Wheelers Hill Secondary College Senior School Handbook 2020

VCE Humanities

Accounting

It is strongly recommended that students successfully complete Year 10 Introduction to VCE Accounting and Business Management before enrolling in Units 1 & 2. Successful completion of Units 1 & 2 is highly recommended for enrolment in Units 3 & 4.

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:      

Unit 1: Role of Accounting in Business

This unit explores the establishment of a business and the role of accounting in the determination of business success or failure. In this, it considers the importance of accounting information to stakeholders. Students analyse, interpret and evaluate the performance of the business using financial and non-financial information. They use these evaluations to make recommendations regarding the suitability of a business as an investment.

Students record financial data and prepare reports for service businesses owned by sole proprietors.

Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate the application of the Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance, and take into account the range of ethical considerations faced by business owners when making decisions, including financial, social and environmental.

Unit 2: Accounting and Decision-Making for a Trading Business

In this unit students develop their knowledge of the accounting process for sole proprietors operating a trading business, with a focus on inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets. Students use manual processes and ICT, including spreadsheets, to prepare historical and budgeted accounting reports.

Students analyse and evaluate the performance of the business relating to inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and non-current assets. They use relevant financial and other information to predict, budget and compare the potential effects of alternative strategies on the performance of the business. Using these evaluations, students develop and suggest to the owner strategies to improve business performance.

Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate application of the Conceptual Framework, financial indicators and ethical considerations for business owners when making business decisions, including financial, social and environmental.

Unit 3: Financial Accounting for a Trading Business

This unit focuses on financial accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor, and highlights the role of accounting as an information system. Students use the double entry system of recording financial data and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording.

Students develop their understanding of the accounting processes for recording and reporting and consider the effect of decisions made on the performance of the business. They interpret reports and information presented in a variety of formats and suggest strategies to the owner to improve the performance of the business.

Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate the application of the Conceptual Framework, financial indicators to measure business performance, as well as the ethical considerations of business owners when making decisions, including financial, social and environmental.

Unit 4: Recording, Reporting, Budgeting and Decision-Making

In this unit students further develop their understanding of accounting for a trading business owned by a sole proprietor and the role of accounting as an information system. Students use the double entry system of recording financial data, and prepare reports using the accrual basis of accounting and the perpetual method of inventory recording. Both manual methods and ICT are used to record and report.

Students extend their understanding of the recording and reporting process with the inclusion of balance day adjustments and alternative depreciation methods. They investigate both the role and importance of budgeting in decision-making for a business. They analyse and interpret accounting reports and graphical representations to evaluate the performance of a business. From this evaluation, students suggest strategies to business owners to improve business performance.

Where appropriate, the accounting procedures developed in each area of study should incorporate application of the Conceptual Framework and financial indicators to measure business performance, as well as the ethical considerations of business owners when making decisions, including financial, social and environmental.

Assessment:                       

The student’s performance in each outcome will be assessed using one or more of the following:

• structured questions (manual and ICT-based)

• folio of exercises (manual and ICT-based)

• a case study (manual and ICT-based)

• a report (written, oral or ICT-based).

Expected Skills: 

Problem solving, ability to read, interpret and analyse information, good numeracy skills, basic spreadsheet skills.

Special Course Commitments:

Out of scheduled class times may be necessary to complete practice exams and assessment tasks for Units 3 & 4.

Business Management

There are no prerequisite subjects, however 'Introduction to VCE Accounting and Business Management' would provide students with an overview of the  terminology and subject matter. It is not a prerequisite for students to have studied Units 1 and 2 before undertaking Units 3 and 4 but it is highly recommended.

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:  

Unit 1: Planning a Business.

Businesses of all sizes are major contributors to the economic and social wellbeing of a nation. Therefore how businesses are formed and the fostering of conditions under which new business ideas can emerge are vital for a nation’s wellbeing. Taking a business idea and planning how to make it a reality are the cornerstones of economic and social development. In this unit students explore the factors affecting business ideas and the internal and external environments within which businesses operate, and the effect of these on planning a business.

