Business

All students are invited to study business in Form I. In two periods per week the students are introduced to ‘The Business of Living’, which is the title of the first section of the Junior Certificate syllabus. This allows the students and teacher explore familiar concepts and ideas (income, expenditure, budgeting, consumers, etc.) and in this way they can start to develop a formal knowledge. Students will be asked: Why do certain 17 year old footballers earn more in a week than a professional person, e.g. a nurse or a teacher, will in a year? Why is it more expensive to insure a €5,000 car than a €500,000 house?  What do you do when a shop assistant won’t deal with your consumer problem?

In Form I, the students are introduced to the trading, profit and loss account, and balance sheet of a private limited company. This acts as an introduction to financial recording and, during second and third year, the skill of double entry bookkeeping has to be mastered. Form II introduces students to the study of economics and, with the recent upheavals in the domestic and global economies, the students have had great fun putting forward their theories on how to save the world!! In Form III, students focus on exam preparation.

In Transition Year, Business is a stand alone course, designed to cater for the needs of students whether they have studied business before or not. The aim is to develop students’ skills in report writing, problem solving, team work, analysis, management and financial accounting. After this course, students will be able to make an informed decision about choosing Business or Accounting for Leaving Certificate.

The Leaving Certificate course consists of seven units: People in Business; Enterprise; Managing 1 and 2; Business in Action; Domestic Environment and International Environment. The course is challenging, but rewarding and if the student has an interest in business, he will find that the materials covered will be stimulating, engaging, worthwhile and real-world.