Page 106 - Bellfort Magazine 2025

The Business Studies Department is dedicated to equipping students with the knowledge,
skills, and confidence needed to thrive in today’s dynamic and competitive world. Our
curriculum is designed to be both engaging and practical, offering students a strong
foundation in key business concepts such as finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, and
management.

We believe that real-world application is essential to understanding business principles and
why we have offered numerous opportunities to our students to allow them to gain the real-
world experiences. Our department has emphasized interactive learning through projects,
case studies, enterprise activities, and guest speakers from local businesses. These
opportunities have allowed students to connect classroom theory with real business
practice, developing critical thinking and decision-making skills along the way.

Our dedicated and experienced staff have committed time to supporting each student’s
academic journey. Whether students aim to pursue further education, enter the workforce,
or start their own business, we strive to nurture their potential and encourage ambition. At
Dunclug College, Business Studies is more than a subject — it’s a gateway to future
opportunities.

Year 12 GCSE & Year 13 CTEC- Business Studies- trip to Wrightbus

As part of the Year 13 CTEC course on Business Events the group were set the task of
organising a trip to focus on the secondary sector in terms of production for the Year 12
GCSE Business Studies class. The Year 13 class were successful in their bid to receive funding
from the Mid & East Antrim Council to cover the cost of the transport to and from the
Wrightbus factory. All of our students were given an exclusive behind the scenes tour and
were able to learn about business growth, the manufacturing processes and the importance
of quality standards and the awards that they have received in recent years.

We would like to thank both Wrightbus for allowing us to visit and also to the council for
providing the funding to cover the costs of the transport. The hands-on experience provided
such a valuable insight into how a leading business operates and thrives in Northern Ireland.
It was such an informative and engaging tour and we hope to build on the connections
made.

Year 13 Travel & Tourism- Masterclass with Young Enterprise

The Year 13 students were very fortunate to be able to take part in The Tourism Masterclass
that was kindly delivered by Young Enterprise. The students focused on the growing industry
within Northern Ireland, and it provided our students with an insight into the range of
experiences and places to visit that Northern Ireland has to offer. The discussions were very
valuable to our students to provide them with current data and statistics that they could
then use in their coursework tasks and relate to in their examination preparation. Students
then worked to complete a task in which they worked in teams to create an event which
would draw tourists to the local area of Ballymena. This process allowed them to consider
how lucky we are to be based in such a lovely area of Northern Ireland and how many
activities we have to offer.