Business Studies

The Chalfonts Community College

What an exhausting day!

Today was spent at Chalfonts Community College where I ran several classes covering GCSE and A2 Business Studies. The schedule was fast and furious. Four classes with year 11 where we dealt with Lambeth Glass Factory the pre-seen case study for OCR.

The fifth class was a joint group one bringing all the pupils together. Here we went through the syllabus applying it to various aspects of the case study. There wasn't time to cover the whole syllabus so groupwork was preferred. This way - I hope - pupils will revise both the syllabus AND the case study. Whilst this was going on a 'select few' were separated from the others. They had a very special task....

To wind up the session the 'separated' group were brought to the front and they had to answer questions. To the immense credit - of both groups - the questions were thoughtful and the answers, detailed. A credit to the school.

As a conclusion a few pupils (chosen by their teacher(s))had to read through a playlette written especially for the school. The playlette was based on the Catherine Tate show but about 70% of it was serious. I have used this model on various training courses. The idea is that aspects of the syllabus are covered, together with several lines about 'being bovvered'. THEN there are gaps in the script and it is those gaps that are the most meaningful for here the pupil has to ad lib and the watching teachers could then gauge the depth of knowledge, the amount of revision done

Following this was a lunchtime class with 80+ pupils in year 10....

This was perhaps the most daunting as I have little experience in teaching at this level. What could I do with a group who would be missing lunch to attend? There they would be, thinking of their sandwiches, cooked meals or whatever and there would be me, prattling on about Business Organisation, public companies, aims of a business, sources of fiance and the like.

The key was variety.

The first 10 minutes or so was spent in a 'Weakest Link' type quiz where I whisked round the group asking 'difficult' questions (exmple: 'what is 'plc' backwards'). If the question was answered incorrectly then the pupil sat down. (Some questions were harder such as: 'Name one difference between a private and a public company.)

Then the (large) group was split into several smaller ones and pupils, working together, had to answer test questions. The first group that finished had to act as surrogate teachers i.e. wander round and help others.

I collected in the tests and PRETENDED to tear them up - much to the surprise of the watching crowd. (There were several other teachers in the room so I knew I'd be OK if things got nasty. Which reminds me, at another school in London one pupil in particualr DID get nasty - but that's another story - and is written up on the Timed Ed site in the Behaviour section...) Then followed about 5 minutes of dictation. ('Boring' thought the group, lunchtime could be spent at least another 10 more interesting ways...)

Finally one pupil was asked to make a speech - on anything EXCEPT Business Studies. (There were only 120 seconds left of the lesson.) Whilst he made the speech I mind mapped what he said (it was about football - a very important subject!) and continued. Then I left the group with a task - simply to put the name 'Tony Buzan' into Google and see what happened.

So in about 45 minutes we covered a) quick fire questions b) group test c) brief dictation d) introduction to mind mapping.

All go!

The afternoon was spent with the A2 group studying Applied Business. Here we covered Force Field Analysis, PMI, pareto, leadership styles, types of power...i.e. Module 11 of the syllabus.(We also covered Theory R as a complement to Theory Z - but that's an aside...) The group was small but their knowledge was impressive.

The overall purpose of the conference was to raise money for The Dystonia Society  a charity I have supported for a number of years in the main because of this 

Teachers often ask me when I visit schools how their pupils' knowledge compares with other schools. Of course I only have a snapshot and most of the answers, discussions are oral. However it seems clear to me that Chalfont have some outstanding pupils in year 11 - I know several students studying A2 in Oxford who (orally at least) know far less! It would have been tempting to match the best year 11 with perhaps the 'less best' in year 13...but then again, perhaps not as Year 13 too seemed well prepared for their (very soon) examinations! Clare especially (though I am sure all the pupils are equally good.)

One final thought for Alex (year 11) if you are reading this (which I doubt...) Though your chosen career is being a mechanic, one day you may need the business basics you've been learning at GCSE (like when you set up your own compny and hire other mechanics to work for you) so why not try your best and get the highest possible grade!!!

