Business Studies

CURRICULUM INTENT

Vision & purpose  

The Business Studies Curriculum at the Stonehenge School is designed to create informed and discerning employees, employers, consumers and citizens  

The students are to become informed, enquiring and discerning consumers, enabling them to understand their rights, make informed choices and avoid negative consequences.  All students will eventually become employees; as they move into this phase of their life, their studies should have prepared for them the recruitment process, to understand their rights and the underlying reasons for business decisions.  For those who wish to become entrepreneurs, a study of business should prepare them for the processes involved and allow them to develop a full understanding of the risks and rewards.  As an employer, those who have studied business will learn value management and leadership skills, as well as aspects of business such as how a business is organised.  

All students, regardless of their future career will need an understanding of finance; through exposure to financial education, they should be able to make informed choices and understand the advantages and limitations of financial products, in order to better manage their finances over their lifetime.   

As a citizen, all students will eventually have the right to vote, and are going to be paying taxes.  Through the study of business, they develop an understanding of the UK taxation system and the role of government and the public sector.  

A business education program involves training students in topics relevant to the business world such as accounting and marketing. However, in the 21st century, it also involves training students in the softer skills such as leadership and teamwork, as well as a range of business and financial knowledge, skills and capability which can be used in the event of them choosing to run their own business, but also as an employee and a consumer.  

Further to knowledge, the purpose of business education is to develop analytical and evaluation skills, therefore enabling them to develop a range of skills that can be applied to other aspects of life.     

In conclusion, business education provides the required theory, explains it through practice and real-life case studies and helps to raise new generations of skilful, informed and responsible citizens.  

Contribution to ethical and moral Issues.  

Business is no longer purely about profit maximisation.  Much more ethical and corporate social responsibility issues are at the forefront of business aims.  Business studies will enable a student to understand ethical and moral issues faced by business and the choices that some businesses make, for example The Entertainer business, a toy shop that refuses to open on a Sunday.  

Through the study of business students can develop an understanding of the following aspects of business that link to ethical and moral values  

• How and why employees and management work together to achieve common goals, rather than purely perusing their own personal aims  

• Fair and honest production and marketing, for example through Fair Trade and advertising standards  

• How and why management can be thoughtful of employees in the way in which they lead, motivate and reward  

• How business will seek to make the most of individual’s skillsets in respect of their contribution and personal strengths  

• How businesses will not lose sight of humanity in pursuit of the profits, for example through the study of non-profit organisations and those that have Corporate Social responsibility objectives  

• How businesses can use the entrepreneurial skills of employees in order to make the world a better place  

• How and why entrepreneurs do not always seek success at any cost  

• How business is responsible for economical and economic effects  

• The role of government in ensuring that all citizens have a minimum standard of living and how businesses and individuals contribute towards this  

 

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