Personal Development

SMSC & Cultural Capital

Year 10

  • Students experience fascination, awe and wonder through the study of the purpose and nature of businesses, the reasons and rewards in starting a business and the dynamic nature of business (including the types of ownership).

  • Students explore the values & beliefs of others through the study of the characteristics and objectives of an entrepreneur. Students will also study the aims and objectives of business and their use in judging success and contribution.

  • Students develop their understanding of human feelings and emotion through the study of the benefits of training employees for a business (including increased productivity, ability to deal with changes and challenges, on the job training and off the job training). Students will study the benefits of a motivated workforce and strategies used.

  • Students investigate moral values and ethical issues through the study of the ethical and environmental considerations that businesses must be aware of when setting their objectives. Students will also discuss the trade-off between ethics and profit.

  • Students recognise right & wrong and apply it through the study of environmental responsibility, fairness and honesty in business. Students also study employment law, including the Equality Act and the National Living Wage, Health & Safety at work and Consumer Law. Discrimination is also studied.

  • Students develop their understanding of consequence through the study of the different legal structures that businesses adopt and their consequences for the business.

  • Students develop personal qualities & social skills through the study of good customer service, including techniques businesses use to provide good customer service. Students study the importance of communication, body language and image.

  • Students participate, cooperate & resolve conflict through discussions, group work and pair work. Students will be given the opportunity to work together on presentations. Students will also study the conflicts business face between stakeholders, methods of minimising environmental impact on community and changing levels of employment and income.

  • Students develop their understanding of how societies function through the study of the nature of business (e.g. the three sectors, Primary, Secondary & Tertiary). Students will also study organisational structures and different roles and responsibilities.

  • Students explore, understand & respect diversity through the study of the purpose and nature of business. Students will recognise that businesses face a constantly changing business environment due to changes in technology, economic situation, legislation and cultural expectations.

  • Students participate & respond to cultural activities through organised talks involving local entrepreneurs.

  • Students develop their understanding & appreciation of personal influences through the study of technological advances, E-Commerce and digital communication. Students must also demonstrate knowledge of the impact of globalisation. Students will also study the benefits of a motivated workforce and strategies used and the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

Year 11

  • Students experiencefascination, awe and wonder through the study of promotional methods used by business to influence consumer behaviour. This includes both traditional methods such as media advertising and PR, to price offers and the more recent use of social media. Product differentiation, brand image and Unique Selling Points are also studied.

  • Students explore the values & beliefs of others through the study of customers. Students must recognise the importance of identifying customers and satisfying customer needs.

  • Students develop their understanding of human feelings and emotion through the study of market research. This includes the use of various research techniques that can be used (e.g. focus groups and interviews).

  • Students investigate moral values and ethical issues through the study of the appropriate use of market research and appropriate application of the research methods used to gather information from people.

  • Students recognise right & wrong and apply it through the study of the importance of identifying customer needs, providing a good service/product that customers will buy and avoid costly mistakes. Racial, Gender and Age discrimination is also studied.

  • Students develop their understanding of consequence through the study of topics such as cash flow. Students must understand the consequences of cash flow and recognise how and why cash flow forecasts are constructed.

  • Students develop personal qualities & social skills throughout the course. Students will develop their appreciation of objective setting, the ability to empathise (e.g. with customers and competitors) as well as the importance of being reflective.

  • Students participate, cooperate & resolve conflict through discussions, group work and pair work. Students must make judgements on the performance of a business through the interpretation of information contained in some income statements.

  • Students develop their understanding of how societies function through the study of the various channels of distribution used by businesses to gain access to potential customers. Students will also analyse the growing importance of e-commerce and m-commerce in society and how it can extend the global reach of businesses.

  • Students explore, understand & respect diversity through the study of types of segmentation. Students will understand how and why different businesses use segmentation to target customers based on gender, age, location and income. Cultural differences are studied when analysing international trade, outsourcing and companies moving production abroad.

  • Students participate & respond to cultural activities through organised talks involving local entrepreneurs. Students are provided with the opportunity to interview these successful entrepreneurs.

  • Students develop their understanding & appreciation of personal influences through the study of the purpose and methods of market research (such as to identify market opportunities and to get a better insight into their customers and competitors.

Year 12

  • Students experiencefascination, awe and wonder through the study of Business Dynamics, including the meaning of business, market opportunities and the use of inspirational vision statements and aims. Students will also study Myers-Briggs personality types and preferences (e.g. extraversion v introversion etc.).

  • Students explore the values & beliefs of others through the study of stakeholders and ownership. For example, students will develop an understanding of stakeholder involvement in decision making.