Go for it!

Chris Sivewright

Conferences here, there and everywhere!

I have been running some conferences recently at schools. (For further details about the conferences see Oxford Conferences ) Group sizes have varied from 75 to just 7. All the fee for the conferences goes to The Dystonia Society

Recent conferences have been on:

a. GCSE Business Studies Case Study
b. Mobeen - AQA AS Business Studies
c. IKEA - Edexcel Business Studies
d. Windows (HWW) - Edexcel Business Studies (A2)

The conferences have a long track history as on the Oxford Conferences site there are testimonials dated back over several years.

Look at what the conferences offer:

a. tailor-made to suit the school
b. very little inconvenience for the school - just the classrooms and getting the kids together
c. the cost is usually less than a Supply Teacher for the day
d. I take materials to the school - especially written for them

If schools venture out to one of the revision conferences run by the commercial companies they:

a. often don't know much about the speakers
b. the cost is a lot more - the fee for the conference, travel, cover
c. the arrangements are far far more - parental permission, cover, lesson rescheduling

And yet...5000 and more go to these conferences whereas I visit maybe 30 schools a year, perhaps 1000 pupils.

It simply doesn't make sense. As the fee goes to charity I am not going to spend shed-loads advertising the conference service - after all I have been doing it for 5+ years and the site is pretty self-explanatory.

So why do schools venture out, spend a lot more for a service that may well be inferior. (Not saying it is, just that it might be)

The answer lies in the make-up of the teachers.

It's not their money.

I have been to several teachers seminars. At each one I ask the teachers why they went. Typical answers include:

'It's a day off school. It's lovely to come here and relax'
'I like coming to seminars like this. To be able to get away from school and meet other teachers'
'It's a chance to discuss things about school without actually being in school'
'It's a day away from teaching where I can meet other teachers'

Note that none of them actually commented about the seminar. This is not a criticism - they could have thought the seminar was fantastic. The point is that they liked the time away from school, the chance to meet etc...

The obvious thing, it seems to me, is to run a seminar where there's free booze, lap dancers, taxi to the station - oh yes, chuck in a manual as well. This, the teachers can show to school to prove they've done something worthwhile.

The conferences I do?

I'm off to Liverpool on Friday, Newcastle and London next week. I go to them. It's a conference designed entirely round their pupils, their syllabuses.

Obviously not as good as a day out!

The files I have used recently are uploaded here:

Download customer_service_trends.doc

Download customer_servicesspeech.doc

Download windowontheworld.doc

Download ikea_case_study_analysis_for.doc

At the last school I also handed round a sponsorship form to raise money for the Dystonia Society. I am gong back to school in ten days and will try and lose weight in the interim.

It all adds up!

Chris Sivewright

Make sure you get the sob story right!

Sob stories such as:

'My pet has just died'
'My parents have just separated'
'I was mugged'
'All my notes were stolen'
'Our teacher left and no-one replaced him/her'

A good sob story can boost results by up to 5%.

Add that to lenient marking owing to dyslexia - if you 'pass' a test for dyslexia simply go private and you're more likely to 'fail' and thus get extra time - plus extra time for foreign students (even though their English may be better than some English pupils....

All part of the skills in passing!

Know the system, attend the right seminars, buy the right book...

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has reported a 9 per cent rise in successful claims last year, with only three in 100 turned down.

Yes, 3% refused!

Worth a try!

Students are given a week after each exam to make a plea for special consideration through their school.

There is even a tariff of appeal grounds, ranging from a 2 per cent upgrade for "serious hay fever" or a broken limb on the mend up to 5 per cent in "exceptional circumstances".

In 2007, there were 300,378 requests for special consideration granted compared to 274,967 in 2006 and 255,200 in 2005.

So over a quarter of a million were given extra marks owing to these 'extenuating circumstances'.

If all else fails, learn the subject.

