In year 9 students learn how to set up and run a small business in terms of finance, staffing and marketing and how the external environment, such as the relevant laws, can affect an entrepreneur. Students work on understanding the theory behind setting up a small business and practice exam style questions.

In year 10 students learn how to grow a small business into a large UK based or even international business. The will cover how to deal with staff as the business grows, how marketing changes with the size of the company and who finances are likely to change a great deal from the small business. Students work on understanding the theory behind setting up a small business and practice exam style questions.

In year 11 the content revolves around evaluating decisions businesses and choosing the best option in any given situation. They work on literacy, numeracy and exam techniques to maximise their grades they can get in their exams. They will revisit topics learned in year 9 and 10 but apply then to topical businesses and the current business issues. The emphasis of the year is to ensure knowledge secure and exam technique is enhanced.

Year 9 Child Development focuses on a Unit that looks at preparing for a new child. This includes looking at the equipment and resources that a new mother may need and evaluating them against set criteria such as cost, safety needs and accessibility. Students also learn about nutritional guidance and feeding solutions. This is then examined in June.

Year 10 child development focuses on children’s development. This includes looking at the different milestones as well as examining the concept of play and how children develop through play

Year 11. Child Development focuses on the responsibilities of parenthood, the antenatal and post-natal checks that happen for new mothers. Students also learn to identify and explain the different childhood illnesses and look at several aspects within child safety.

Year 9 Health and social care focuses on the unit of communication. Students learn about the skills and factors that affect positive communication and how to maintain effective communication with service users at all time. They also explore the barriers to communication and how to overcome them and look at the qualities needed for effective communication to occur. This is finished by students doing a practical assessment where they are able to demonstrate and put into practice what they have learned during the unit. At the end of Year 9, they start their second unit which is on development through the life stages. This includes the milestones young people go through and factors that affect development in later life.

Year 10 Health and Social Care continues with the units on development through the life stages and completes with students having to create a care plan for a case study where they have to put their knowledge into practise. Students then move onto the third unit which is currently about the development of young children. Students learn about the physical, intellectual, emotional, language and social aspects of a child’s development and put this into practise by creating a plan for a child that applies their knowledge.

Year 11 health and social care is when students learn the knowledge needed for their exam unit. This is a unit that covers service user’s rights, the care values that should be applied, the legislation that is important in these sectors and the risk and hygiene areas that staff need to be aware of. This is examined in the summer term.

In Year 9 students learn about the basics of sociology. This includes what sociology is, the different sociological theories (functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism and post modernism). They also look at agents of socialisation and social control and evaluate the impact this has on society. They also study research methods and how they are applied to sociological research.

In Year 10 students learn about how sociologists view the family and education. They learn how to apply the theories from the previous year to these two topics and evaluate the impact factors such as social class, gender and ethnicity have on these two areas.

In Year 11 students learn about how sociologists view crime and deviance. They learn how to apply the theories from the previous year to these two topics and evaluate the impact factors such as social class, gender and ethnicity have on this area. Students then have preparation and revision for their summer exam.