The Business Faculty continually strives to provide students with up-to-date, relevant information on current industry practices and an awareness of ever-changing technologies.
Our aim is to provide students with skills and processes that allow them to integrate seamlessly into the world of work and become confident young women capable of making decisions that reflect the triple bottom line in business – financial, social and environmental responsibilities.
The Business subjects offered at the College are Accounting, Business Communication and Technologies, Legal Studies, Fashion and Business Studies.
Faculty staff are committed to maintaining up-to-date technological skills and providing students with:
- meaningful and relevant information gathered from the latest business magazines, newspapers and the internet
- innovative and relevant learning experiences
- cross-curricular integration in relevant subjects
- an appreciation of business standards in work performance, social conscience,
- an awareness of the ever-changing business environments.
- develop skills which enable them to participate as informed and responsible citizens, consumers and workers
- recognise the excitement in, and possibilities of becoming an entrepreneur
- understand the need to record, report, and interpret business data to make informed decisions for business success
- develop teamwork and individual organisational skills and the importance of communication in these processes
- participate in and evaluate the outcomes of small business ventures
Accounting
Accounting provides students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the processes involved in recording, analysing, interpreting and reporting financial data using both manual techniques and computer software packages. Students become aware of the importance of correct data for making informed decisions as well as the social, ethical and professional responsibilities in accounting.
Moreton Bay College recognises the importance of young people receiving a broad-based education, comprising both general and vocational components in the senior school, to prepare them for citizenship, further education, training and employment.
Business Communication and Technologies
Business Communication and Technologies explicitly combines general and vocational education components. Through this convergence, students are provided with opportunities to achieve a variety of meaningful and relevant outcomes. In the first place, a student's exit assessment may contribute to the calculation of an Overall Position (OP) and Field Positions (FPs). In the second place, students wishing to enrol in related vocational education and training (VET) on leaving school will be eligible for appropriate credit towards courses offered in the same industry area by other VET providers. In the third place, students have the opportunity to develop entry-level competencies required in the workplace.
Specifically, Business Communication and Technologies is designed to equip students with:
- the ability to communicate effectively and to interact confidently through and within a business environment, within either the private or public sector
- the ability to use a range of business information technologies, appropriate to both the private and public administration sectors
- the ability to apply a range of individual and group strategies to resolve issues and complete tasks within both private and public sector administrative environments
- the ability and willingness to question existing private and public sector administrative practices from a variety of viewpoints, for example, financial, technological, social, ethical and cultural
- the ability and willingness to be enterprising in developing solutions to problems encountered within a business environment.
Students develop knowledge, reasoning processes, skills and attitudes associated with this course through a contextual learning approach. This approach exposes students to a variety of experiences commensurate with the needs of different private sector business offices and public administrative situations and provides students with meaningful learning experiences.
Business Studies
Business Studies provides opportunities for students to understand how to:
- participate as responsible citizens in business environments
- make consumer decisions to meet the needs and wants of self and others
- work individually and collaboratively to empower them to make informed business decisions
- increase financial literacy competency
- develop entrepreneurial skills by creating a product, registering and running a business
Students investigate the ethical, social and moral responsibilities for both employers and employees in business environments as well as reflect and develop their own ethical practices. As well, students incorporate into their learning an understanding the ever-changing global environments within which businesses operate and the need to appreciate the beliefs systems from other cultures. By examining the role of the consumer in a global society, the girls at Moreton Bay College become aware of their own rights and responsibilities in becoming effective consumers.
Through the use of real life business activities, students examine sustainable work practices within business environments and develop an understanding of the need for policies to be developed in relation to work practices, as well as the need for continual review of polices to keep abreast of changes in relevant legislation. Students learn to accept responsibility for their part in ensuring the continued well-being and safety of themselves and others in the work environment by identifying safe work practices.
An awareness of developing financial independence is instilled in the girls through activities such as participating in the Share Market Game.
Students use of a range of applications to work with numerical and spatial concepts and techniques such as spreadsheeting, examination and preparation of financial documentation and reports, preparation of accounting information both manually and electronically and the design of official documents. Through the use of a broad range of software applications students are able to develop the necessary skills to function effectively outside school through the use of practical living skills.
By working in teams on realistic business projects, students learn to respect the need for individuals to work collaboratively to achieve desired business outcomes. They learn that individual commitment to teams develops self-confidence, improves self-esteem and enables them to examine the difference that effective teamwork makes to the workplace. Furthermore, they understand and appreciate the need for all team members to communicate effectively and interact confidently to achieve successful outcomes. As well as verbal communication, Moreton Bay College girls are able to prepare a variety of genre relevant to the business world and understand the importance of correct grammar, spelling and vocabulary when communicating in the real world.
To assist in developing their full potential throughout the Business Education course, the girls at Moreton Bay College are encouraged to progress and achieve to the best of their ability. They are encouraged to develop the confidence to seek assistance when desired and are assisted through the provision of a supportive classroom environment where they learn to work independently, autonomously and in teams.
Legal Studies
Through involvement in Legal Studies, it is hoped that Year 11 and 12 students will be better able to recognise the numerous legal situations and issues that arise in their everyday lives. These situations and issues often have legal implications that affect the rights and obligations of themselves and other community members. An outcome of this course of study is that students will understand the historical and social factors that have led society to regulate certain activities within it.
Students have responsibility for accessing and using information from diverse sources on matters affecting them. Through critical analysis, examination and problem solving, they are empowered to make decisions which may benefit not only the individual but also the community. Throughout their study, students will collect, analyse, organise and evaluate the quality and validity of legal information. Students will also plan and organise inquiry activities, observations and other forms of data generation, to comment on the social relevance of law in local communities and Australian society.
Tourism
The study area specification has been developed as a two-year course of study for a broad range of students in Years 11 and 12. It comprises both general and vocational education components and is designed to provide students with a variety of intellectual, technical, operational and workplace skills. It also provides an understanding of the role of the tourism industry and the structure, scope and operation of the related tourism sectors of travel, hospitality and visitor services.
The development of students' tourism-related knowledge and skills will also allow for the development of the key competencies, in contexts that arise naturally from the learning experiences and assessment practices of the subject. In the course of their studies, students will collect, analyse, organise information, individually and in teams, particularly in the performance of practical tasks. They will plan and organise activities, and will have opportunities to propose and implement solutions to tourism-related situations. They will be involved in communicating ideas, information, opinions, arguments and conclusions, in a variety of formats for a variety of audiences. As part of their learning and classroom experiences, students will have opportunities to employ mathematical skills, and will be continuously involved in using technologies related to tourism business.
Tourism aims to help students:- gain basic knowledge and understanding of tourism and the tourism industry
- develop confidence in a range of tourism contexts
- appreciate the contribution of tourism studies to personal and professional development and lifelong learning
- appreciate cultural and ecological sensitivities as they relate to sustainable tourism
- demonstrate attitudes such as personal flexibility and cooperation in work teams and with clients
- develop respect for a high standard of moral and ethical behaviour
- appreciate the need for effective communication within the work environment
- develop a responsible attitude towards the safety, health and wellbeing of others in the work environment.