"Since when has good attendance been a pre-requisite for sitting an exam? "

This is the astonishing statement from the Academic director of a college in Oxford. This particular college takes thousands of pounds from students and in return provides tuition on Foundation Courses (Business Studies) . Success on such courses means that students are then accepted by University.

The passmark is 40% and that includes homework and a case study (where students see the questions well in advance and can take in notes)

So what does this mean?

It means that if a student is 'reasonable' at English and has a fair amount of common sense then they can miss a lot of classes and yet still be allowed to take the exam - and pass. (It's not difficult to score above 40% for homework and a 'seen' case study which means your exam mark can be less than 40%)

A student can therefore attend classes sporadically and, when attending, because they have been absent for prior lessons, slow down the class. This is because preparatory reading will not have been done, homework set ('prepare this chapter') not done etc.

The result is that slower students lose out in class because they are held up, waiting for others.
Plus faster students, too, are held up because they too have to wait. (I am not talking about a 'minority' here but in a class of 8, if 6 miss a lesson when they return the two who have attended both lessons will be held up.)

In addition regularly attending students will hardly be motivated by the non-attendance of others.

What of the staff?

Well, when an Academic Director emails that 'Since when has good attendance been a pre-requisite for sitting an exam? ' what motivation is there to chase up students?

In fact, in this particular school in every single classroom there is a notice detailing to students how they can complain bout teachers - and yet not one notice explaining how they can praise teachers!

I despair.

Myths and Rumours

For Christmas a relation gave me this book: "They Never Said It: Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes and Misleading Attributions". An admirable book, funny - and surprising.

The fact that so many of the quotations were in fact 'misquotes' got me thinking about the lies and rumours told about me/OSL over the years.

As it is the festive season I have chosen the four biggest whoppers...

Lie 1: 'The Principal has a criminal record'

In 1986, when the Oxford School of Learning Ltd was started, the Principal was Darcy Stanmore. Darcy had nothing to do with Education - he worked full-time for British Leyland, Oxford. The reason he was 'Principal' was that it became obvious that if I set up a business in competition to the many tutorial colleges in Oxford, and that business subsequently failed, I'd have no employment to fall back on. This was borne out by the problems we initially had with the Accommodation Officer. The lady concerned - Peggy - had for years rented out rooms to students enrolled in tutorial colleges. She received a phonecall from 'College X' saying that IF she became involved with the Oxford School of Learning then she would never ever be sent students by 'X' - and quite probably the same would apply to other colleges. Letting rooms was Peggy's main livelihood - of course she couldn't give that up, chance it on Oxford School of Learning. So we had to appoint someone else. Anyway, back to Darcy. Darcy was unknown in the tutorial world in Oxford - which is not surprising because, as stated, he had nothing to do with Education. However that did not stop colleges trying to smear him. I was called in by a particular tutorial college - the conversation went like this:

Michael (Principal) : Chris, do you work for the Oxford School of Learning?
Me: I am thinking of doing so, yes.
Michael: I wouldn't, if I were you.
Me: Why not?
Michael: The Principal, he started up a college in Cambridge 2 years ago. He took everyone's fees and then closed it down. None of the tutors were paid. Nothing - and he kept all the money. If you do end up working for him make sure you demand all your fees upfront - i.e. a term in advance.

I told Darcy this and he wanted to go and 'speak to' Michael - but of course, I knew Michael would just deny it so there was nothing that could be done. Interestingly, the first 3 tutors employed by the Oxford School of Learning all demanded an entire term's fees up front which, of course, was refused.

The reason for the hostility?

The Oxford School of Learning a) paid tutors more than any other college and b) charged 50% less than any other college.

Lie 2: You have seen the exams and that's why they won't sack you.

