Office Administration and Customer Care

The Specialism consists of four modules

  1. Retailing and Selling
  2. Office Assistant
  3. Office Practice
  4. Retailing and the Customer

There is no prescribed sequence but it is recommended that module 2 – Office Assistant be taken before module 3-Office Practice. There is also one task to be completed and a final examination, consisting of a practical and written examination.

Modules

Each module has a value of one credit per session. Two conditions have to be fulfilled to obtain this credit

  1. Modules and key Assignments have to be satisfactorily completed
  2. Students have to have 90% attendance at the OACC class for that session.

N.B. Each teacher should keep his/her own attendance roll. All four key assignments must be completed (see module descriptor for this course)

Module 1: Retailing and Selling

Students are interested in retailing. They are big consumers of certain goods and services. They have some sales experience themselves from part-time jobs. This module provides opportunities for outside visits and for visitors to the classroom. Students can link this modules to work experience and to their enterprise modules.

Module 2: Office Assistant

Students like the idea of office work. They learn to use, care for and respect office equipment. They should have access to an office, ideally and LCA office, which could be used both by the co-ordinator and the OACC teacher. Again students should like this module with work experience

Module 3: Office Practice

This follows on from module 2 and the student deals with basic office skills and routine office tasks. Personal grooming is stressed and this provides an opportunity for a classroom visitor. Students are educated regarding health and Safety in the workplace. This module could integrate with such areas as work experience, maths IT and other specialisms.

Module 4: Retailing and the Customer

This module follows on from Retailing and Selling. It builds on the student’s experience of being a customer and of caring for customers. It makes the students aware of the rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees. There is scope for cross-curricular links with Social Education, maths and work experience

Strategies

Teachers should be mindful of the key underlying principles of LCA and endeavour to apply these when teaching OACC.

Integration: Suggestions for integration with other subjects are given in the module descriptor. Informal meetings with teacher of these subjects can be very worthwhile in helping to draw up a plan for integrated teaching. The student task also facilitates integration.

Team Work: regular meetings are essential. Through these teacherscan support and help each other. An occasional lunch or a working lunch (food provided) can help to build a team spirit.

Basic Skills: this is every teacher’s responsibility. Attention should be paid to numeracy as well as literacy. This applies to the module Office Practice. Word banks are particularly useful. If possible have a dictionary in the classroom. When students are doing exercises and writing up journals/diaries for personal reflection teachers should always address literacy issues.

Active teaching methodologies: These are central to the LCA programme and to the teaching of OACC. The more active and practical the learning process is, the more enjoyable it is for both student and teacher. Visits, visitors, group work, brainstorming and presentations are among the active methodologies that can be used when teaching OACC.

Reflection: this again is an integral part of the LCA programme and is every teacher’s responsibility. Teachers can help students by asking questions at the beginning of class/module/day. Students can reflect and answer at the end. Students should be encouraged to write a sentence or two into a journal at the end of a class reflecting on how that class or topic went for them.

Links with the community: OACC cannot be taught in isolation. We need the broader community for visits, work experience, surveys etc. Since this also applies to other LCA courses (subjects) the co-ordinator could contact prospective employers, retailers, wholesalers, offices, garages, chamber of commerce etc. These should be informed about the LCA programme and told how they could be of assistance. This should be done at the beginning of the school year and in this way a database of community links could be established.

Learning Outcomes

Students gain confidence

They interact and learn from each other

They gain an understanding of technical terms.

Safety issues re discussed and understood

The learn the responsible use of machines, the competent use of the telephone, fax etc

They develop letter writing skills and become aware of various items and types of stationery and their appropriate uses

They study receptionist duties

They learn the procedure for dealing with money – cash and cards, banking procedures and record keeping

They study customer care and service and learn how to deal with complaints.

They gain knowledge of the workplace – rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, health and safety, contracts of employment and industrial relations.

The module descriptor includes the full range of learning outcomes for each module

It is advisable to complete all learning outcomes as suggested. It is possible to do this if you have ¾ class periods per week. At least one double is essential to facilitate visits, visors, practical work etc

Detail

OACC is not about ‘learning off’ lists of requirements or advantages and disadvantages. Students should be encouraged to learn by doing and also by discussion. A great amount of detail is not required in any area.

Standard

Studying past examination papers – the questions asked and the spaces provided for answers, will be helpful in determining the standard required.

Task

Students taking Office Administration as a Specialism will have to do a task either in year one or two. Talk to your co-ordinator about the task schedule in your school. You will find information about Task on this website

Combining Tasks and Key Assignments

Work done on a key assignment can be used as part of a task and also information gathered while doing a task can be used for a key assignment. For example, the key assignment on Health and Safety could be used in a task relating to the office.

OACC may also be taken as an elective. There are no restrictions on which modules can be taken. If modules are studied as an elective, the relevant key assignments must be completed. The modules have a value of two credits per module. There is no task or final examination or practical for an elective.