Taking care of business

Elisabeth Charsley brings a wealth of knowledge to our classrooms, thanks to 20 years teaching, working in a commercial accounting environment, and intrepid overseas travel.

We chat about her passion for ‘all things commerce’, and discuss how Business Studies can help girls to navigate a successful future. Elisabeth, aka Liz, is Head of Faculty, Commerce and Head of Subject, Business Studies. She is an advocate for academic study mixed with practical work when it comes to business, and a great example was when she was starting out, completing a Commerce Degree while working full time at accounting giant, KPMG. “It was such great experience being so hands on, and it actually helped me decide that I didn’t want to be an accountant!”

It wasn’t that she disliked the experience, it was more the pull of another vocation. “With a mother who was a teacher and some really encouraging friends, I took the leap into teaching,” she says.

With early roots in Te Awamutu, this young Waikato teacher took a huge leap of faith and decided to swap comfortable kiwi life for an overseas experience like no other.

Liz talks fondly of her 12 years overseas, with an exciting journey that saw her teach Accounting and Business Studies in England, Indonesia and Uganda.

“I learned so much, like how to interact with people from anywhere, and appreciate different ways of thinking. This has helped me professionally and privately.”

She reflects on what it felt like to live a ‘double life’, where poverty was juxtaposed with luxury, thanks to tremendous wealth gaps in places like Uganda. “We’d go through slums driving to school. It’s very sobering and gives you a profound, raw perspective on life and privilege.”

In Uganda, she also learned to be more adaptable as a teacher and think on her feet, as power (i.e. electrical power) was not even a given. And she recalls being in the classroom when there were embassy warnings not to go outside or leave. “It was quite daunting at times!”

But despite the cultural differences and unpredictability of daily life, Liz said her travels in Africa and Asia were “nothing short of magical”, and it reenforced her passion for teaching Accounting and Business Studies at all levels.

Business Studies at St Cuthbert’s

Liz explains that Business Studies is an exciting area that covers numerous topics in the commercial world, that affect businesses of all sizes. Girls can take Business Studies as part of the NCEA, or IB qualifications.

Students in Year 11 focus more on SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) markets, which is the size of most businesses in New Zealand. “We cover a range of topics, like starting, running and growing a business. It includes areas such as strategic planning, marketing, HR, and finance. It’s broad, but also very practical.”

In Year 12, the focus is more on the macro economy and larger or corporate business in New Zealand, and in Year 13 there’s more of a global context.

Liz emphasises that Business Studies fits well with the other Commerce Department subjects of Accounting and Economics – but it’s also a great ‘real world’ subject that can complement a variety of disciplines.

Hands on experience

Richard Branson (Virgin Group founder) famously said, “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.”

Many successful business leaders will emphasise that real world business experience is key to understanding how to effectively build a business. A fantastic aspect of NCEA Business Studies is that there’s a practical component to it, where students get together to run a real business.

Liz talks enthusiastically about their Market Day for Year 11 Business Studies students, and how Year 13 have to run their own business start-up. “This type of hands-on experience is so valuable to young entrepreneurs,” say Liz, “not only in terms of business skills, but also life skills. Students learn how to operate effectively in a group, make real world management decisions that will affect their bottom line, and be creative and accountable.”

There is also an extracurricular ‘Young Enterprise’ scheme with which many students love getting involved each year.

This year, a number of students had great success at the Auckland Regional Awards for Young Enterprise. The girls represented the school with confidence and maturity and they gained a number of awards. These included the Excellence in Market Validation Award and the One to Watch Award. Sara Jameson (Year 12) won the EY Individual of the Year. The “rejUVenate” team won 1st place for the Auckland Central Region and will travel to Wellington to compete in the National Awards!