I used to work at St Aldate's College.  I stress, this was 20 years ago and much has changed since. One day I was walking down the High Street, in Oxford and bumped into a Business Studies tutor. He and I both worked at St Aldate's. 'You're lucky to keep your job' he said.  I was taken aback by this and asked him why. 'Everyone knows you were going to be sacked but you blackmailed St Aldate's' he said.
Astounded, I asked for more information.
He didn't hold back.
'You and I both know what happened. You broke into the safe and stole the Business Studies papers. because you now know what is in the papers you are able to run revision courses. St Aldate's caught you and were going to sack you but you threatened to tell everyone how lax their security was and so they have done nothing.'
I tried in vain to reassure him that this was not true - and anyway, why had no-one told the board?
'Easy' he said, 'Some of the students you teach are their students and as you know what's in the paper, they too will gain.'
There was nothing I could do to convince him he was wrong. Interestingly, a few weeks later I ran a revision course in a hotel. This was open to anyone - the exam was in the afternoon.
A stranger turned up, saying he'd heard about the course and could he come in. I accepted his £10 and started the course. It was due to last for 3 hours as the exams were in the afternoon.
Five minutes into the course the stranger asked, 'Please, do you actually know what is in the exam as that would be the best way to revise.' I explained to him that i didn't BUT my intention was to quickly cover about 80% of the syllabus and thus there was a very good chance that most of what was in the exam would be covered in the next 3 hours.
8 years later I found out that the stranger was from the AEB

Lie 3: You sit outside my college and shout abuse at my students - every Wednesday

In the 1980s I spent some time working at The Royal Latin School  - and what a fabulous place to work it was (and is!) Only illness forced me to resign. Anyway, whilst I was working there - full-time - I heard rumours that a Principal at another college was compiling a series of letters signed by students saying that I would sit outside the college and try and convince the students to leave. The source of this information was the Computer Studies teacher, a close personal friend of mine. She had access to all the computer files and had seen the letters - signed. I met up with the Principal (he later spent £000s in the High Court in facetious claims against me that my own solicitors were able to counter in one short paragraph.) The Principal sat next to me and the conversation went like this:

Principal: I have seen you sit outside our college, every Wednesday afternoon shouting at my students. You try to make them change college.
Me: That is untrue. I teach in Buckingham on Wednesdays, indeed, every day and that is 30 miles away.
Principal: That does not alter the fact that every Wednesday you sit outside my college trying to poach students.
Me: I can prove I teach in Buckingham on Wednesdays.
Principal: You probably only teach there in the morning. I have letters galore from students saying that you do this - and these will stand up in any court.
Me: I repeat, I am not even in Oxford on Wednesdays.
Principal: Your term time is shorter than ours. As I said, I have the letters.

And with that the conversation ended. I have no doubt he does have the letters - or at least, did then. I knew one of the students - he was convinced the college was annexed to Oxford University and he was paying £7000 for qualifications I was running for less than £150.

Not surprising the Principal wanted me to be trashed!

Lie number 4: The reason Chris Sivewright's results are so good is because he changes the exam papers before they are sent off.

About ten years or so ago, I was Director of Studies at St Joseph's Hall, Cowley now called King's School. Whilst there I interviewed a prospective student who was also applying to join another college, in town. The student was well known to me as I knew her sister who worked at the Linton Lodge Hotel, in Oxford. Often, as Oxford School of Learning, I had run courses there. During the interview she revealed an astonishing accusation made against me. This is how the conversation went:

Jennifer (student): I was also interviewed by Terry at 'College X' last week.
Me: Oh yes, I know Terry well.
Jennifer: He said that the reason you get such high pass rates is that you change the papers before they are sent off. Is that true?
Me: Of course not. I find it very surprising that he should say such a thing. If I write to you/your parents please would you confirm what you have just said?
Jennifer/parents: No, we do not want to be dragged into anything like that. We are just letting you know for your own benefit.