  • Students develop their understanding of human feelings and emotion through investigation of potential markets, socio-economic characteristics and increasing their knowledge on the characteristics of target markets. Students will also investigate methods of motivating employees and others.

  • Students investigate moral values and ethical issues through the study of the complications of leadership and management. This includes moral and ethical issues associated with different approaches (transformational v transitional, people focus v operational focus, risk seeking v risk minimizing etc.).

  • Students recognise right & wrong and apply it through the study of external business opportunities and threats, analysing relevant external environmental forces, including making decisions based on economic, technological, social and ethical circumstances.

  • Students develop their understanding of consequence through the study of the implications of using different legal forms of business (such as sole traders, LLPs, Co-operatives etc.).

  • Students develop personal qualities & social skills through improved understanding of the importance of target setting in business planning and the importance of clear communication with groups such as stakeholders/funders etc. Students also study the role of management in reflecting, planning and driving improvement Research and team-working is also analysed.

  • Students participate, cooperate & resolve conflict through the study of support network groups (e.g. family, social groups, government etc.) and their benefits (such as financial support, knowledge, experience, skills etc.). Problem solving is also studied.

  • Students develop their understanding of how societies function through the study of organisational structure (e.g. tall, flat, centralised, decentralised, matrix, hierarchical).

  • Students explore, understand & respect diversity through the research and study of target markets and their key (often varying) features. Discrimination laws are also studied.

  • Students participate & respond to cultural activities through the study of the meaning of entrepreneurial behaviour and the ways in which entrepreneurial behaviour can be demonstrated.

  • Students develop their understanding & appreciation of personal influences through the investigation of the roles of managers and leaders in a changing environment. Students will study types of change that can influence people personally (and businesses) as well as external environmental forces (such as economic, social, ethical, technological, legal and political influences) and there effect.

Year 13

  • Students experiencefascination, awe and wonder through the study of management and leadership, including how to create an inspiring business vision. Students will consider potential business ideas and identify potential products and target markets.

  • Students explore the values & beliefs of others through the study of various theories of motivation (such as Herzberg, Maslow, Locke and Vroom). Students will also research potential key stakeholder requirements.

  • Students develop their understanding of human feelings and emotion through analysis of empowerment (e.g. in terms of sharing information, rewards and power with employees). Students will also analyse methods used by managers and leaders to inspire people into believing in and following the business vision.

  • Students investigate moral values and ethical issues through the study of marketing and the importance of honest communication (e.g. maintaining message consistency and target market approval).

  • Students recognise right & wrong and apply it through gaining a full understanding of how change resulting from strategic and tactical responses to identified risks/issues are managed effectively.

  • Students develop their understanding of consequence through the study of business proposal review. For example, strategic contingency planning, analysing risks, seeking evidence and ensuring the business image is not negatively impacted on as a consequence of poor planning etc.

  • Students develop personal qualities & social skills through the study of event management and change implementation (e.g. the use of ADKAR). Students learn how to use research to inform operations/financial planning.

  • Students participate, cooperate & resolve conflict through studying management decision making process and approaches to problem solving (e.g. FOCUS and business canvas model). Students study factors affecting the performance of teams (e.g. personality types/organisational culture) and factors that hinder change (e.g. self-interest, misunderstanding or lack of trust/tolerance).

  • Students develop their understanding of how societies function through consideration of different types of power (e.g. legitimate power (coercive and reward) and personal power (expert and referent). Legal issues are also studied.

  • Students explore, understand & respect diversity through the study of the ability of managers to lead and empower employees. Addressing different employee motivational needs according to variations in their own characteristics, roles and circumstances.

  • Students participate & respond to cultural activities through developing a business proposal – researching, modelling and testing it. Students will deliver an event, ensuring they play a full part, acting out their roles and responsibilities and assisting in gathering audience feedback.

  • Students develop their understanding & appreciation of personal influences through the study of target market characteristics and influences on behaviour (e.g. cultural, social, personal and psychological).

Linking Curriculum to Careers

Year 10

  • Entrepreneur, Opening a Franchise, Business Advisor, Stock Broker

  • Banking, managers, Human Resource Managers

  • Lawyers, Business Manager

  • HR Officer, Recruitment, Trade Unionist, Lawyer

  • Sales, Payroll, Trainer.

  • Production Operative

Year 11

  • Marketing Executive, Researcher

  • Sales Manager, Store Manager, Promoter

  • Accountant, Actuary, Customs and Excise 

  • Banking and Finance, Chartered Accountant

  • Post 16 Education in Business Studies and Common Paths Overview

Students in the sixth form have high rates of attendance.
Ofsted 2020