Business Department

Welcome to the Business department web page. The Business department is a well established, popular and successful department within Barking Abbey School. We teach a range of academic and vocational courses and have a strong presence within the sixth form.

Staff Members

Miss L Sharma (Joint Head of Department) - Joined the school in September 2002.

Mrs S Frame - I joined Barking Abbey in September 1992. I have had various roles within the department which I have enjoyed immensely. The majority of my teaching now takes place within the sixth form. This year I will be facilitating the Young Enterprise company, as part of the Year 13 AVCE Business course, which I am very much looking forward to. My current role within the school is as an Advanced Skills Teacher.

Miss J Jones - I joined the Business department in July 2003. Teaching business was a natural choice for me, as I worked in business for 12 years. Having lived in Barking and Dagenham for most of my life and gone to school here, I have very high expectations of all students. I aim to bring Business Studies to life with interactive lessons, links with local businesses and enjoyable topics and materials.

Mr P Sutton (Year Co-ordinator - Year 11) - I started my teaching career in 1970 in South Wales. I moved to this area in 1972 and have worked in a number of schools since then. I joined Barking Abbey in January 1991. Over the years I have experienced a variety of roles, including: Head of Department, Head of Year and Deputy Head. As I reach the twilight of my career I look forward to the many changes envisaged for Barking Abbey and hope to play some part in them. I still enjoy teaching and especially my involvement with the students of my year group.

Key stage 4
At Key stage 4 GCSE Business Studies appears as a very popular and oversubscribed optional unit. The course contains various aspects of business including: business structure and environment, marketing, production, people in organisations, finance and the external environment. It is a successful subject gaining 78% A* to C at GCSE in the 2003 examination series.

Key stage 5
A/S & A Level Business - This is a modular course in which students study a variety of business issues including: marketing, finance, operations, people, objectives and strategy and external influences. This is very popular in the sixth form and fits well with both mathematical and humanities based subjects. A successful A Level, students gained (89% A-C, & 97% A-E) in the 2003 examination series.

Intermediate Business - Equivalent to 4 GCSE's at grade C or above, this 1 year course is for students who wish to improve upon their key stage 4 results. It is a vocational course and involves business input and independent learning by students. In 2003 students gained (50% Merit, & 100% Pass).

AVCE (Advanced Vocational Certificate in Education) Business - Equivalent to 2 A Levels grade A-E. This vocational course offers a more independent and interactive route for students who do not wish to pursue the traditional academic courses. It may also be combined with other A Level subjects. There is business input into the course and students also run a young enterprise company and attend work experience. 2003 was our most successful year to date for results (100% A-E) and we expect a further improvement this year.

Activities and Links - under development

• Syllabus information
• Schemes of Work
• Homework
• Young enterprise (Year 13 AVCE Business only)
• Work experience (vocational Business only)
• Business careers
• University information for Business
• Useful websites for Business
• Student comments