Students in Oxford are big business. If a student enrols (now) with 'college Y' then he is probably charged £50 an hour, for every hour. Plus he will pay £150 or more for accommodation (some colleges take a cut on rent) plus exam fees, seminars, registration etc. Therefore a student who has 15 hours individual pays, say, £750 a week for tuition. The tutor receives about £20 an hour (though some colleges pay only £15). That's £450 clear profit on that student just on the individual tuition - let alone all the other sources of revenue!

But it was still surprising that Terry should stoop so low.

So there's my four classic lies over the years. There have been many others - the Chief Examiner saying to a group of teachers that I was the cause of the syllabus change, several teachers (not knowing what I looked like) saying to me at seminars that 'Chris Sivewright doesn't really get people through exams in 4 hours - that's just people re-sitting and that's 4 hours a day/week'; the Japanese student who went to the Police and told them I was dealing drugs from my house (he was unhappy with his homework mark); the 16 year old who claimed his English tutor was 'completely stoned' and his 'supervisor' then saying I was aware that 'X' was the tutor (when I wasn't as I had not appointed him, and wouldn't have done so.)

Yes many stories, the tutorial college that regularly lied to parents over exam predictions made by tutors to make sure the fees kept coming in, the Geography tutor who has sex with his pupil every lesson instead of teaching her, the 18 year old who posed as a tutor for 2 years, teaching a subject he had never ever studied; the tutor who regularly revealed exam questions before the exam, the college that was caught doing the same...yes, I know where the bodies are buried!

Have a good New Year!

Beauty is in the eye.....

They say that with a good advertising slogan, anything can be sold. Image can be everything. So, if selling ART does the painting have to be any good? But, before you answer, is there any reason why a 2 year old cannot produce artwork that is valuable?

I ask these questions because of this story in the Daily Mail which tells of a 2 year old toddler who 'fooled experts'. It was more the comments (written by his Mother) that did the fooling though. The painting 'Sunrise' was described thus: "A bold use of colour. Inspired by the 'plein air' habit of painting by Monet, drawing on the natural world that surrounds us all."

For a painting entitled The Black Elephant the comment was: ""The striking use of oriental calligraphy has the kanji-like characters stampeding from the page, showing the new ascent of the East. It is one of Linsky's most experimental works.""

Why not expand the picture and then show it to others to guess the value - you may be surprised!

It will be interesting to see what happens to the painting now as a gallery in Berlin that hopes to exhibit the toddler's painting have still not found out his real age. As an aside, what will happen to the value of these painting if in years to come he is hailed as a genius?

Product recall

From the Sunday Times a classic case of 'product recall':

A BRITISH children’s author who named a mole Mohammed to promote multiculturalism has renamed it Morgan for fear of offending Muslims.
Kes Gray, a former advertising executive, first decided on his gesture of cross-cultural solidarity after meeting Muslims in Egypt. The character, Mohammed the Mole,appeared in Who’s Poorly Too, an illustrated children’s book, which also included Dipak Dalmatian and Pedro Penguin, in an effort to be “inclusive”.This weekend Gray said he had decided to postpone a reprint and rename the character Morgan the Mole even though there had been no complaints.

I had no idea at all of the sensitivities of the name Mohammed until seeing this case in Sudan" said Gray. “As soon as I saw the news I thought, oh gosh, I’ve got a mole called Mohammed  this is not good.“I feel incredibly sorry for that teacher,” added Gray. “Luckily for me, I’m in a position where I can avoid this.” The book has sold 40,000 copies in Britain and abroad since 1999"

A classic case of external events affecting production decisions!

Having said the above it should also be pointed out that:

• 10,000 British Muslim families have bought teddy bears named after a Muslim prophet to raise money for Muslim refugees in Sudan.
• The bears have been sold by the Islamic Society of Britain since 2004 with proceeds going to the charity Islamic Relief.
• The money raised has helped Muslims displaced by floods and the state-sponsored massacres in Sudan. The society said the bears  which have sold out were “much loved by parents and children alike”. Half of each bear’s £15 price tag goes to charity.
• The toys were marketed as Adam the Muslim Prayer Bear by the society’s council, which is advised by top Islamic scholars and academics.
• The bears were named after Adam, who as well as being the first human in the Christian account of the creation, is also revered as a prophet in Islam.
• The bears recite the Islamic greeting “assalamu alaikum” (peace be with you) when their paws are pushed, and add lines such as “In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most kind”

With the growth of Islam as an economic power (Muslim cola anyone? ) perhaps SLEPT should be changed to PLESER (Political, Legal, Economic, Social, Environmental, Religious) with technology being part of all of the environments ...