Unit 2: Establishing a Business. 

This unit focuses on the establishment phase of a business’s life. Establishing a business involves complying with legal requirements as well as making decisions about how best to establish a system of financial record keeping, staff the business and establish a customer base. In this unit students examine the legal requirements that must be satisfied to establish a business. They investigate the essential features of effective marketing and consider the best way to meet the needs of the business in terms of staffing and financial record keeping. Students analyse various management practices in this area by applying this knowledge to contemporary business case studies from the past four years.

Unit 3: Managing a Business.

In this unit students explore the key processes and issues concerned with managing a business efficiently and effectively to achieve the business objectives. Students examine the different types of businesses and their respective objectives. They consider corporate culture, management styles, management skills and the relationship between each of these. Students investigate strategies to manage both staff and business operations to meet objectives. Students develop an understanding of the complexity and challenge of managing businesses and through the use of contemporary business case studies from the past four years have the opportunity to compare theoretical perspectives with current practice.

Unit 4: Transforming a Business.

Businesses are under constant pressure to adapt and change to meet their objectives. In this unit students consider the importance of reviewing key performance indicators to determine current performance and the strategic management necessary to position a business for the future. Students study a theoretical model to undertake change, and consider a variety of strategies to manage change in the most efficient and effective way to improve business performance. They investigate the importance of leadership in change management. Using a contemporary business case study from the past four years, students evaluate business practice against theory.

Assessment:           

The course uses a selection of the following methods of Assessment:

  • Case study analysis
  • Development of a business plan
  • Tests
  • Reports
  • Interviews with business owners
  • Business research (print and online)
  • Media analysis
  • A school-based, business activity
  • A business survey and analysis
  • Exam

Expected Skills:     

The ability to read, interpret, analyse and evaluate information, including complex texts is required for this subject.  Other skills such as organising, problem solving, planning, reporting and decision-making are also required.  It is expected that students take an interest in current business affairs as portrayed in the media.

Geography

The study of Geography is a structured way of exploring, analysing and understanding the characteristics of places that make up our world.

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description:      

Geographers are interested in key questions concerning places and geographic phenomena: What is there? Where is it? Why is it there? What are the effects of it being there? How is it changing over time and how could, and should, it change in the future? How is it different from other places and phenomena? How are places and phenomena connected? Students explore these questions through fieldwork and investigation of a wide range of secondary sources. These methods underpin the development of a unique framework for understanding the world, enabling students to appreciate its complexity, the diversity and interactions of its environments, economies and cultures, and the processes that helped form and transform them.

The study is made up of 4 Units.

Unit 1: Hazards and disasters

Unit 2: Tourism

Unit 3: Changing the land

Unit 4: Human population – trends and issues

Assessment:                     

For all units assessment will be selected from the following:

  • Fieldwork Reports
  • Structured questions
  • Case study
  • Report
  • Folio of exercises
  • Exam
  • Vocabulary work

Expected Skills:               

Students need to be able to acquire and apply the skills to understand and analyse geographical information, conduct geographic study and enquiry, to communicate information effectively, and develop knowledge of the earth.

Special Course Commitments:

Fieldwork must be conducted in each of Units 1, 2 & 3.

History - Twentieth Century History

Successful completion of Year 10 History is strongly recommended.

Units 1 & 2

Course Description:

Unit 1: Twentieth Century History 1918 - 1939

Area of Study 1: Ideology and conflict

  • What impact did the treaties such as the Treaty of Versailles which concluded World War One have on nations and people?
  • What were the dominant ideologies of the period? Fascism, Nazism, communism, and Capitalism
  • What impact did the post-war treaties, the development of ideologies and the economic crisis have on the events leading to World War Two?

Area of Study 2: Social and cultural change

  • What continuity and what change is evident between the 1920s and 1930s in social and cultural life?
  • How did ideologies affect the daily lives of people?
  • How did cultural life both reflect and challenge the prevailing political, economic and social circumstances?

