“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”

 

Estee Lauder

 

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Subject Intent:

 

Teaching an expansive and balanced curriculum that will inform pupils of the interactions of businesses in the local area and at a wider scale, developing a broad knowledge and understanding of the enterprise sector.

 

Our curriculum is designed to build a thorough and in-depth knowledge of businesses operations from small to medium enterprises. It is designed to give a real-world experience of enterprises within the local area, Bolton as a whole and the wider national community. Pupils will be able to make more informed decisions in life, and will gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed for the world of work. The curriculum is fully inclusive, ensuring all pupils can access the knowledge and skills despite their starting points.

 

We built the curriculum with the intent that pupils will:

 

• experience a broad, deep and knowledge rich curriculum based on a wide range of small and medium enterprises, across the local and national context, giving a real world understanding of how they operate. Pupils will develop their technical skills (such as market research skills), planning, promotional and financial skills by using realistic work scenarios, and personal skills, (such as monitoring own performance, time management and problem solving).

• be literate and numerate in order to show their in-depth understanding of business and economic patterns and processes. They will be able to communicate, in detail, their knowledge and opinions in order to demonstrate their understanding. Numeracy skills will underpin this capability, through the ability to handle qualitative and quantitative data of real-world events to reinforce the patterns that they discover.

• have high expectations for their behaviour and achievement through engaging experiences within the subject.

• develop their cultural, moral, social, mental and physical development through allowing them to make greater sense of the world they live in, by understanding the interactions of small and medium enterprises in the world around them. We intend to provide our pupils with more complex information about the world, including the relevance of people’s attitudes, values and beliefs.

• be prepared for life beyond the school by building curious, independent and inquisitive individuals who have an appreciation and understanding for the world around them. We intend to equip our pupils with the knowledge and skills our society needs to address modern day issues, deepening understanding of contemporary modern-day challenges and have the knowledge and understanding to succeed in the business environment. In an increasingly unpredictable world, we aim to provide our pupils with the knowledge on which to base resilience, creativity and social understanding and the flexibility to adapt to an ever-changing economic environment.

 

Subject Implementation:

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The BTEC Tech Award in Enterprise consists of 3 components, including both internal and external assessments. Each component builds on the learning from previous components, providing pupils with the opportunity to apply their learning with increasing confidence. It is a practical subject with real life applications interwoven throughout all learning experiences. Pupils will learn about a range of real local enterprises and the factors that contribute to their level of success. Pupils will also be asked to design their own enterprise, moving it through the pitching phase and reflection on their own successes and areas for improvement. A synoptic study will focus on the analysis and interpretation of promotion and finance for enterprises where pupils will explore financial documents and how to use them to monitor and improve the performance of an enterprise in order to make decisions and recommend strategies for success.

 

The following core beliefs underpin this journey.

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• Routine expectations that pupils show resilience in each and every lesson are supported through independent learning resources, with a central focus on a range of engaging material, relevant and contemporary examples and case studies.

• Throughout the key stage, pupils will prepare for an enterprising future by studying and practising the knowledge, behaviours and skills related to researching, planning for, pitching and reviewing an enterprise.  Schemes of learning specifically address technical skills such as market research, planning and promotion and finance.  In addition to these pupils are consistently asked to reflect on their own learning through staff feedback, self-evaluation and peer to peer feedback.   

• Rigorous, reliable and accessible assessment tracks understanding and allows bespoke planning to occur as a result. There are is regular coursework opportunities with feedback, weekly low stakes quizzing and an end of year exam. On-going assessment occurs through teacher monitoring of classwork, coursework produced and discussions with pupils. Outcomes of these are analysed and discussed within the department and interventions and extra support implemented where appropriate. Assessment outcomes are compared to targets to monitor progress. Specific groups such as SEND, DP, MA are closely monitored and intervention, where necessary, is planned in order to reduce gaps.

• A blended approach to pupil’s education runs throughout all that we do, developing a deeper understanding as well as developing independence.  Knowledge organisers support teaching and learning both in school and at home. Microsoft TEAMs is used to set work, allow for learning conversations between staff and pupils and provide a platform for feedback where appropriate.

 

Subject Enrichment:

 

In business, we believe any opportunity to learn beyond the teacher is a positive one. In this way we value learning that occurs both within the classroom and beyond it. Our pupils will have access to frequent, continuous and progressive experiences.  These experiences are used as a tool for teaching, learning and delivering the curriculum. 

 

Enrichment opportunities will include:

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• Local experts and business leaders coming into school to give talks

• Local colleges coming into school to conduct seminars and highlight future employment opportunities

• Visits to local places of employment

• Residential visit to look at marketing in a theme park

• Opportunities to take part in business competitions and simulations such as Young enterprise

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Subject Impact:

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• Ensure the curriculum builds systematic enterprise driven journey throughout key stage 4.  Pupils revisit key concepts and ideas in different contexts in order to allow rapid subsequent progression. Knowledge is sequenced in a way that builds breadth and depth.

• Develop socially aware citizens equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to actively engage with a global business community.

• Develop pupils with an ability to critically think about the modern business world and give them the confidence and skills to change the environment around them.

• Provide pupils with a range of business vocabulary to assist on their enterprise journey providing entry points to further study, training or employment.

• Through the study of Business and Enterprise our pupils increase the range and accuracy of investigative skills, advancing their ability to select and apply these with increasing independence to business and economical enquiry.