The challenge of the A2 year and how it significantly differs from AS is that students need to be aware of what is happening in the real business world; this is a huge challenge for us as teachers.
I ask all of my A2 students to read the BBC business news every week, and actively encourage them to download the BBC App to their smartphones if they have one, but they don’t always need to use technology for the news. They could even just read the Metro on the way into college.
My A2 students have a “Business Studies News Quiz” every Thursday to complete on their own, the scores are then added up and I record these every week for each half term. After that a ‘winner’ is announced and given a small token to recognise this achievement. In addition to this, I ask all my groups to participate in ‘News Story of the week’ whereby one student out of each group is asked each week to produce a newspaper front cover with a hot topic from that week’s news; I have had stories ranging from the state of the economy, Steve Job’s death, the Blackberry internet failure & the bankers’ bonuses. These stories then go on the notice board for all to see in the main Business corridor.
I was surprised how much my students became interested in the news, discussing stories with me as they entered the classroom, and asking for the Business Studies News Quiz each week – I think the element of competition helped as well!
Each week I will provide a quiz with answers all sourced from www.bbc.co.uk that you can use with your groups and hopefully help their preparation for Unit 4.
Business News Quiz – 10th November 2011
- How much are Anglo-French electrical goods retailer Kesa to sell Comet for?
£2 ( )
£5 ( )
£10 ( )
£12 ( ) - Which of the following major airlines was forced to ground its flights after a major industrial dispute?
Lufthansa ( )
Virgin ( )
British Airways ( )
Quantas ( ) - By how much have Ryanair’s half-year profits risen?
20% ( )
53% ( )
33% ( )
13% ( ) - What from Steve Jobs famous quotes below, did he say he would spend his dying breath doing?
“Make sure you destroy Android” ( )
” Apple is going to reinvent the phone “ ( )
“And one more thing” ( )
” Be a yardstick of quality” ( ) - What profit was made by Marks & Spencer in the 6 months to October 1st?
£320.5m ( )
£250.5m ( )
£720.5m ( )
£950.5m ( ) - Following on from Question 5 – how did that figure differ from the same period last year?
+10% ( )
-10% ( )
+8% ( )
-8% ( ) - Why are Ford UK’s workers threatening strike action, for the first time since the 1970’s?
Changes to their working hours ( )
Changes to their pension scheme ( )
Changes to the plant they work at ( )
Changes in break times ( ) - Which of the Young Apprentice candidates was fired this week after bring the wrong candidates into the boardroom after a flower arranging task?
Ben Fowler ( )
Harry Maxwell ( )
Hannah Richards ( )
Lizzie Magee ( ) - What happened to the Eurozone’s retail sales in September ?
They were 1.5% lower than the same period last year ( )
They were 1.5% higher than the same time last year ( )
They were 2.5% lower than the same period last year ( )
They were 5% higher than the same period last year ( ) - The CBI has forecast that the unemployment rate will increase from 8.1% currently to what level next year?
8.9% ( )
10.5% ( )
8.5% ( )
10.9% ( )
Bonus point if you can tell me who the CBI are? Add up your scores and give me the total out of 11…
Donna Jestin
Business Studies Teacher Notre Dame Catholic 6th Form College & Senior Examiner for AQA
