The Commerce Department is a vibrant and growing department. It originated in September 2004 when Economics was introduced into the school curriculum at AS level. There were about 40 students with myself as the sole teacher. IGCSE and AS Business Studies were offered as options in 2005 and AS Accounting in 2007. The department has grown steadily along with the school: there are now about 560 students taking Commerce subjects.

Economics remains very popular with six AS classes and four AL classes. There are currently three expatriate Economics teachers and two local Chinese Economics teachers. The two local teachers are both quite fluent in English, having lived overseas.

IGCSE Business Studies is a popular IGCSE option at the G1 and G2 levels. As well as providing an introduction to the elements of business organisation, it also covers aspects of Economics and Accounting. Hopefully, this should enable students to make more informed decisions when deciding on their subject options for AS. We try to make the subject come alive at this level. Students use their knowledge to plan their own business and make presentations to the rest of the class; local newspaper articles are used for data response practice. Last, but not least, we also organise field trips to see local businesses in action, and visit places of interest such as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In response to demand, we introduced AS Accounting into the curriculum in August 2007. At present there are two AS classes, and one Advanced Level class.

As the Department has grown, so has the number of teachers. There are now twelve members teaching various combinations of the three subject areas. There are five expatriate teachers, and seven local teachers, all of whom work closely with the foreign teachers.

One of the main reasons for the popularity of Commerce subjects is that many of our students wish to go on and study the subjects at a higher level, and then pursue a career in business and finance. They apply for places at universities all over the world, but the United Kingdom remains the most popular with some gaining entry to Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, and LSE.

Our aim is not only to enable our students to achieve their academic potential in external examinations, but to create a learning environment which is stimulating and promotes student interest in Commerce subjects.

Bob Wardle
HOD Commerce
September 2008

Teaching Staff

Robert Wardle Head of Commerce BA Economics (University of York) PGCE In a career spanning over 3 decades, Bob has worked in England, New Zealand, Zambia, Jamaica, Brunei, and now China. His leisure activities include reading, following the financial press, crossword puzzles, and listening to jazz. For fun he enjoys playing saxophone and golf.

Dean Wu Assistant Head BA International Trade and Economics (Beijing Institute of Technology) MA Education (Lancaster University) Dean has been teaching A Level Business Studies for 3 years at SCIE, having previously spent two years in the UK studying and gaining work experience. His particular academic strengths are Marketing and Operations Management. In his spare time Dean enjoys sports and music, especially tennis and piano playing.

Tim Sandiford BEcon (Monash University) DipEducation (Hawthorne College) Thirty-seven years of teaching experience in commerce subjects have enabled Tim to interact with and understand the needs of students. Before embarking on his rewarding teaching career, Tim worked in the government services and banking fields in Australia which broadened his knowledge of the business world. Tim¡¯s interests include Chinese cookery, making new friends and sightseeing. Tim enjoys playing tennis and his aim is to challenge Dean for the SCIE number one ranking in table tennis, badminton and volleyball.

David Arthur BEd (Avondale) Graduate Diploma of Economics (University of New England) MEcon (University of New England) David is Australian, with 27 years of teaching experience, including four years overseas. He has taught at four different high schools in New South Wales, Australia, and in two different schools in China. His spare time activities include reading, walking, making music and cycling.

Julie Qiao BAcc (Massey University) BCom International Business (Auckland University) Julie has been working in SCIE for three years as an Accounting and Business Studies teacher. She had been an accountant for 2 years in New Zealand and China, but now knows that teaching is her real interest! In her free time, Julie enjoys reading, playing table tennis and travelling

Catherine Xu BA International Trade and Economics (Wuhan Institute of Science and Technology) MA Economics (University of Aarhus) Catherine has been teaching A level Economics for 2 years at SCIE. Two years¡¯ overseas studies in Denmark and two years¡¯ teaching experience have provided her with good teaching abilities and an understanding of students¡¯ needs. She enjoys sharing her ideas with students. In her spare time, she is interested in yoga, music, traveling and reading.

Allen Liu BA English Education (Jianghu University) MA Educational Economics and Management (Wuhan University) Prior to teaching at SCIE, Allen had taught English for a year at Changjiang Vocational College, and English and Human Resources Management at Longgang TV & Radio University, Shenzhen. She has been teaching Business Studies at SCIE for two years, and is a Model Homeroom Teacher. In her spare time she enjoys playing sports, particularly badminton, volleyball and table tennis.

Peggy Wang BEcon International Finance (Shenzhen University) MEcon World Economics (University of Nankai) Peggy has many years of experience working in banking, both in China and overseas (HSBC in Canada). This background enables her to bring the real financial world into her teaching of Economics and Business Studies. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, swimming and music.

Chloe Tan BA Management (Hunan University) Chloe has worked at SCIE for a year, teaching Business Studies at the IGCSE level. Before working at SCIE, she worked in the marketing department of HUAWEI, learning practical marketing and management skills which she is now able to share with her Business Studies students. Her particular area of interest within the subject is different types of business in operation across the globe. In her spare time, she enjoys playing Ping-Pong and travelling with friends.

Ada Peng BA Computer (Jiang Xi University of Science and Technology) MA Logistics Management (University of Sydney) MA Accounting (University of Southern Queensland) Ada studied and worked in Australia for nearly four years before coming to SCIE. She has taught A-level Accounting for a year and particularly enjoys communicating and interacting with her students. Outside of school, she enjoys reading and listening to music.

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