A novel way to attract staff

There are job adverts...and then there are job adverts.

But here's a novel approach:

"The third teacher, out of a total of four, to become pregnant within three years is off on maternity leave from 25^th February so why not come and teach at possibly the most fertile school in the county? Work life balance? It’s obviously not a problem here.

 

We need someone to teach a Reception class of just 15 children. We can provide a classroom assistant, IWB, laptop and PDA, large covered outdoor area, your own budget and free tea and coffee. A post may also be available as either full or part-time from September.

 

We are a friendly (possibly too friendly considering the circumstances) small village school with ninety children, seven chickens and corporate membership of the neighbouring health club and pool. OfSTED, bless them, rated us Good or Outstanding in all areas last year and we need someone able to maintain and help develop this standard, be kind to the children and remember to wash up their coffee cup. Visits are encouraged."

What a place to work!

See the full details: here  

Yet again, the value of private coaching......

Tonight I am writing a reference for David Jankilevitsch. David attended Aiglon College, in Switzerland.  Before he came to us (Oxford School of Learning) he was (in his own words) looking at a Foundation Course in a third-league University.

Now, after a few 'crammer' week-ends and a one week Easter course he's setting his sites on Oxbridge or similar. He felt that he was being viewed as  a privileged kid with no academic ambitions. His results came out in the summer  - the highest grade A in the history of his school!

So, it is possible, to achieve results beyond your wildest dreams (or the dreams of your teachers) IF you plan your study - and are motivated enough. Which reminds me, I hope people are buying a book by a former student of ours: It's in the Blood: My Life by Lawrence Dallaglio

Of course, Lawrence is a former student of ours - he was less than an academic success before coming to the Oxford School of Learning. After a few months he took his A levels, passed easily and then, well, the rest is in his autobiography.

Talking of which, if you do buy the book, have a look at page 75.

And David?

Just google his name and see what he has achieved.



Chris Sivewright

To see all of Chris's courses click here  

McClaren - an opportunity that will be missed

Sven was sacked - but not his assistant.
McClaren was sacked - and his assistant.

I wonder why?

But that's not what I am going to write about tonight. McClaren's sacking presents an incredible opportunity to give football back to the people, to make the England team truly representative - and to raise £millions for those most needy.

Remember this club? It's a club owned by the Members - and they pick the team!  For FAQs see here.  Clearly, in a land that has become used to the National Lottery, we could adopt the same system for the national team. In fact it would be to the advantages of the England team as there'd be millions of scouts watching potential England players every week. The votes on team selection could be on a pay-per-vote (as per X factor) plus the £m raised in shares could be used to give to chareitieis etc. Think of the pride restored to the team - players earning their place through the votes of millions of supporters! The sense of duty. The sense of pride.

What wouldn't happen is stories about the 'injured' captain appearing in the News of the World:  

The News of the World can reveal the disgraceful scenes at the party also included:     Terry being so drunk he URINATED on the floor and in a cup. Another player begging two lapdancers for a THREESOME. 

             

Some guests getting so drunk that they VOMITED  on the floor.                 

An ugly SCUFFLE between Wright-Phillips and a female guest who dared to take his picture.                 

Terry, missing from action through a knee injury, BOUNCING up and down on his bad leg with dancers.              

An England team, picked by millions of English managers! Tactics for the day to be decided by the Head Coach but, no more Scott Carsons in goal when he is not even first reserve....