiner reports are used in lessons to demonstrate theoretical understanding of the unit, supplemented by examination practice using past papers.
• Students will learn how to interpret data and undertake research to identify relevant material and use this effectively in their work for both examination and coursework assessments. 
• The challenge of a lesson will be the exploration of a topic in more detail and the application of the topic to unfamiliar questions.
• Prep is completed weekly. This may link to previous lessons; be preparation for future lessons; or be linked to upcoming coursework or examinations.