The Business Department
Welcome to the Business Department headed by Mr Walker and assisted by Mrs Dillon and Mrs Lawrence. At Presdales we aim to provide students with a high quality learning experience which fosters a genuine interest and enjoyment of the business world around them.
Our Vision
Studying business or economics provides an opportunity for students to study the real world of business, finding out along the way why businesses exist and what they do to be successful. Students learn that businesses are likely to be profitable if they meet the needs and wants of their customers but that profit is not the only measure of success. We want students to be genuinely interested in asking why some firms thrive and others fail and likewise with entire economies. We want students be informed and coherent in the language they use to discuss topical issues like Brexit, economic policy and the behaviour of markets and to be able to apply their knowledge to extended case studies in order to construct purposeful written answers. We want them to use data to interpret and understand events and to be able to apply numerical and graphical skills in order to help them solve problems and make decisions. Students are encouraged to ask searching questions about social responsibility, the environment and ethics and explore the conflict between profit and ethics.
We also encourage students to take responsibility for some of their own learning by studying independently and we will provide regular formative feedback so that they can improve their knowledge and understanding of important concepts and be able to answer examination questions well.
Our Aims
The aims of Business & Economics are to enable students to:
- Develop an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the subject
- Appreciate the contribution of economics to the understanding of the wider economic and social environment
- Develop an understanding of a range of concepts and an ability to use those concepts in a variety of different contexts
- Use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of economics and develop an ability to think as an economist
- Understand that economic behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives
- Promote learning outside of the classroom about current economic and business events
- Develop analytical and quantitative skills, together with qualities and attitudes that will equip them for the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities of adult and working life
The new GCSE course we have opted for is the Edexcel/Pearson Business GCSE (9-1) 1BS0.
The course is split into two broad complementary themes called Investigating Business and Building a Business. Theme one develops the concepts of entrepreneurship and the practicalities of setting up a new business including external economic influences. Theme two then explores how businesses grow and looks at operational and financial decision making along with human resource management and recruitment. Both themes are examined with two 90 minute terminal examinations split into 3 sections, A,B & C and requiring skills of calculations, multiple choice, short answer and extended writing.
The course is a good base for progression to Year 12 where we offer Business A level and Economics A level separately. It is also useful to prepare students for the concepts and knowledge required for vocational study such as BTEC. Those considering their own business one day in the future will find the grounding that this rigorous GCSE gives useful.