Unit 2: Twentieth Century History 1945 - 2000

Area of Study 1: Competing ideologies

  • What were the causes of the Cold War?
  • What were the key characteristics of the ideologies of communism in the USSR and democracy and capitalism in the USA?
  • What was the impact of the Cold War on nations and people?
  • What led to the end of the Cold War?

Area of Study 2: Challenge and change

  • What were the significant causes of challenge to and change in existing political and social orders in the second half of the twentieth century?
  • How did the actions and ideas of popular movements and individuals contribute to change?
  • What impacts did challenge and change have on nations and people?

Assessment:

Assessment tasks over Units 1 and 2 include the following:

  • Historical inquiry
  • Analysis of primary sources
  • Analysis of historical interpretations
  • Essay
  • Exam
  • Vocabulary work

Expected Skills:     

The ability to understand and analyse complex texts and visual material is required.

History - Revolutions

The Successful completion of Year 10 Humanities and Year 11 Twentieth Century History is recommended.

Units 3 & 4

Course Description: 

Unit 3: The American Revolution 1754 to 1789

Unit 4: The Russian Revolution 1896 to 1927

In these units students develop an understanding of the complexity and multiplicity of causes and consequences in the revolutionary narrative. They consider how perspectives of the revolution give an insight into the continuity and change experienced by those who lived through dramatic revolutionary moments as well as evaluate other historical interpretations.

Assessment:           

This course will select from the following methods of Assessment:

  • Historical Inquiry
  • Analysis of primary sources
  • Exams
  • Essay
  • Evaluation of historical interpretations

Expected Skills:     

The ability to understand and analyse complex texts and visual material is required.

Legal Studies

There are no prerequisite subjects. However, 'Introduction to VCE Legal Studies and Economics' would provide students with an overview of the  terminology and subject matter. It is not a prerequisite for students to have studied Units 1 and 2 before undertaking Units 3 and 4 but it is highly recommended.

Units 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course Description: 

Unit 1: Guilt and Liability

In this unit students develop an understanding of legal foundations, such as the different types and sources of law and the existence of a court hierarchy in Victoria.

Students investigate key concepts of criminal law and civil law and apply these to actual and/or hypothetical scenarios to determine whether an accused may be found guilty of a crime, or liable in a civil dispute.

Unit 2: Sanctions, Remedies and Rights

This unit focuses on the enforcement of criminal law and civil law, the methods and institutions that may be used to determine a criminal case or resolve a civil dispute, and the purposes and types of sanctions and remedies and their effectiveness.

Students undertake an investigation of two criminal and two civil cases and form a judgment about the ability of sanctions and remedies to achieve the principles of justice. Students compare the rights protected in Australia and in another country, and consider possible reforms to the protection of rights. They examine a significant case in relation to the protection of rights in Australia.

Unit 3: Rights and Justice

In this unit students examine the methods and institutions in the justice system and consider their appropriateness in determining criminal cases and resolving civil disputes.

Students consider the courts within the Victorian court hierarchy, as well as other Victorian legal institutions and bodies available to assist with cases.

 

Students explore matters such as the rights available to an accused and to victims in the criminal justice system, the roles of the judge, jury, legal practitioners and the parties, and the ability of sanctions and remedies to achieve their purposes. Students investigate the extent to which the principles of justice are upheld in the justice system and consider recent reforms.

Unit 4: The People and the Law

In this unit, students explore how the Australian Constitution establishes the law-making powers of the Commonwealth and state parliaments, and protects the Australian people through structures that act as a check on parliament in law-making.

Students develop an understanding of the significance of the High Court in protecting and interpreting the Australian Constitution. They investigate parliament and the courts, and the relationship between the two in law-making, and consider the roles of the individual, the media and law reform bodies in influencing law reform.

Assessment:           

This course may use the following methods of Assessment:

  • Tests
  • Case studies
  • Assignments
  • Essays
  • Mock court or role-plays
  • Folios and reports
  • Annotated visual displays
  • Exams

Expected Skills:      The ability to read, analyse and synthesise complex texts and key knowledge is required.